Sidorenko and Smirnov both scored nine in the deciding shoot-off, while Elisabetta Mijno and Stefano Travisani could only notch a nine and an eight to give the RPC a 5-4 victory in the final.

Both pairs had earlier taken two sets each.

Sidorenko and Smirnov got off to a flier by winning the first set 36-34, but the Italian duo hit back with 33-30 and 32-21 victories in the following two sets.

However, the RPC team hit back, and took the final set 35-33 to take the contest to a shoot-off.

They certainly proved adept at delivering when it mattered most in shoot-offs, having also secured a 5-4 semi-final victory against China’s Wu Chunyan and Zhao Lixue with a nine and perfect 10 with their final two arrows.

Sidorenko and Smirnov earlier secured 6-2 wins against the United States’ Emma Rise Ravish and Eric Bennett in the round of 16 and South Korea’s Jo Jang Moon and Kim Min Su in the quarter-finals.

The 33-year-old Sidorenko had also competed in the women’s individual recurve competition at Tokyo 2020, progressing through the ranking round by finishing fifth on a score of 605.

However, she lost a shoot-off to Britain’s Hazel Chaisty in her first elimination match after both players had each earned five set points.

Sidorenko and Chaisty both scored nine in the shoot-off, but Chaisty's arrow was closer to the centre of the target.

The RPC archer had earlier in her career won three team recurve silver medals at the World Archery Para Championships - two in the women’s team events at Donaueschingen in Germany in 2015 and the Chinese capital Beijing in 2017, and one in the mixed team in the first of those championships.

She has spinal cord injuries from a traffic accident.

Smirnov is 25, and reached the quarter-finals of the men’s individual recurve at Tokyo 2020, finishing third with 632 points in the ranking round and comfortably beating Bhutan’s Pema Rigsel 6-2 and Slovakia’s David Ivan 6-0 in the first two knockout rounds before he narrowly lost 6-4 to South Korea’s Kim.

At the 2017 World Championships in Beijing, Smirnov contributed to a men’s recurve team gold.

He lost his left leg after falling under a truck at the age of 10.

The team’s success was the RPC’s 36^th gold medal of Tokyo 2020.

The team of Bogdan Mozgovoi, Andrei Kalina, Alexander Skaliukh and Andrei Nikolaev finished in 4min 6.59sec to see off a late challenge from Australia in second.

Mozgovoi put the RPC in front after the first 100m by posting a time of 1:01.00, and legs from Kalina and Skaliukh kept them well in contention in second place - 1.99 seconds behind then leaders Italy with 100m to go.

An outstanding swim from Nikolaev in 57.70 seconds saw them eventually finish some 4.61 seconds in front of Italy in third, while Ben Popham’s final leg of 57.16 was not enough for the Australian team, who had to settle for bronze.

The quartet just missed out on the world record, also set by a team from Russia in 4:06.09 at the World Para Swimming Championships in 2015, and the Paralympic record of 4:06.44 set at Rio 2016 by China.

Earlier in the day at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, Andrei Gladkov, Daniil Smirnov, Dmitry Grigoryev and Denis Tarasov qualified the RPC for the final by winning the second heat in 4:18.70.

S9 swimmer Mozgovoi contributed to team golds in the men’s 4x100m medley 34 points relay at the most recent editions of the World Para Swimming Championships in London in 2019 and the European Championships held in Funchal in Portugal this May.

At Tokyo 2020, the 20-year-old also won the 100m backstroke S9 - an event in which he set a new world record in Funchal to become the current European champion, as he is in the men’s 4x100m freestyle 34 points relay.

Kalina secured his third gold medal of Tokyo 2020, and is the team’s most experienced member at the age of 34.

He clinched Paralympic titles in the 100m breaststroke SB8 for the fourth time and the 200m individual medley SM9 for the first time, having previously secured three silvers.

He has won nine gold medals at the World Championships, dating back to Durban in South Africa in 2006, and is currently world champion in all three of the individual and team events he won at Tokyo 2020.

Kalina is also European champion in the 100m breaststroke SB8 and 4x100m medley 34 points relay.

Twenty-seven-year-old Skaliukh was the only member of the team yet to win an individual gold at Tokyo 2020, although he did secure a bronze in the men’s 100m butterfly S9.

He is also reigning world and European champion in the 4x100m medley 34 points relay, one of five world golds.

The others came at Glasgow 2015 in the 50m and 100m freestyle S9, 100m butterfly S9 and the 4x100m freestyle 34 points relay.

Nikolaev won the men’s 400m freestyle S8 earlier at the Paralympics and silver in the 100m freestyle S8.

The 20-year-old is already world and European champion in the 400m freestyle S8 and the 4x100m medley 34 points relay.

Of the team that appeared in qualifying, three had already won Paralympic, world or European titles.

Gladkov secured three golds at Glasgow 2015 in this relay event, the 100m backstroke S7 and 400m freestyle.

Smirnov is the youngest member of the team at 19, and finished fifth in the 100m breaststroke SB8.

Grigoryev also contributed to the successful 4x100m medley 34 points relay team at Glasgow 2015, while Tarasov is a former Paralympic gold medallist in the S8 50m freestyle at London 2012 and a seven-time world champion.

The 22-year-old finished the race in 1min 31.44sec, more than three seconds clear of Jessica Long of the United States in second and Australia’s Tiffany Thomas Kane in third.

This was her second medal of the Paralympic Games, having secured a bronze in the SM8 200m individual medley.

Pavlova went to Tokyo 2020 as the SB7 100m breaststroke reigning European champion, having triumphed at Funchal in Portugal this May in the delayed European Para Swimming Championships.

She also contributed to a silver medal effort in the 4x100m medley 34 points relay and picked up bronze medals in the S8 50m freestyle and SM8 200m individual medley.

In the European Championships in Funchal in 2016, Pavlova earned seven medals, including gold in the S8 100m backstroke.

At the World Para Swimming Championships in London in 2019, Pavlova earned a podium finish in the SB7 100m breaststroke, finishing third.

She competes in S8, SB7 and SM8 events.

Pavlova took up the sport at the age of six in the Russian capital Moscow, where she was born and is still based, after being enrolled in classes by her parents to help her rehabilitation.

She was awarded the Master of Sport of International Class in the Russian Federation title in 2017.

Her gold at Tokyo 2020 was the RPC’s 13^th in the pool at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.

Kuznetsov completed the 79.2 kilometre race at the Fuji International Speedway in 2 hours 34min 35sec, pipping Heinz Frei of Switzerland to the gold at the finishing line during an incredibly close finale.

Walter Ablinger of Austria was 31 seconds behind the front two in securing bronze.

Kuznetsov became the second RPC rider to win a gold at Tokyo 2020, following on from Mikhail Astashov’s success in track and road cycling as he claimed the men’s C1 3,000m individual pursuit and C1 time trial.

It was perhaps the biggest win of Kuznetsov’s career, after previously appearing at three International Cycling Union (UCI) Para-cycling Road World Championships.

He finished seventh in both the men’s H3 road race and time trial at Cascais in Portugal this June, bettering his performances at Pietermaritzburg in South Africa and Emmen in the Netherlands in 2017 and 2019 respectively.

He is ranked seventh in the world by the UCI in the men’s H3 elite road Para-cycling.

Kuznetsov competes in the H3 class events, which are for athletes with a handcycle with impairments, including amputation or paralysis of the legs or motor function impairments.

The now 40-year-old took up the sport in 2015, and is now based in the Russian capital Moscow.

Kuznetsov has received the Master of Sport in the Russian Federation title.

On his first attempt, Taimazov threw 35.42 metres, beating Željko Dimitrijević’s previous world record of 34.71m.

Dimitrijević finished second at Tokyo 2020, and bettered his record on his third and fourth attempts with throws of 34.95m and 35.21m, but neither were enough to beat Taimazov.

Taimazov threw 34.40m, 34.47m and 34.75m on his other valid attempts.

The 37-year-old RPC Para athlete had previously secured a bronze medal in the men’s F51 club throw at the World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates in 2019.

He finished fourth in the European Para Athletics Championships in Bydgoszcz in Poland this June.

Taimazov acquired spinal cord injuries aged 20 in 2004 after diving into a lake.

He has previously played wheelchair rugby, representing Russia from 2012 to 2017 and winning the national championships three times.

The new Paralympic champion began Para athletics in Makhachkala in 2018.

He was born in the Kyakhulay district of Makhachkala.

Last year, Taimazov was awarded the Master of Sport of International Class in the Russian Federation title.

His success was the Russian Paralympic Committee’s 11^th gold medal in Para athletics at Tokyo 2020 and its 32^nd of the Games overall, moving it up to second in the medal table.

The 16-year-old clinched victory in 29.91sec at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, with Brazil's Cecilia Kethlen Jeronimo de Araujo 0.92sec behind in second and Italy's Xenia Francesca Palazzo finishing third in 31.17sec.

Earlier in the day, Ishchiulova won the first qualifying heat in 30.35sec.

Ishchiulova is the reigning European champion across four events, after she earned gold medals in the S8 50m freestyle, S8 100m backstroke, SB8 100m breaststroke and SM8 200m individual medley at the delayed championships in Funchal in Portugal in May 2021.

She also secured silvers in the S8 100m freestyle and 4x100m medley 34 points relay, as well as a bronze in the S9 100m butterfly.

Shortly after making her international debut, Ishchiulova clinched bronze medals in the S8 100m butterfly and SM8 200m individual medley at the World Para Athletics Championships in London in 2019.

Ishchiulova has a limb deficiency as she was born without her right arm.

She first took up swimming in 2012.

The Para-swimmer who was born and based in Orsk was named among the Best Athletes of the Year in the Orenburg region in 2018.

Last year, she was awarded the Master of Sport of International Class in the Russian Federation title.

Lipatnikova threw a personal best 11.03 metres on her second attempt. All five of her valid throws would have been enough to beat closest challenger Miriam Martinez Rico of Spain, who earned silver with a 9.62m throw.

The 37-year-old Russian picked up silver at the World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates in 2019, when she threw 10.36m.

At the European Para Athletics Championships in Grosseto in 2016, Lipatnikova secured a silver in the F35/36 shot put.

Lipatnikova has cerebral palsy, and took up the sport in 2013 at the age of 29 in Perm, the city where she was born and is still based.

The new Paralympic champion has also played darts, receiving the Master of Sport in darts title, and competed in Para-swimming at a regional level.

She began competing internationally in Para-athletics in 2016.

In 2015, she received the Overcoming Award in the Perm region, and last year was awarded the Master of Sport of International Class in the Russian Federation title.

Lipatnikova is the fourth shot putter from the RPC to win gold at Tokyo 2020, following the successes of Vladimir Sviridov, Albert Khinchagov and Denis Gnezdilov in the men's F36, F37 and F40 events respectively.

Vdovin's time of 49.34sec saw him become the first man to break the 50 second barrier in this event.

His closest challenger was the United States' Nick Mayhugh with 50.26sec, while the RPC secured a second spot on the podium as Chermen Kobesov finished third in 50.44sec.

Earlier at Tokyo 2020, Vdovin was the RPC's flagbearer at the Opening Ceremony.

He also earned a silver in the men's T37 100m, setting a new European record of 11.18sec. He missed out on gold to a world record of 10.95sec from Mayhugh.

Vdovin has been a leading competitor in the T37 sprint events for several years, winning nine gold medals across three World Para Athletics Championships.

At Doha 2015 and Dubai 2019, he clinched gold medals in all three of the T37 100m, 200m and 400m races.

In 2013 in the French city of Lyon, he triumphed in the T37 100m and 200m, and contributed to the Russian team winning the T35-38 4x100m relay.

In Dubai in 2019, Vdovin set a world record time of 50.45sec in the T37 400m event, which stood until he bettered it at Tokyo 2020.

Vdovin also enjoyed success at the European Para Athletics Championships in Bydgoszcz in Poland in June 2021, clinching gold medals in the T37 100m, 200m and 400m to go alongside his world titles.

The 27-year-old has cerebral palsy and began training aged 10 in Dzerzhinsk, where he was born and is still based.

His international debut came in 2013, and he earned the Second Breath prize at the Return to Life Awards in the same year, which honour Russia's Para-athletes.

In 2014, with the Winter Paralympic Games held in Russia in Sochi, Vdovin carried the Paralympic Torch in Nizhny Novgorod.

At the RPC Return to Life Awards in 2019, Vdovin was granted the By Personal Example prize, and he holds the Honoured Master of Sport in the Russian Federation title.

Vdovin's gold was the RPC's ninth in Para-athletics at Tokyo 2020.

The RPC was fourth after the first leg from male swimmer Ilnur Garipov, before female swimmers Anna Krivshina and Daria Pikalova moved the team into third and then second.

Vladimir Sotnikov took the final leg which he completed in 54.45sec to overtake Brazil, who had led after the previous three legs.

The gold medallists finished the relay in 3min 53.79sec.

This was 1.16 seconds better than Brazil, who secured silver after opting to start with two male swimmers and finish with two females. Ukraine came third in 3:55.15.

All four members of the RPC team have vision impairments.

Garipov is a S11 swimmer, who switched to the sport from cross-country skiing at the age of 11 in his home city of Ufa after losing his vision.

The 21-year-old finished fifth in the second qualifying heat of the men's S11 50m freestyle.

Krivshina had already secured an individual medal at the Games with a silver in the women's S13 50m freestyle, but missed out on gold by just 0.24sec to Brazil's Maria Carolina Gomes Santiago.

She had broken the Paralympic record in the first qualifying heat with a time of 27.25sec, and bettered it in the final with 27.06, but Gomes Santiago finished in 26.82 to clinch the title.

Krivshina is the reigning European champion in the S13 50m freestyle after winning in Funchal in Portugal.

At the World Championships, the 25-year-old won that event at Glasgow 2015, and is a three-time champion in the S12 or S13 100m backstroke.

The relay success was Pikalova's fourth medal at Tokyo 2020.

She secured silver in the women’s S12 100m freestyle and S12 100m backstroke, as well as bronze in the S13 200m individual medley.

She missed out on the gold by just 0.12 and 0.32 seconds respectively in the two events in which she finished second.

Pikalova had previously won silver in the S12 100m butterfly at London 2012, on top of three bronze medals at that edition of the Paralympic Games.

The 27-year-old, the most senior member of the relay team, has won seven gold medals at the World Para Swimming World Championships, and triumphed in the S12 50m and 100m freestyle and 100m backstroke at the European Championships in Funchal in Portugal in May 2021.

The youngest member of the team is Sotnikov, who at the age of 17 had already earned a bronze in the men's S13 100m backstroke at Tokyo 2020.

The 20-year-old clinched his first Paralympic gold in a time of 4min 25.16sec, staving off the challenge from Italy's Alberto Amodeo, who was 0.77 behind in second.

Nikolaev started strongly by completing the first 50m in 29.48sec, and finished well with a time of 32.88sec in the final 50m.

Earlier in the morning, Nikolaev topped the second qualifying heat in 4:31.88.

In the men's S8 100m freestyle at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, Nikolaev had already earned a silver medal, finishing just 0.32 seconds behind the winner Ben Popham of Australia.

He also helped the RPC to finish fifth in the men's 4x100m freestyle 34 points relay.

Born and based in Salavat, the Para-swimmer took up the sport aged six, and made his international debut in 2016.

Before Tokyo he enjoyed success at the most recent editions of the European and World Championships.

At the World Para Swimming Championships in London in 2019, Nikolaev earned gold medals in the S8 400m freestyle and the 4x100m medley 34 points relay, as well as a bronze in the S8 100m freestyle.

He also narrowly missed out on medals in the 4x100m freestyle 34 points relay and the S8 50m freestyle.

At the delayed 2020 World Para Swimming European Championships in Funchal in Portugal, held in May 2021, Nikolaev secured two gold and two silver medals.

He triumphed in the men's S8 400m freestyle and 4x100m medley 34 points relay, and finished second in the S8 50m and 100m freestyle events.

In 2020, he was awarded the title of Honoured Master of Sport in the Russian Federation.

Sviridov had previously thrown 16.32 metres at the World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai in 2019, but, with his fourth attempt in the Paralympic final, recorded 16.45m.

He then bettered this again on his sixth and final attempt with 16.67m.

His nearest challengers were Yassine Guenichi of Tunisia with a new African record of 15.12m and Sebastian Dietz of Germany with his season best of 14.81m.

Thirty-one-year-old Sviridov was the second RPC shot putter to clinch victory at the Paralympics, with Albert Khinchagov triumphing in the men's F37 event.

This was Sviridov's second Paralympic medal, after he previously secured bronze in the men's F36 long jump at London 2012.

He has won world titles in both long jump and shot put.

The first of these came at Christchurch in New Zealand in 2011, when he triumphed in the T36 long jump. At the same event he was also the F35/36 shot put silver medallist.

Two years later in the French city of Lyon, Sviridov went one better to earn gold in the F36 shot put. He added another silver medal in that event in the Qatari capital of Doha in 2015.

He won gold for a second time at Dubai in in the United Arab Emirates, when he set a world record.

Sviridov is a two-time European champion in the F36 shot put, triumphing at Swansea 2014 and Grosseto 2016. He had to settle for silver at Bydgoszcz in Poland in 2021, finishing second to his compatriot Alan Kokoity's championship record throw of 15.92m.

The new Paralympic champion has cerebral palsy.

He first took up Para-athletics in his home city of Novocherkassk at the age of 12, and made his international debut in 2008.

Sviridov is now based in Rostov-on-Don.

His performances at London 2012 saw him awarded the Order for Merits to the Fatherland (second grade) in the Russian Federation, and he is also a Honoured Master of Sport in the Russian Federation.

The reigning European champion crossed the finishing line in 3min 54.04sec, edging out Tunisia's Rouay Jebabli by 0.51 seconds, while Jaryd Clifford of Australia came third with a time of 3:54.69.

Kuliatin's compatriots Aleksandr Kostin and Egor Sharov were also in contention, finishing fourth and fifth respectively.

The 30-year-old secured his first Paralympic title, but arrived at Tokyo 2020 in fine form after strong performances on the European and world stage in recent years.

At the World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai in 2019, Kuliatin was denied a gold medal only by Clifford's then-world record time of 3:47.78, finishing just 0.13 seconds further back in silver medal position.

However, he went one better at the European Championships in Bydgoszcz in Poland in June 2021, setting a new European record of 3:46.97 to clinch first place, with Sharov just under three seconds behind in second.

Kuliatin also competed in the T12 400m at the most recent editions of the European and World Championships, securing a bronze in Bydgoszcz with a new personal best of 50.49sec.

The T11 to T13 Para-athletics events are for competitors with vision impairments, which Kuliatin has had since childhood before being diagnosed with optic atrophy in 2013.

He began running at the age of 17 in his home city of Biysk, which he combined with playing amateur football, before switching to athletics after his optic atrophy diagnosis.

Kuliatin's wife Alla Kuliatina is also an athlete, winning gold for Russia at the 2015 Summer Universiade in Gwangju in South Korea in the women's 10,000m.

The new Paralympic champion has been awarded the title of Master of Sport of International Class in the Russian Federation.

Prokhorov edged out rival Vinicius Goncalves Rodrigues in a dramatic final as the Brazilian closed in quickly in the final metres.

Prokhorov was able to hold off Rodrigues' challenge, however, and broke his own world record on the way to the gold medal, running 12.04sec, lowering the world record by 0.11 seconds.

Rodrigues, whose personal best of 11.95 is a 100m T63 world record, finished just 0.01 seconds behind to claim the silver medal.

Léon Gabrial Schäfer of Germany claimed the bronze medal in 12.22.

Prior to the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, Prokhorov's greatest achievement came in the 2015 International Paralympic Committee Athletics World Championships in Doha, where he won a silver medal in the 100m and 200m T42.

He also won a bronze medal in the 4x100m T42-T47 relay in the same Championships.

Prokhorov won the silver medal in the 100m T63 at the 2021 World Para Athletics European Championships.

Born in Ishim in the south of Tyumen Oblast, Prokhorov took up sprinting in 2009.

He carried the Paralympic Torch in Biysk before the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi and has received the title of Master of Sport of International Class in the Russian Federation.

Torsunov jumped a Paralympic record 5.76 metres, going 14 centimetres further than Brazil's Rodrigo Parreira da Silva, who set the record in winning gold at Rio 2016 and finished fifth in Tokyo.

William Stedman of New Zealand claimed the silver medal, 12 metres behind Torsunov, and Roman Pavlyk of Ukraine claimed bronze.

Torsunov, who is the world record holder in the event at 5.93m, set a steady pace, jumping 5.57m with his first attempt.

He went one centimetre further in the third round, which took him into the gold medal position, before compounding his lead and securing gold with his Paralympic record jump in the fourth round.

Torsunov is a two-time world champion, having won long jump T36 gold at the 2019 and 2015 International Paralympic Committee Athletics World Championships.

In 2015, Torsunov also claimed silver in the 100 metres T36 and bronze in the 200m T36.

The 31-year-old did not take up para athletics until he was 24 and initially started as a sprinter, saying, as reported by Olympics.com: "I Just like running".

In 2015 and 2019 he was named among the Best Para Athletes of the Year in the Perm region.

He has received the title of Honoured Master of Sport in the Russian Federation.

Safronov, a four-time world champion, ran 11.39sec, breaking the 11.77 world record he, his team-mate Artem Kalashian and Ukraine's Ihor Tsvietov shared.

Kalashian finished in the bronze-medal position, breaking his personal best - and the former world record - in 11.75.

Another RPC athlete, David Dzhatiev, finished fourth in 11.82, also setting his personal best (PB).

In the 200m, Safronov followed up his earlier success with another storming run, clocking 23.00, breaking Tsvietov's world record by 0.04 seconds.

Kalashian again finished in the bronze-medal position, once again setting a new PB of 23.75.

Safronov is a four-time world champion, having won 100m and 200m T35 gold in Lyon in France in 2013 and in Doha in Qatar in 2015.

In the 2019 International Paralympic Committee Athletics World Championships, he won a silver and a bronze in the 200m T35 and 100m T35 respectively.

Safronov claimed the European title earlier this year, edging out Kalashian as the pair both broke the world record.

Born in Dzerzhinsk in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, where he is still based, Safronov took up sprinting at 16 due to his football coach.

"The main reason was the coach," he said via Olympics.com. 

"I played football and she taught athletics and physical training with us at the same time. 

"She spotted my talent and encouraged me to run."

He holds the title of Honoured Master of Sport in the Russian Federation for his sporting achievements.

The 21-year-old, who was the world record holder entering the Games, set a Paralympic record of 1min 1.65sec as he powered his way to the gold medal.

Mozgovoi did not get the fastest start, turning in fifth position, but came through in the closing 50 metres, beating Bealrus' Yahor Shchalkanau by 0.31 seconds.

Timothy Hodge of Australia took bronze.

Mozgovoi, who was born and is still based in Ufa in the Republic of Bashkortostan, qualified second fastest behind Shchalkanau.

He shaved exactly one second off his time in the heats to leapfrog Shchalkanau in the final.

The world record holder set the fastest ever time at the delayed 2021 European Para Swimming Championships in Madeira in Portugal earlier this year. 

His 1:01.68 swim was enough to take gold - his second of the Championships alongside victory in the 4x100m medley relay 34 points.

In those Championships, he also won bronze in the 50m freestyle S9 and 100m freestyle S9.

In the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships in London, Mozgovoi won gold in the 4x100m medley relay 34 points - his second world title in the event after the Russian team won in 2015 in Glasgow - and bronze in the 100m freestyle S9.

In 2017, he received the title of Honoured Master of Sport in the Russian Federation.

He was also one of three winners of the Sport Without Frontiers prize at the 2013 and 2014 Youth of the Nation Awards in the region of Bashkortostan.

Cherniaev was dominant from the off, turning first in 41.84 seconds, before powering down the final 50 metres to break a nine-year world record set by Daniel de Faria Dias at London 2012 by more than a quarter of a second.

The 21-year-old finished almost four seconds clear of his closest competitor, Moisés Fuentes García of Colombia, and moved RPC into third in the medal standings.

Fellow RPC athlete Alexander Molkov finished fourth after Cherniaev qualified fastest in 1:33.42.

Cherniaev won SB4 100m breaststroke gold at the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships in London and was named among the top 10 para athletes in the Chelyabinsk region in 2020 and among the top 10 athletes in the Chelyabinsk region in 2019.

In 2020, he won the SB4 100m breaststroke European title and received the title of Honoured Master of Sport in the Russian Federation.

Cherniaev took up the sport as a nine-year-old in Chelyabinsk, his parents enrolling him in the sport after meeting a coach at a local meet.

Gnezdilov led the field from moment one, throwing 11.02m with his first attempt.

That would have been good enough for gold until Iraq's Garrah Tnaiash produced a sensational final throw of 11.15m, breaking the former world record. 

Gnezdilov, though, with his final attempt, bettered that mark by one centimetre, breaking the world record once again and winning gold.

"It's gorgeous," said Gnezdilov. 

"It's the best mood possible. 

"These are the Paralympic Games.

"I won them and with a world record on top of everything. 

"This is the best thing to happen in my life."

The 34-year-old, who suffers from congenital disorder and is classified as a "person of short stature", competes in events restricted to men under 130cm, only took up the sport in 2015 after being introduced to it by an athletics coach in Sochi.

Within four years, he won shot put F40 gold at the 2019 International Paralympic Committee Athletics World Championships in Dubai, following this up with gold in Tokyo at his first Paralympics.

He only made his international debut earlier in 2019, competing for Russia in the Grosseto Grand Prix.

In 2020, he received the title of Honoured Master of Sport in the Russian Federation.

The Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC) athlete finished in a time of 3min 52.08sec at the Olympic Stadium, edging past Hristiyan Stoyanov of Bulgaria to win by 0.55sec.

Iaremchuk is the reigning European champion in the event having won it at Bydgoszcz in Poland in June 2021 in a championship record of 3:51.91, and clinched a bronze at the World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai in 2019.

His victory in Bydgoszcz was his second European title, having also earned gold at Grosseto in Italy in 2016.

This was Iaremchuk’s debut at the Summer Paralympic Games, but he has previously appeared at the Winter equivalent on home soil at Sochi 2014.

Now 26, Iaremchuk competed in the men’s cross-country skiing 10-kilometre standing event and three biathlon events at Sochi 2014, coming closest to a medal with a fifth-place finish in the men’s 7.5km standing.

Iaremchuk has also appeared at two Nordic Skiing World Championships in Solleftea in Sweden in 2014 and Cable in the United States a year later.

He was born in Shangaly, where he took up Para athletics, and is now based in Saint Petersburg.

Iaremchuk is missing his left forearm, with T46 races in Para athletics for those whose primary impairments are affecting their shoulder or elbow joint.

Iaremchuk’s training consists of two runs per day, and his philosophy is: " You need to be confident in yourself, otherwise nothing will work out.

"You should know that you are doing everything right and trust your coach."

He holds the titles of Master of Sport of International Class in both Para athletics and Para Nordic skiing.

Prokofeva triumphed over four games in the final at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, defeating France’s Lea Ferney 11-4, 8-11, 11-8, 11-5.

This came after she fought from behind in the semi-finals to defeat Hong Kong’s Wong Ting-ting 9-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-8.

In Group A, Prokofeva won all three matches in straight games, overcoming Poland’s Krystyna Lysiak, Hong Kong’s Ng Mui-wui and Japan’s Maki Ito.

Fifty-year-old Prokofeva is a two-time world and three-time European champion.

Her world titles came in the women’s class 11 team event in the Slovakian capital Bratislava in 2017, and the singles event in Laško in Slovenia a year later.

In 2019, Prokofeva won both the women’s class 11 singles and team events in Helsingborg in Sweden, following up a team success and singles silver in Laško two years earlier.

Prokofeva has an intellectual impairment which sees her compete in class 11 Para table tennis tournaments.

She was born in Dushanbe in March 1971, which at the time was part of the Soviet Union and is now the capital of Tajikistan, and is based in Ufa in Russia.

Prokofeva took up the sport aged nine in 1980, and made her international debut for Russia in 2014.

Her appearance in the Japanese capital was a Paralympics debut, and her philosophy is "never give up."

The Candidate for Master of Sport title is included among her honours.

Granichka finished in 1min 25.13sec, beating Antoni Ponce Bertran by 1.40 seconds in the race and eclipsing the Spaniard’s previous world record by 0.33 seconds.

The 24-year-old had earlier broken the Paralympic record in the first qualifying heat by more than three seconds with a time of 1:28.20.

He arrived at Tokyo 2020 with a long list of honours to his name, including five podium finishes at each of the World Para Swimming Championships and European Championships.

At the World Championships in London in 2019, Granichka triumphed in the SB5 100m breaststroke and SM6 200m individual medley, as well as winning a silver medal in the S6 400m freestyle - the same colour medal he won on his international debut at Glasgow 2015 alongside a bronze in the SB5 100m breaststroke.

More recently, in May 2021 at the delayed European Championships in Funchal in Portugal, Granichka won the S6 50m butterfly and SM6 200m individual medley titles, as well as silvers in the S6 400m freestyle, SB5 100m breaststroke and mixed 4x50m medley 20 points relay.

A gold medal on his Paralympic debut can now take pride of place alongside those achievements.

Granichka had earned his maiden Paralympic medal earlier at Tokyo 2020, finishing second in the SM5 200m individual medley.

He took up Para swimming in his home city of Sevastopol in 2005, and cites his parents and his coach Irina Mashchenko as big influences.

The new Paralympic champion’s training routine consists of three to five hours of workouts six days a week.

Khinchagov set a personal record of 15.78 metres on his first attempt, which nobody could match.

His other three legal attempts would also have been enough to clinch the title, throwing 15.69m, 15.76m and 15.77m.

Tunisia’s Ahmed Ben Moslah was his closest challenger with a new African record of 14.50m.

Khinchagov arrived at Tokyo 2020 as the European and world champion.

At the World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai in 2019, Khinchagov won the F37 shot put event with a distance of 15.25m.

At Bydgoszcz in Poland in June of this year, Khinchagov threw 15.19m to earn gold.

The 24-year-old can now add success on his Paralympic debut to that honours list.

F37 events are for Para athletes with coordination impairments.

Born and based in Vladikavkaz, Khinchagov took up shot put aged 18, inspired by the achievements of Gocha Khugaev who won gold at London 2012 in the T37-38 long jump.

He has sporting pedigree within his family, as his second cousin Khetag Khinchagov was a silver medallist at the World Championships in Dubai in the T38 long jump and a gold medallist in the same event at the European Championships in Bydgoszcz.

The new F37 shot put Paralympic champion was awarded the Honoured Master of Sport distinction last year.

He cites as his hero David Storl of Germany, a two-time shot put world champion and silver medallist at the London 2012 Olympic Games, with coach Valery Gagloev his biggest influence.

They defeated the Chinese team 45-39 in the gold medal match at the Makuhari Messe in Chiba to become Paralympic champions.

The RPC had lost their first match of the day 45-38 to China in the preliminary pool one, but beat Iraq 45-29 and Italy 45-18 to progress to the semi-finals, where they overcame Britain 45-35.

They then avenged the defeat to China in the final, winning four of the last five relays in the bout.

Tian Jianquan and Sun Gang scored five points to their opponents Shaburov and Kuzyukov’s four to put China into an early 10-8 lead, but an impressive display from Yusupov saw him score seven touches to Hu Daoliang’s one to put his team 15-11 ahead.

Tian hit back with nine touches to Kuzyukov’s one, but Shaburov’s 8-1 triumph over Hu gave the RPC a lead which they did not relinquish.

Yusupov edged Sun 6-5 and Kuzyukov saw off Hu 5-4 to give their team a 35-30 advantage.

The deficit was cut to four points by Tian against Yusupov, before Shaburov’s five touches to Sun’s three reached the 45 points required to win the Paralympic title.

All three team members who competed in the final were part of the épée team that won gold at the Wheelchair Fencing World Championships at Rome in 2017 and Cheongju in 2019, and at the European Championships in Terni in Italy in 2018.

This was Kuzyukov’s second gold of Tokyo 2020, having triumphed in the men’s individual épée category B event.

Kuzyukov has spinal cord injuries after being hit by a beam on a construction site at the age of 18, losing the use of his legs in the incident.

He won the individual épée category B world title at Budapest in 2013, where he also won team épée silver.

Born in Maryanovka and now based in Omsk, the now-34-year-old first took up the sport in 2009 and made his international debut in 2011, competing at the London 2012 Paralympics.

Shaburov and Yusupov are both category A wheelchair fencers.

The former was a silver medallist in the individual épée category A event at Tokyo 2020, and became individual épée and sabre category A world champion at Rome 2017, and individual épée category A European champion at Terni 2018.

Shaburov has also won two silvers in the men’s team sabre and two bronzes in épée and sabre team events at the World Championships.

He is second in the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation (IWAS) men’s épée category A world rankings.

Born and based in Novosibirsk, the 25-year-old has cerebral palsy and took up wheelchair fencing aged 14.

Yusupov is just behind him in third in the IWAS men’s épée category A world rankings and is the oldest member of the team at 37.

He reached the quarter-finals of the individual épée category A event at this, his second Paralympic Games, losing to Sun.

At London 2012, Yusupov just missed out on a medal in the individual épée category A event, finishing fourth.

As well as his two team golds at the World Championships, Yusupov earned a silver in the individual épée category A at Cheongju 2019.

He has also won three silvers in team events and seven bronzes at the World Championships during his career and contributed to épée and foil team successes at the Terni 2018 European Championships.

Yusupov lost his leg in 1999 and took up wheelchair fencing for the first time in 2002.

He made his international debut in 2010.

Standby Nagaev, aged 27, also entered the men’s individual foil and sabre category A events at Tokyo 2020, reaching the quarter-finals of the latter competition.

He won gold at the European Championships in 2018 in the men’s team foil, an event he won silver and bronze in at the World Championships in 2017 and 2019 respectively.

Nagaev began fencing in 2002, taking up wheelchair fencing in 2016 following his impairment.

The team’s gold was the RPC’s eighth at Tokyo 2020.

Kalina also triumphed in the SB8 100m breaststroke at Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012 while competing for Ukraine, meaning he now has five Paralympic gold medals and two since switching allegiance to the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC).

In the Chinese capital, the Para-swimmer set what remains as a world and Paralympic record of 1min 07.01sec in the SB8 100m breaststroke.

In the final in Tokyo, Kalina was just short of that record with a time of 1:07.24, but he still beat nearest challenger Oscar Salguero Galisteo of Spain by 2.67 seconds.

Earlier in the day, Kalina won the second heat to qualify for the final in 1:08.46.

In the SM9 200m individual medley he edged a close final, finishing in 2:14.90 to see off the challenge from Australia's Timothy Hodge by 0.52 seconds.

Kalina was fourth at the halfway stage, but a strong second half to the race, including a 32.80 second split for the final 50m, saw him earn a second gold medal of the Games.

The 34-year-old had qualified for the final in third in a time of 2:21.39 in the second heat.

He has won nine golds at the World Para Swimming Championships, the first of which was in the SB8 100m breaststroke in the South African city of Durban in 2006.

Kalina has won that event five times at the World Championships, following up his first success with golds at Eindhoven 2010, Montreal 2013, Glasgow 2015 and London 2019.

He also travelled to Tokyo as the reigning world champion in the SM9 200m individual medley after his victory in London, having previously earned four silver medals in the event.

Golds in the 4x100m medley 34 points relay in 2015 and 2019 are also counted among his titles, while he contributed to a Russian 4x100m freestyle 34 points relay win in Glasgow.

Kalina is the reigning SB8 100m breaststroke European champion as well, having clinched victory in Funchal in Portugal in May 2021.

He was a part of the Russian team that won the 4x100m medley 34 points relay at the event, and also picked up a silver in the SM9 200m individual medley.

Kalina was born without a left forearm in Sloviansk in Ukraine, where he took up the sport aged 12.

Now based in Saint Petersburg, Kalina began competing for Russia in 2015.

He has been awarded the Honoured Master of Sport title in Ukraine and Russia.

The Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC) competitor proved too strong for Brazil’s Jovane Guissone, the London 2012 champion and ranked second in the world by the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation (IWAS).

Kuzyukov reeled off five successive points to storm into an 8-2 lead in the gold medal bout.

Kuzyukov extended his advantage to 11-3 and 12-4, before sealing the contest 15-8.

In the semi-final against Belarus’ defending champion Andrei Pranevich, Kuzyukov had trailed 13-8 but won seven consecutive points at the end of the match to progress to the final.

He thrashed China’s Daoliang Hu 15-5 and qualified from the preliminary pool one by winning five of his six bouts.

Kuzyukov began the day with a 5-2 victory over Iraq’s Ammar Ali, before thrashing Canada’s Pierre Mainville and Japan’s Michinobu Fujita 5-1 and beating Yohan Peter of France 5-3.

Dimitri Coutya of Britain, ranked first in the world by IWAS, inflicted Kuzyukov’s only defeat at the Makuhari Messe in Chiba by five points to three, but he bounced back in his final preliminary round bout by coming from 3-1 down to see off Ukraine’s Anton Datsko 5-4.

Kuzyukov has spinal cord injuries after being hit by a beam on a construction site at the age of 18, losing the use of his legs in the incident.

He competes in category B events for Para athletes whose impairment affects their trunk or fencing arm.

The wheelchair fencer, who was born in Maryanovka and is now based in the Russian city of Omsk, competed at the Paralympics at London 2012.

He was individual champion in the épée category B at the Wheelchair Fencing World Championships in Budapest in 2013 and also won team golds at Rome 2017 and Cheongju 2019.

He also won a team épée silver in 2013, as well as three bronzes at the World Championships since Catania 2011.

At the Wheelchair Fencing European Championships, Kuzyukov won an épée team gold at Terni in Italy in 2018, as well as an individual épée category B bronze.

Kuzyukov took up the sport in 2009 and made his international debut two years later.

The new Paralympic champion has also served as public council President of the United Country-Accessible Environment project in the Omsk region, which aims to make the area more accessible for people with impairments and make their lives "more comfortable."

His philosophy is "never surrender," and the Honoured Master of Sport in the Russian Federation title is included among his honours.

The 32-year-old lapped Canada's Tristen Chernove in the final at the Izu Velodrome, earning the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC) a maiden gold of the Games.

Astashov had earlier smashed the world record in qualifying with a time of 3min 35.954sec, at an average speed of 50.011 kilometres per hour.

China's Li Zhangyu set the previous world record at the International Cycling Union (UCI) Para-Cycling Track World Championships in Milton in Canada with 3:45.469 - Astashov's time was nearly 10 seconds quicker.

Li had also set the Paralympic record of 3:50.373 at Rio 2016.

Astashov was on track to better his new world record in the final, completing the first kilometre in 1:11.464 and passing the 2,000m mark at 2:20.628 - both faster than his equivalent times in the qualifier earlier in the day.

However, the gold medal was secured when Astashov overtook Chernove.

He narrowly missed out on a medal in the men's track cycling C1-3 1000m time trial, but added a road cycling gold in the C1 time trial at Fuji International Speedway.

Astashov's time of 24:53.37 was 2.03 seconds quicker than the United States' Aaron Keith, while Germany's Michael Teuber - a five-time Paralympic gold medallist - finished third, 5.30 seconds behind the RPC rider.

Astashov was born in Khandagatay, and is now based in Yekaterinburg in Russia.

He has a limb deficiency, competing in the C1 class for Para-athletes with the most severe limitations in their lower or upper limbs.

The Tokyo 2020 double champion only took up Para-cycling in 2019, having previously competed in Para-triathlon.

In the road discipline of Para-cycling, Astashov has featured at the last two UCI Para Cycling Road World Championships.

At Emmen in the Netherlands in 2019, Astashov finished ninth in the men's C1 time trial and did not finish the C1 road race, while at Cascais in Portugal in June this year he finished second and third in those events respectively.

Astashov also competes in Para-triathlon, representing his country at the 2018 European Championships in Tartu in Estonia, where he finished ninth in the men PTS2 event.

He won Russia's Para Triathlon National Championships in 2019 and 2020, as well as the World Triathlon Para Cup event in A Coruña in Spain in June 2021.

Astashov has been awarded the Master of Sport distinction in Russia.

Zhdanov smashed the previous record set by Italy’s Efrem Morelli in the 50m SB3 breaststroke by exactly one second, completing the final in 46.49sec.

Spain’s Miguel Luque was 2.59 further back in second as Zhdanov, who was born in Gorno-Altaysk and is now based in nearby Biysk, cruised to victory.

The Para swimmer has cerebral palsy, and this was his first Paralympic medal.

The second followed shortly afterwards in the 150m SM4 individual medley.

In the final, Zhdanov beat his own world record by more than a second, finishing the race in 2min 21.17sec.

Israel’s Ami Omer Dadaon was more than eight seconds back in the silver medal position.

He then won his third gold medal in the 50m backstroke S4, setting his third world record of the Games.

Zhdanov powered clear of the Czech Republic's Arnošt Petráček to win in 40.99, breaking his old world record by over half a second.

He also secured a bronze medal in the 100m freestyle S4 at what has been a wonderful Tokyo 2020.

The 23-year-old was the reigning European champion in his two gold medal events, and he also triumphed in the 50m backstroke S4 in Funchal in Portugal in the delayed European Championships held in May this year.

He added silvers in the 100m and 200m freestyle S4, and a bronze in the 50m freestyle S4 at the championships.

At the World Para Swimming Championships, Zhdanov has won five golds.

Three of those came at London in the 100m and 200m freestyle S4 and 150m individual medley SM4, having also won the latter title at Glasgow 2015 alongside a triumph in the 50m backstroke S4.

At London 2019, Zhdanov earned bronze from a race in which Morelli set a world record, which stood until it was broken by Zhdanov at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.

Zhdanov has finished on the podium 12 times at the World Championships, winning two silvers at Glasgow 2015, four bronze medals at London 2019 and one from four years earlier, to go with his five gold medals at the Worlds.

Having made his international debut at the European Championships in Eindhoven in the Netherlands in 2014, Zhdanov also received the title of Honoured Master of Sport in the Russian Federation in 2017.

The race proved an exciting one, with 20-year-old Gontar earning her first Paralympic medal at the expense of The Netherlands’ Chantalle Zijderveld, who finished just 0.04sec behind in second.

Gontar’s time of 27.38 fell only 0.01 short of the world record set by Canada’s Aurelie Rivard at the Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

The Surgut-born swimmer had been the fastest qualifier for the final in the heats, finishing in 27.48.

Since childhood, Gontar has had scoliosis, which causes a curvature of the spine, and underwent an operation in 2014 at the age of 13 to insert titanium screws into her back.

Gontar has previously spoken of the pain the condition caused her, explaining, "I had a hump on my back and my height was decreased by 10 centimetres," and "I would not wish it on anyone."

She has also described the difficulties she faced after the operation, and paid tribute to her coach and parents for believing in her.

The Paralympian has said she continued to swim because of her love for the sport, which she began aged five.

Gontar’s philosophy is "do not give in to difficulties. 

"Overcome all obstacles."

She has been awarded the Master of Sport of International Class honour in Russia.

Medicine is cited as one of her hobbies, a subject which Gontar studies at Surgut State University.

In her first event at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, a sensational performance saw Shabalina break her own world record with a time of 1min 3.59sec in the final, beating her previous best of 1:03.68 set at the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships in London.

The swimmer from Chelyabinsk dominated the race, beating Australia's runner-up Paige Leonhardt by 1.89sec, despite the silver medallist having the quickest reaction time of the eight finalists.

It topped a brilliant morning for Shabalina, who had recorded the fastest time in qualifying for the final, with 1:05.37 seeing her stave off Leonhardt to win the second heat.

This was Shabalina's first Paralympic medal, but she did not have to wait long for her second, triumphing in the S14 200m freestyle final.

Her time of 2:03.71 beat Britain's world and Paralympic record holder Bethany Firth by 0.28 seconds and secured the RPC's seventh gold of Tokyo 2020 and its fifth in the pool.

The Para-swimmer had qualified for the final by winning the second heat in 2:09.55.

Shabalina's third gold arrived in the SM14 200m individual medley, with her time of 2:20.99 beating the reigning champion and Paralympic record holder Firth by 2.20 seconds.

She had enjoyed success at a number of notable events that had her well positioned going into Tokyo 2020.

Shabalina is the reigning world champion in each of the three events she won at Tokyo 2020, triumphing in all three at London in 2019.

She also won two silvers in the S14 100m backstroke and S14 4x100m freestyle relay at the same World Championships, as well as a bronze in the S14 100m breaststroke.

At the Glasgow World Championships in 2015, Shabalina won golds in the SM14 200m individual medley and S14 200m freestyle, as well as silvers in the S14 100m backstroke and SB14 100m breaststroke.

The S14, SB14 and SM14 category swimming events are for athletes with an intellectual impairment.

Shabalina also won 10 gold medals at the International Sports Federation for Persons with Intellectual Disability (INAS) Global Games in Brisbane in 2019, as well as three silvers and one bronze, and 11 golds at the INAS European Swimming Championships at Villejuif in France in 2018.

She had made her international debut at the World Para Swimming European Championships in Eindhoven in 2014, winning three golds which she retained at Funchal in Portugal in 2016.

Her time of 2:18.37 at Funchal remains a world record in the SM14 200m individual medley.

Shabalina also holds the title of Honoured Master of Sport in the Russian Federation.