Numerous records in Para-athletics

On another thrilling day at the Stade de France, six world records were broken. Among them was Australian James Turner’s record-breaking performance in the men’s 400m T36 final with a time of 51.54 seconds. “Bringing this home for the team is incredible,” Turner said. “It has to be the best race I’ve ever run. It hasn’t been easy, even though it may have seemed that way.”

The other five records were set by Brazilian Yeltsin Jacques in the 1,500m T11, Azerbaijani Lamiyə Vəliyeva in the 100m T13, American Jaydin Blackwell in the 400m T38, Ukrainian Oleksandr Yarovyi in the shot put F20, Australian James Turner in the 400m T36, and Spanish Yassine Ouhdadi in the 1,500m T13.

Cuba also shone brightly, securing three gold medals in athletics, further solidifying their status as a Paralympic powerhouse. Cuba’s golden day began at the Stade de France, where 21-year-old Robiel Yankiel Sol clinched the gold medal in the T47 long jump. Despite already holding the world and Paralympic records in this event, Sol’s drive for excellence was evident. “For me, no jump is ever good enough, even if it’s a record,” he stated, reflecting his relentless pursuit of perfection.

The momentum continued with Omara Durand, one of the standout athletes of these Games. The 32-year-old sprinter added another gold to her illustrious career by winning the women’s 400m T12 event with a time of 53.59 seconds. Cuba’s third gold in athletics came from Guillermo Varona, who dominated the men’s F46 javelin throw, further adding to the nation’s impressive medal haul.

The "Belarusian Phelps" in the Paris pool

At La Défense Arena, Ihar Boki stole the spotlight in the pool. The Belarusian swimmer secured his fifth gold of the Paris Games in the men’s SM13 200m individual medley, setting a new world record in the process. This victory brought Boki’s total Paralympic gold medal count to an astonishing 21, further cementing his legacy as one of the sport’s all-time greats. With these numbers, the press has dubbed him the “Belarusian Phelps,” in reference to the American swimmer who has won 23 Olympic gold medals.

Boki, who competes under a neutral flag like the Russian para athletes, thus climbed to the top of the podium for the fifth time at the Paris event, following titles in the 100m backstroke, 100m butterfly, 400m freestyle, and 50m freestyle.

Para-equestrian royalty crowned in Versailles

The Château de Versailles served as the venue for the Para-equestrian competition, which began on September 3rd. With two golds and a silver, it was a great day for the United States. Competing in her fifth Paralympic Games, Rebecca Hart won her first gold—and the first for Paris 2024—aboard Florantina in the Grade III individual test. “It’s been 25 years of trying to get to this point and being close many, many times,” Hart said.

“To actually get it, I feel like I’m going to wake up at any moment. It’s just surreal. It feels like a dream. It’s my first individual medal ever at the Paralympics, and it’s gold. It’s surreal.” Fiona Howard, from the US team, topped the podium in Grade II, and Rihards Snikus from Latvia took the title in the Grade I individual test.

Park claims second gold in Para-shooting

Park Jinho of South Korea secured his second gold medal of the Paris 2024 Paralympics in the men’s R7 50m rifle 3 positions SH1 final at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre. “I was much more nervous than when I won my (other) gold this week. I still don’t believe this is happening. I was waiting a long time to win a gold medal in the Paralympics. Now with my second medal, I think of everyone who has helped me,” said Park after his victory.

Wheelchair fencers debut at the Grand Palais

Over at the Grand Palais, the opening day of wheelchair fencing saw significant delays, testing the patience of spectators. Despite the setbacks, the crowd’s enthusiasm remained high, particularly for the French athletes, though none managed to secure a medal. The first gold in the wheelchair fencing competition went to China’s Feng Yanke, who narrowly defeated Poland’s Michal Dabrowski 15-14 in a tense sabre final for Category B athletes, who have no voluntary trunk movement.

Amelio Castro from the Refugee Paralympic Team made his Paralympic debut. “It’s a wonderful experience being able to represent those who do not have a voice and lend them my voice. It’s a prayer answered to be here at the Paralympics, and it’s incredible to represent so many refugees from around the world,” he said.

Day 6 Full Podiums:

Para-equestrian

Individual Test - Grade III - Para Grand Prix Test
Gold: Rebecca Hart (USA)
Silver: Rixt van der Horst (NED)
Bronze: Natasha Baker (GBR)

Individual Test - Grade II - Para Grand Prix Test
Gold: Fiona Howard (USA)
Silver: Katrine Kristensen (DEN)
Bronze: Georgia Wilson (GBR)

Individual Test - Grade I - Para Grand Prix Test
Gold: Rihards Snikus (LAT)
Silver: Roxanne Trunnell (USA)
Bronze: Sara Morganti (ITA)

Para-athletics

Long Jump Men - T47
Gold: Robiel Yankiel Sol Cervantes (CUB)
Silver: Wang Hao (CHN)
Bronze: Nikita Kotukov (NPA)

Javelin Throw Women - F56
Gold: Diana Krumina (LAT)
Silver: Raissa Rocha Machado (BRA)
Bronze: Lin Sitong (CHN)

1500m Men - T11
Gold: Yeltsin Jacques (BRA)
Silver: Yitayal Silesh Yigzaw (ETH)
Bronze: Julio Cesar Agripino dos Santos (BRA)

1500m Men - T53
Gold: Aleksandr Kostin (NPA)
Silver: Rouay Jebabli (TUN)
Bronze: Anton Kuliatin (NPA)

200m Men - T51
Gold: Cody Fournie (CAN)
Silver: Toni Piispanen (FIN)
Bronze: Peter Genyn (BEL)

Shot Put Women - F34
Gold: Zou Lijuan (CHN)
Silver: Lucyna Kornobys (POL)
Bronze: Saida Amoudi (MAR)

Discus Throw Women - F11
Gold: Zhang Liangmin (CHN)
Silver: Assunta Legnante (ITA)
Bronze: Xue Enhui (CHN)

400m Men - T36
Gold: James Turner (AUS)
Silver: William Stedman (NZL)
Bronze: Alexis Sebastián Chávez (ARG)

400m Women - T12
Gold: Omara Durand Elías (CUB)
Silver: Hajar Safarzadeh Ghahderijani (IRI)
Bronze: Oksana Boturchuk (UKR)

1500m Women - T54
Gold: Catherine Debrunner (SUI)
Silver: Samantha Kinghorn (GBR)
Bronze: Susannah Scaroni (USA)

Long Jump Men - T37
Gold: Brian Lionel Impellizzeri (ARG)
Silver: Samson Opiyo (KEN)
Bronze: Mateus Evangelista Cardoso (BRA)

Shot Put Men - F20
Gold: Oleksandr Yarovyi (UKR)
Silver: Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli (MAS)
Bronze: Maksym Koval (UKR)

400m Women - T20
Gold: Yuliia Shuliar (UKR)
Silver: Aysel Onder (TUR)
Bronze: Deepthi Jeevanji (IND)

400m Men - T38
Gold: Jaydin Blackwell (USA)
Silver: Ryan Medrano (USA)
Bronze: Juan Alejandro Campas Sánchez (COL)

200m Women - T64
Gold: Kimberly Alkemade (NED)
Silver: Marlene van Gansewinkel (NED)
Bronze: Irmgard Bensusan (GER)

100m Women - T11
Gold: Jerusa Geber dos Santos (BRA)
Silver: Liu Cuiqing (CHN)
Bronze: Lorena Silva Spoladore (BRA)

100m Women - T13
Gold: Lamiya Valiyeva (AZE)
Silver: Rayane Soares da Silva (BRA)
Bronze: Orla Comerford (IRL)

100m Women - T47
Gold: Kiara Rodríguez (ECU)
Silver: Brittni Mason (USA)
Bronze: Anna Grimaldi (NZL)

400m Men - T20
Gold: Jhon Sebastián Obando Asprilla (COL)
Silver: David José Pineda Mejía (ESP)
Bronze: Yovanni Philippe (MRI)

Shot Put Men - F32
Gold: Athanasios Konstantinidis (GRE)
Silver: Aleksei Churkin (NPA)
Bronze: Lazaros Stefanidis (GRE)

1500m Men - T54
Gold: Jin Hua (CHN)
Silver: Marcel Hug (SUI)
Bronze: Dai Yunqiang (CHN)

400m Women - T37
Gold: Nataliia Kozbar (UKR)
Silver: Jiang Fenfen (CHN)
Bronze: Viktoriia Slanova (NPA)

Javelin Throw Men - F46
Gold: Guillermo Varona Gonzalez (CUB)
Silver: Ajeet Singh (IND)
Bronze: Sundar Singh Gurjar (IND)

High Jump Men - T63
Gold: Ezra Frech (USA)
Silver: Sharad Kumar (IND)
Bronze: Mariyappan Thangavelu (IND)

Para-shooting

R7 - 50m Rifle 3 Positions Men - SH1
Gold: Park Jinho (KOR)
Silver: Dong Chao (CHN)
Bronze: Marek Dobrowolski (POL)

R8 - 50m Rifle 3 Positions Women - SH1
Gold: Natascha Hiltrop (GER)
Silver: Veronika Vadovicova (SVK)
Bronze: Zhang Cuiping (CHN)

Para-swimming

100m Backstroke Men - S7
Gold: Yurii Shenhur (UKR)
Silver: Andrii Trusov (UKR)
Bronze: Federico Bicelli (ITA)

100m Backstroke Men - S9
Gold: Yahor Shchalkanau (NPA)
Silver: Ugo Didier (FRA)
Bronze: Bogdan Mozgovoi (NPA)

100m Backstroke Women - S9
Gold: Christie Raleigh-Crossley (USA)
Silver: Nuria Marqués Soto (ESP)
Bronze: Mariana Ribeiro (BRA)

200m Freestyle Men - S4
Gold: Ami Omer Dadaon (ISR)
Silver: Roman Zhdanov (NPA)
Bronze: Suzuki Takayuki (JPN)

50m Butterfly Men - S6
Gold: Wang Jingang (CHN)
Silver: Nelson Crispín Corzo (COL)
Bronze: Laurent Chardard (FRA)

50m Butterfly Women - S6
Gold: Jiang Yuyan (CHN)
Silver: Liu Daomin (CHN)
Bronze: Mayara Do Amaral Petzold (BRA)

50m Backstroke Men - S5
Gold: Yuan Weiyi (CHN)
Silver: Guo Jicheng (CHN)
Bronze: Wang Lichao (CHN)

50m Backstroke Women - S5
Gold: Lu Dong (CHN)
Silver: He Shenggao (CHN)
Bronze: Liu Yu (CHN)

200m Individual Medley Men - SM11
Gold: Rogier Dorsman (NED)
Silver: Danylo Chufarov (UKR)
Bronze: David Kratochvil (CZE)

200m Individual Medley Women - SM11
Gold: Daria Lukianenko (NPA)
Silver: Ma Jia (CHN)
Bronze: Cai Liwen (CHN)

100m Freestyle Women - S3
Gold: Leanne Smith (USA)
Silver: Marta Fernández Infante (ESP)
Bronze: Rachael Watson (AUS)

200m Individual Medley Men - SM13
Gold: Ihar Boki (NPA)
Silver: Alex Porta (FRA)
Bronze: Vladimir Sotnikov (NPA)

200m Individual Medley Women - SM13
Gold: Carlotta Gilli (ITA)
Silver: Olivia Chambers (USA)
Bronze: Roisin Ni Riain (IRL)

100m Butterfly Men - S10
Gold: Stefano Raimondi (ITA)
Silver: Ihor Nimchenko (UKR)
Bronze: Alex Saffy (AUS)

100m Butterfly Women - S10
Gold: Faye Rogers (GBR)
Silver: Callie-Ann Warrington (GBR)
Bronze: Katie Cosgriffe (CAN)

Para-archery

Individual Test - Recurve Open Women
Gold: Wu Chunyan (CHN)
Silver: Wu Yang (CHN)
Bronze: Elisabetta Mijno (ITA)

Para-table tennis

Men’s Singles - MS5
Gold: Tommy Urhaug (NOR)
Silver: Cheng Ming Chih (TPE)
Bronze: Ali Ozturk (TUR) / Mitar Palikuca (SRB)

Wheelchair Fencing

Men’s Sabre Category A
Gold: Maurice Schmidt (GER)
Silver: Piers Gilliver (GBR)
Bronze: Edoardo Giordan (ITA)

Men’s Sabre Category B
Gold: Feng Yanke (CHN)
Silver: Michal Dabrowski (POL)
Bronze: Zhang Jie (CHN)

Women’s Sabre Category A
Gold: Gu Haiyan (CHN)
Silver: Kinga Drozdz (POL)
Bronze: Nino Tibilashvili (GEO)

Women’s Sabre Category B
Gold: Saysuni Jana (THA)
Silver: Xiao Rong (CHN)
Bronze: Olena Fedota-Isaieva (UKR)