L.A. Mayor Karen Bass receives Paralympic flag at closing ceremony
SAINT-DENIS, France — This time, it really is au revoir.
A summer sporting bonanza that started under pouring rain July 26 with a remarkable opening ceremony on the Seine River was ending Sunday with the Paralympics closing at a rain-soaked Stade de France.
It lowers the curtain on successful back-to-back events that captivated fans and raised the bar high for others to follow. Good luck, Los Angeles, in 2028.
As the stadium was lighted up in the blue, white and red colors of the French national flag, a trumpet player played the national anthem “La Marseillaise” and Paralympic flagbearers then made their way into the stadium carrying national flags to the sound of “Chariots of Fire” by Vangelis.
“Everyone can see what an inclusive world is like,” Tony Estanguet, the head of the Paris Olympics in 2024, said in his closing speech. “Now there is no turning back.”
International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons, who handed off the Paralympic flag to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, said France excelled itself as a host in both Games.
The crowd clapped along to a breakdancing set, before Tony Award winner Ali Stroker performed the American national anthem as a part of the handoff to Los Angeles.
Stroker made history in 2019 as the first person who uses a wheelchair to win a Tony Award for her turn as Ado Annie in the Broadway revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!” In another portion of the screened handoff to L.A., Venice Beach Skate Park transformed into a 360-degree stage featuring skateboarders and wheelchair motocross riders.
Then, the crowd roared as famed French electronic music composer Jean-Michel Jarre began closing out the ceremony, which was again led by artistic director Thomas Jolly.
The 76-year-old Jarre span tunes as in a Parisian nightclub, oblivious to the rain lashing down on him.
Jolly wanted to turn the stadium into a giant open-air dance party. More than 20 DJs, including Étienne de Crécy, Martin Solveig and Kavinsky, followed the trailblazer Jarre in a tribute to French electro music to the theme “Journey of the Wave.”
Jessica Long adds to her mammoth medals collection
American swimmer Jessica Long extended her mammoth Paralympics medal collection to 31 with gold in the S8 100-meter butterfly on Saturday.
She won in 1 minute, 10.59 seconds at La Défense Arena, finishing one second clear of Viktoriia Ishchiulova. Britain’s Alice Tai was third.
The 32-year-old Long also won the women’s 400 freestyle on Wednesday.
Her Paralympic career started when she was 12 and won three golds at the 2004 Athens Games.
S8 is for swimmers with the absence of limbs. Long is a double amputee.
More golds for the United States
On another solid day for United States athletes, Jake Williams scored 26 points as the men won the wheelchair basketball gold by beating Britain 73-69.
That made it three from three for the U.S. in basketball after the men and women won thrilling finals against France at the Olympics last month, also at Bercy Arena.
Fans at Bercy are used to hearing “The Star-Spangled Banner” and they will listen to it again if the women’s team wins its final against the Netherlands on Sunday.
Earlier, Germany’s men won the bronze-medal match against Canada 75-62.
Meanwhile, the U.S. sitting volleyball team made it three golds straight by defeating China 3-1 in the women’s final. The Americans have won every title since 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.
The U.S. equestrian team won three more medals in Paralympics dressage, and Fiona Howard and Rebecca Hart clinched their third gold medals of the Paris Games.
The Paralympic debutant Howard won the Grade II individual freestyle and the veteran Hart won it in Grade III. Earlier, teammate Kate Shoemaker claimed bronze in Grade IV.
Riders compete in five grades, with Grade I for the most severely impaired riders.
Howard and Hart previously won individual golds this week and helped the U.S. win the team event on Friday.
France wins gold in blind football
France defeated Argentina 3-2 on penalties under the lights of the Eiffel Tower for the gold medal in blind football on the penultimate day of the Paralympic Games.
Frederic Villeroux scored the decisive spot kick to get the partisan home fans’ party underway after the teams drew 1-1 in normal time on Saturday.
Villeroux made the breakthrough in the 12th minute when he rifled a shot inside the left post, but Argentine star forward Maximiliano Espinillo replied from close range straight away after the French defenders failed to clear the ball.
France is the first team other than Brazil to win blind football at a Paralympics. Brazil had won all five previous golds since it was first played at the 2004 Athens Games.
Hunter Woodhall dedicates Paralympic gold win to his uncle, celebrates with his wife
Hunter Woodhall, who made fans swoon by being a supportive husband as his wife won a gold medal at the Paris Olympics, clinched a gold medal of his own on Friday.
Woodhall won the men’s 400-meter T62 final with a time of 46.36 seconds during the Paris Paralympics to complete the golden summer for the power couple who have cultivated a large fan following by sharing their journey via YouTube and social media channels.
They reached a wider audience earlier this summer when NBC cameras captured Hunter offering effusive motivational phrases and cheers for his wife, Tara Davis-Woodhall, who won a gold medal in the long jump. She later told the Associated Press she competed with a severe bruise on her left heel.
Yui Kamiji ends Dutch dominance in women’s wheelchair tennis
PARIS — Yui Kamiji swept the women’s wheelchair tennis competition at the Paris Paralympics.
On Friday, she won the singles final over Dutch favorite Diede De Groot 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 at Roland Garros.
The day before, Kamiji won her first gold medal in the doubles with Japan teammate Manami Tanaka. They beat De Groot and Aniek Van Koot.
“I just can’t describe how big this is,” Kamiji said. “Yesterday, after the doubles match ended, I wasn’t satisfied. I started to think about the singles.”
Wheelchair tennis officially joined the Paralympics in 1992. Since then, only Dutch players had won the women’s singles and doubles.
De Groot was the defending champion in both.
“I’m just really sad that I couldn’t get the gold medal,” she said. “The expectations are high. Unfortunately I couldn’t live up to it.”
Jincheng earns fourth swimming gold
Star Chinese swimmer Guo Jincheng won a fourth gold medal at these Games.
Guo claimed the S5 50-meter butterfly in 30.28 seconds, a world and Paralympics record.
Two countrymen completed the podium, Yuan Weiyi and Wang Lichao.
The 23-year-old Guo, who doesn’t have both arms, has gained online recognition for his dolphin-like swimming style, which relies on the strength of his legs.
“I don’t pay much attention to the Internet, especially international websites, so I feel very happy to be talked about on the Internet,” Guo said. “I feel proud that the websites are paying attention to me.”
Overall, Guo has six medals from these Games and set two world records.
Storey wins her 19th gold
British cycling star Sarah Storey claimed her 19th gold medal in the women’s C4-5 road race.
The 46-year-old Storey finished just ahead of French teenager Heidi Gaugain in a sprint to the line as both completed the 71-kilometer course in the Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois in 1 hour, 54 minutes, 24 seconds.
“I knew we had a great breakaway, we built up a good lead,” Storey said. “Then Heidi Gaugain attacked with a lap and a half to go. Fortunately I speak a bit of French so I understood what she was told. So I was ready to attack with her.
“I’m just delighted that my wheel was in front at the finish.”
Colombia’s Paula Andrea Ossa Veloza was 20 seconds behind for bronze.
Storey won the C5 individual time trial for her 18th Paralympic gold on Wednesday.
She also won the time trial and road race at the Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro and London Games, while she won a women’s LC1/LC2/CP4 time trial in Beijing in 2008.
She has five more Paralympic gold medals from the track, and yet more from swimming since she won her first gold in the pool in Barcelona in 1992.
The Paris Games are her ninth Paralympics.
China sets world records in relay
China set a world record in the 4x100 universal relay in athletics, clocking 45.07 seconds in the final.
It beat its own previous record of 45.09 from the heats.
The 4x100-meter universal relay is a mixed-gender and mixed-disability race featuring two men and two women with different disabilities.
Each team begins with a visually impaired athlete, followed by an amputee sprinter, then an athlete with cerebral palsy, and finishes with a wheelchair racer.
China’s team was Zhou Guohua, Wang Hao, Wen Xiaoyan and Hu Yang.
Britain was second and the United States third.
Iran wins sitting volleyball
Iran defeated Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-1 in the sitting volleyball final for a second successive gold medal.
Iran has won eight Paralympic golds in sitting volleyball since its first at the 1988 Seoul Games.
In the final, Iran’s Morteza Mehrzadselakjani was the top scorer with 27 points. Mehrzadselakjani is the world’s second tallest man at 8-foot-1 (2.46 meters). Even when he’s sitting, he’s more than six feet (1.8 meters) with his arms raised.
Oksana Masters wins gold again in cycling
PARIS — American Oksana Masters did it again Thursday, claiming her ninth career Paralympic gold medal and 19th overall in the women’s H5 road race, a kneeling handcycling category.
The 35-year-old Masters kept pace with China’s Sun Bianbian, Italy’s Ana Maria Vitelaru and Germany’s Andrea Eskau over much of 56.8-kilometer (35-mile) race, taking the lead for good with 3 kilometers to go.
“I just went into survival mode,” Masters said. “I channeled and believed in what my team believed in me.”
Masters built up an 11-second lead on the final uphill section. She finished with a time of 1 hour, 52 minutes, 14 seconds. Sun took silver and Vitelaru placed in the bronze medal spot.
The H5 road race is the second gold in as many races for Masters in Paris. She will compete in her third and final race on Saturday in the mixed H1-5 team relay.
Argentina ends Brazil’s dominance in blind football
The Brazilians had never lost in 20 years of Paralympic competition — until rival Argentina beat them 4-3 in a penalty shootout Thursday night to reach the final.
After a goalless draw, Argentina led the shootout 4-3 before Brazil striker Ricardinho’s penalty hit the post, sealing Argentina’s semifinal victory at the Paris Paralympics.
Brazil had dominated the sport, winning five consecutive gold medals since blind football was introduced to the Paralympics program in 2004.
Argentina’s players, led by striker Maximiliano Espinillo, who scored the opening penalty, celebrated on the pitch with the Eiffel Tower as a backdrop.
“Today my little ones, as I call my teammates, made me really happy,” Argentina defender Froilan Padilla said. “They left everything on the pitch.”
Argentina, which won the world championship last year, will face France on Saturday for the gold medal.
US reaches basketball final
Brian Bell continued his tear through the Paralympic wheelchair basketball tournament with a 31-point, double-double performance, helping the United States defeat Canada 80-43 and setting up a gold-medal game against Britain on Saturday.
Bell went 14-for-18 from the field and collected 10 rebounds.
Britain was a 71-43 winner over Germany and is the only other unbeaten team in the tournament.
McFadden disqualified
American wheelchair racer Tatyana McFadden seemed en route to her second medal of the Paralympics, a bronze, but was later disqualified in the official results for the T54 400-meter final for wheeling out of her lane.
Lea Bayekula, who beat McFadden for gold in Wednesday’s 100-meter final, also took home the gold in a time of 53.05 seconds.
The T54 category is for competitors with spinal cord injuries who use wheelchairs to race and have no leg function along with normal hand and arm function.
Didier takes silver
French swimming star Ugo Didier took silver in the 200-meter individual medley SM9 final, his third medal of the Paris Paralympics, thrilling his countrymen in the stands.
As he exited the tunnel, Didier was greeted by a frenzy of French flags, along with a burst of cheers and fans chanting his name throughout the stadium.
The crowd rose to their feet as the swimmers entered the water, growing louder and louder with anticipation at each turn.
Australian Timothy Hodge took the gold and set a new Paralympic record with a time of 2 minutes, 13.31 seconds.
Ugo finished second with a time of 2:15.98, followed by fellow French swimmer, Hector Denayer, who took the bronze medal with a time of 2:17.34. The SM9 category is for swimmers with low-level coordination problems in the arms and legs and a major weakness in one leg or a missing limb.
Iranian volleyball advances
The Iranian men’s sitting volleyball team shrugged off its first hiccup of the Paralympics to beat Egypt in four sets Thursday and advance to the gold medal match.
The seven-time Paralympic champions will go for their third straight gold in Friday’s final against Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Iran dropped the third set against Egypt but was back to its dominating self in the fourth, winning it 25-8 to clinch the semifinal victory.
With the tallest Paralympian on its roster, Iran has the height advantage on the court. Morteza Mehrzadselakjani is over 8-feet tall and towers over the net, slamming home shots that are hard to defend.
“If I’m, let’s say, the winner of this championship, bringing (him) can be considered one of the most important (things) that I have already done during my own life,” head coach Hadi Rezaeigarkani said after the match.
Paris marks Mehrzadselakjani’s third Paralympic Games — he already possesses two golds from Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo. At a young age he was diagnosed with acromegaly, a condition that causes excess growth. Mehrzadselakjani uses a wheelchair to get around since a bicycle accident injured his pelvis and stunted the growth of his right leg, which is six inches shorter than his left.
USC’s Ezra Frech earns his second gold medal and redemption at Paralympics
It was no secret that Ezra Frech arrived at the 2024 Paralympics intent on exorcising a demon.
The Los Angeles teenager wanted to atone for a disappointing performance at the previous Games in Tokyo, where he finished fifth in the high jump. For months he had been posting on social media, openly vowing to make good with a gold medal in Paris.
“People kept telling me I’m putting too much pressure on myself,” he said. “People were saying, ‘Why don’t you just count down to the Paralympic Games, not count down until you win … what happens if you don’t win?’”
Frech settled that question on Tuesday, setting a Paralympic record and finishing comfortably ahead of the field in the T63 high jump at Stade de France.
A look back and the inspirational stories from the 2024 Paris Paralympics, which featured 4,400 athletes from more than 160 countries competing.
It was actually his second gold in as many days, following less than 24 hours after a surprise, come-from-behind win in the 100 meters, a race he had viewed as merely a warmup. But the 19-year-old was so focused on his specialty that he immediately put that victory out of mind.
“I had to mute all notifications on my phone as people kept messaging me,” he said. “I almost had to forget, leave it in the past.”
More important was the Tokyo stumble that had stuck with him for three years. Even before he began posting his daily predictions online, Frech had been filling a journal with the same sentence, over and over on every page.
“I have been writing down every morning, ‘I am the Paralympic champion,’” he said. “I have been writing it down at night, speaking into the mirror.”
The affirmation helped him through a momentary stumble on Tuesday, when he missed an attempt at 1.85 meters. He eventually cleared 1.94 to finish ahead of two rivals from India, Sharad Kumar and Mariyappan Thangavelu.
“He is very young but he is proving himself at the point where it matters,” Kumar said of the gold medalist. “At times I thought he was overconfident … but he has proved everybody else wrong by writing his own script.”
L.A. teenager Ezra Frech surprises himself by winning 100 meters gold
For the last three years, Ezra Frech has focused on winning the high jump at the 2024 Paralympic Games. On Monday, he ran into a surprise along the way.
Gold in the 100 meters.
The Los Angeles teenager, who runs with a prosthetic left leg, envisioned the sprint at Stade de France as merely a warm-up for his specialty Tuesday.
“I’m quite shocked,” he said. “I was definitely not expecting to go out there and win.”
Frech arrived in Paris as defending world champion and world-record holder in his classification for the high jump. Also an undisputed star in the para sports world.
His social media following has ballooned to more than a half-million. He has appeared on billboards and walked on fashion runways. Soon, he will enter USC as the first above-the-knee amputee to commit to a Division I track program.
All of this is part of a bigger plan for a young man who has played sports his whole life despite being born without a knee or fibula in his left leg and without fingers on his left hand.
“I feel I have the beautiful burden to share my story and inspire the next generation because this community means the world to me,” Frech told The Times this spring. “What I literally believe I was put on this planet to do is to normalize disability.”
But the 19-year-old also had something to prove after a disappointing Paralympic debut three years ago, when he left Tokyo empty-handed.
This time around, his plan to “get the blood flowing” in the 100 began with a slow start that put him near the back of the pack. To his surprise, though, no one pulled away.
L.A. native and Paralympian Ezra Frech, the first above-the-knee amputee to commit to a Division I track program at USC, is on a mission to change minds.
“At about 50 meters, I was like ‘Hold on, I’m in this,’” he said. “I felt like everyone was sleeping on me.”
Gaining momentum, closing the gap with each stride, he out-leaned Daniel Wagner of Denmark at the tape to win in a personal best of 12.06 seconds. Vinicius Goncalves Rodrigues of Brazil finished third.
The victory might have exorcised a few demons from Tokyo, but Frech wasn’t ready to claim victory. Not quite yet.
“I’m hungry to get gold in the high jump,” he said.
American Gia Pergolini enjoys winning medal during her final race in Paris
From agony to ecstasy, there was a clear narrative arc to Gia Pergolini’s experience at the 2024 Paralympics.
The Atlanta swimmer started last week with the 100-meter butterfly, failing to make the final. Then came the 100-meter backstroke — her specialty — and a winning performance that gave the U.S. its first gold at these Games.
Asked about the physical sacrifice of training, she said: “Pain. You think it gets easier. It doesn’t get easier.”
Her tone changed on Monday after a silver medal in the 50-meter freestyle at La Defense Arena. It was her final race in Paris and decidedly less stressful.
“Just go out there, soak it all in and leave it all in the pool,” she said. “That’s the way to swim, to have that freedom.”
So what happens next? Pergolini planned to join her “big partying” family for a vacation trip through the South of France and Italy.
“I’m in Europe, I’m 20, I’m going to let loose,” she said. “I’ve been training for a very long time and now I think I deserve a really big celebration. Lots of drinks.”
Triathlons finally go ahead at Paralympics and Hanquinquant delights home fans with gold
PARIS — Triathlon events at the Paralympic Games finally got the green light Monday after water quality issues, and home favorite Alexis Hanquinquant seized his chance to defend his title and claim France’s second gold medal of the day.
The Normandy native finished in 58 minutes, 1 second — almost three minutes ahead of American Carson Clough and Spain’s Nil Riudavets Victory, who claimed silver and bronze, respectively, in the men’s PTS4 class triathlon.
Hanquinquant, already No. 1 in the World Triathlon Para Rankings, raised his arms in triumph and pointed to his name as the home fans cheered, while the athletes finishing behind him slumped to the ground in exhaustion.
“It was really a perfect race, I even allowed myself the luxury of slowing down on the last lap. The crowd was incredible. I heard ‘Alexis, Alexis’ all the way through,” Hanquinquant said. “Doing it at home is exceptional, I’m so happy, it’s so beautiful.”
Hanquinquant had his right leg amputated just below the knee in 2013, about three years after it was crushed by agricultural equipment in a work accident.
Sport classes PTS2 to 5 are for athletes with limitations in lower or upper limbs who don’t need a handcycle for the cycling segment or a racing chair for the running segment. Prosthetic legs and bike modifications are allowed.
Earlier, Jules Ribstein won gold for France in the men’s PTS2. As the crowd roared, Ribstein flexed his biceps and slammed his chest as he crossed the finish line. Overcome with emotion, he broke down in tears in a post-race interview with French TV.
Ribstein finished ahead of Americans Mohamed Lahna and Mark Barr, who were second and third, respectively.
Hailey Danz of the United States won the women’s PTS2 triathlon, compatriot Grace Norman took gold in the women’s PTS5, and Chris Hammer claimed another triathlon victory for the U.S. in the men’s PTS5.
Triathlon events, which had already been rescheduled, were postponed from Sunday because of concerns about the water in the Seine River after rainstorms. Heavy rains cause wastewater and runoff to flow into the river, leading to a rise in bacteria levels.
Army veteran Jason Tabansky overcomes the odds to win gold
It was like cramming all night for a test, except Jason Tabansky was scrambling to get ready for the Paralympic Games.
After failing to qualify at the U.S. trials earlier this year, Tabansky was notified just nine weeks ago that he was headed for Paris as a replacement. At that point, his only option was to practice on his own.
Four matches a day. Shooting out of a garage. Competing against his wife, who also happens to be an archer.
All that homework paid off Sunday when the 41-year-old Texan, making his Paralympic debut, unexpectedly won gold in the individual W1 event at Invalides. He said: “I felt a purpose through every match that I was supposed to be here.”
It was nine years ago the longtime Army veteran suffered an injury while on duty and was left wheelchair-bound. He soon poured himself into the sport.
“I found something to perfect, something to strive for,” he said. “Now, I wanted to do physical therapy. I wanted to go to the gym, improve my diet, get stronger.”
Visually impaired parathletes share how they rely on sound and touch to know when to kick a soccer ball or when to time a long-jump leap.
Despite increasing success on the international stage, Tabansky failed to make the U.S. team for Paris. His second chance arose when injury forced Christopher Davis of Australia to withdraw, the slot going to Tabansky because of his No. 3 world ranking.
In Paris, the American faced a difficult path after finishing sixth in preliminaries. First came a victory over world No. 2 Eugenio Santana Franco of Brazil, then a win over the Czech Republic’s David Drahoninsky, a legend in the sport.
The final match brought a showdown against top-ranked Han Guifei of China. After falling behind early, Tabansky forged ahead in the later ends and needed only a decent last shot to secure gold. He scored a perfect 10.
Shaking a fist in the air, Tabansky seemed near tears. He said, “the emotions come from seven years of sacrifice and work.”
And some last-minute hustle.
Triathlon events are postponed because of Seine water quality
PARIS — Paralympic triathlon competitions in Paris scheduled for Sunday have been postponed because of concerns about water quality in the Seine River after heavy rainfall, organizers said.
The 11 para triathlon events are now scheduled for Monday, if upcoming water testing allows, the Paris 2024 organizing committee and World Triathlon said in a joint statement.
Rainstorms hit the French capital Friday and Saturday. Heavy rains cause wastewater and runoff to flow into the river, leading to a rise in bacteria levels including E. Coli.
This is the second scheduled change for the para triathlon events. They had initially been scheduled to take place over two days, Sunday and Monday, but were moved to Sunday because of rain forecasts.
The disruption is another hiccup for the city’s efforts to clean up the river for future public swimming, one of Paris’ most ambitious promises ahead of hosting the Olympics and Paralympics this summer. The men’s individual triathlon event during the Paris Olympics was delayed and several test swims were canceled because of high E. coli levels after rainfall.
Some Olympic triathletes fell ill after swimming in the Seine, though it is unclear whether that was linked to the river water.
South Korean shooter completes medal set after gold at Paralympics
PARIS — South Korean shooter Jinho Park completed a full set of Paralympic medals after winning the men’s 10-meter air rifle standing SH1 final on Saturday.
Park scored 249.4 points, only 1.2 shy of his own world record. The SH1 category is for athletes with missing legs or severe trunk impairments.
The gold complements the silver and bronze medals he earned in Tokyo.
“It was the only medal I did not have so now I have achieved everything,” Park said. “I feel fulfilled.”
He praised his wife after the medal ceremony.
“She has sacrificed so much. I have not seen her and my family very much in the last year as I prepared for the Paralympic Games.”
Swiss wheelchair racer wins 5,000 gold
Switzerland’s Catherine Debrunner opened her six-event Paralympics by winning the women’s T54 5,000-meter final.
Debrunner clocked a personal best 10 minutes, 43.62 seconds to edge world record-holder and Tokyo champion Susannah Scaroni 1.5 seconds. T54 wheelchair is for people with spinal cord injuries but normal hand, arm and trunk function.
“Once I knew we were alone I was really happy because I knew I was second or first,” Debrunner said. “But then (Scaroni) went really fast for the last 600 meters so I stayed behind her. Somehow I had some energy left at the end.”
Debrunner competes on Sunday in the T53 800 in which she holds the world record. She’s also entered the 100, 400, 1,500 and marathon.
Romanchuk comes from last in men’s 5,000
Daniel Romanchuk was in the back row of the 10-man pack entering the final lap of the men’s 5,000-meter final for T54, little to no lower limb function. Then he kicked into sprint mode and burning the competition to win his first Paralympic gold in the event.
“That last lap or so was kind of a blur,” the American said. “I just kind of remember being in the back, kind of moving out, a sprint starting and I think we probably were four or so wide at one point.”
In Tokyo, Romanchuk won the 400 and bronze in the marathon.
Blackwell breaks his 100 world record
U.S. sprinter Jaydin Blackwell broke his own world record in the men’s T38 100 (cerebral palsy and coordination impairments) to win his first Paralympic gold medal.
The 20-year-old Blackwell called it the perfect race, but did not feel that way about it originally. He was surprised to break the record in 10.64 seconds.
“It felt like it was a little bit slow, but I looked up at the screen and was like, ‘Okay, all right, yeah, let’s go,’” he said.
Countryman Ryan Medrano was second in a personal best 10.97. Juan Alejandro Campas Sanchez of Colombia was third with a personal best 10.99.
Wheelchair rugby semifinals set
The U.S. advanced to the wheelchair rugby semifinals after beating Germany 57-47.
Chuck Aoki scored 34 tries, giving him 74 of the Americans’ 150 in four games, three of them wins.
The U.S. finished second in its pool and will play Britain in the semis on Sunday. Japan meets Australia in the other semifinal.
US men’s goalball team wins
The United States held off a late comeback by host France to win 5-4 and get off the mark in men’s goalball.
The U.S. play Iran on Saturday to decide the quarterfinal seedings. Iran was second in their group after drawing with leader Brazil 7-7.
Tunisian shot putter wins gold for fifth consecutive time
PARIS — Tunisia’s Raoua Tlili won her fifth consecutive gold medal in shot put at her fifth Paralympics on Friday.
Tlili’s throw of 10.40 meters at the Stade de France was good enough to win the F41 class for a third straight Games. Her first two shot put golds, in Beijing and London, were in the F40 class. The difference is in stature.
She is 1.33-meters (4-foot-4) tall and 34 years old, and proud of her latest achievement.
“It’s not easy as a short-stature person that is of my age ... especially if you compete against opponents who are 22, 25 years old,” Tlili said.
“The Algerians, the Tunisians, everyone who lives in Paris, came and got reunited to watch me. (I heard them saying) ‘Raoua, Raoua, gold, gold.’”
Tlili also won discus gold medals in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo.
First para-athletics gold goes to Brazil
The first para-athletics gold of the Paralympics was claimed by Brazil’s Julio Cesar Agripino in the men’s 5,000-meter T11 event for runners with a near-total visual impairment.
In a closely contested race, he broke the world record with a time of 14 minutes, 48.85 seconds, edging Japan’s Kenya Karasawa by three seconds, and fellow Brazilian Yeltsin Jacques, the previous world record-holder.
“Today, it’s my day, my title. It means a lot,” Agripino said.
Cyclist wins France’s second gold
France claimed its second gold medal of the Games with cyclist Alexandre Léauté’s triumph in the men’s C2 3,000-meter individual pursuit.
Léauté, who also won gold in Tokyo, won by two seconds from Ewoud Vromant of Belgium, delighting the home crowd at the vélodrome in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines.
Brazil starts goalball defense with win
Brazil’s men’s goalball team started its title defense with a 13-8 win over the United States in group play.
Goalball is for the vision impaired, and the three-member teams wear blackout glasses. The goals are nine-meters wide. The crowd must be silent so the players can hear the ball with bells inside.
Leomon Moreno led Brazil with six points. A veteran of four Paralympic Games, Moreno praised the high level of goalball in Brazil. “I’m very glad, because I can keep myself playing with these guys,” he said.
Zakia Khudadadi becomes first athlete from refugee team to win Paralympic medal
PARIS — Zakia Khudadadi made history on Thursday at the Paris Paralympics by becoming the first athlete from the Refugee Paralympic Team to win a medal.
Khudadadi won bronze in the women’s 47kg category after defeating Turkey’s Ekinci Nurcihan. When the final buzzer sounded at the Grand Palais in central Paris, Khudadadi erupted in joy, throwing her helmet and mouthpiece into the air.
“It was a surreal moment, my heart started racing when I realized I had won the bronze,” Khudadadi said, her voice shaking with emotion. “I went through so much to get here. This medal is for all the women of Afghanistan and all the refugees of the world. I hope that one day there will be peace in my country.”
Khudadadi, who was born without one forearm, began practicing taekwondo in secret at age 11 in a hidden gym in her hometown of Herat, in western Afghanistan.
Originally blocked from competing following the rise of the Taliban in 2021, she was later evacuated from Afghanistan and was allowed to compete at the Tokyo Olympics for her country following a plea from the international community.
After the competition, she settled in Paris and was later offered the opportunity to compete with the refugee team at the Paris 2024 Paralympics.
“This medal means everything to me, I will never forget that day,” Khudadadi sadi. “I won because of the great support I got from the crowd.”
The atmosphere in the Grand Palais was electric as the French crowd cheered her on as if she were one of their own. Since fleeing Afghanistan, Khudadadi has been training at INSEP, France’s national institute of sport, in Paris with her French coach Haby Niare, a former taekwondo world champion.
“Zakia has been magical. I don’t know how else to put it,” Niare said, beaming with pride. “The training process has been challenging. She faced a lot of injuries and she had to learn a lot in a couple of years but she never lost sight of her goal.”
Khudadadi received her medal from U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi and Andrew Parsons, the president of the International Paralympic Committee.
“For the Refugee Paralympic Team, it’s super special, it’s super important,” Parsons said. “Zakia just showed to the world how good she is. It’s an incredible journey, it’s something that we should all learn about.”
U.S. Paralympic swimmer responds to ‘toxic behavior’ after her silver-medal finish
“Horrific” is not a word you normally hear from an athlete who has just medaled in a big-time race.
“I’m going to be full-on honest,” Christie Raleigh Crossley said. “Today was absolutely horrific.”
The U.S. swimmer expressed dismay shortly after winning silver in the 50-meter freestyle at the 2024 Paralympic Games. She was responding to criticism over the category in which she competes.
Raleigh Crossley described what she called “ongoing harassment that I’ve been enduring for the past two years, since I entered para swimming.”
Seine water quality issues resurface for para triathletes
PARIS — Concerns over water quality in the Seine River resurfaced at the Paralympic Games on Thursday when organizers changed the schedule for para triathlon races.
All 11 medal events are to be held on one day, Sept. 1, instead of two as originally planned, Paris 2024 organizers said in a statement.
“The decision to hold all medal events on one day was taken in view of the weather forecast and to provide athletes and coaches with as much certainty as possible. The course of the swim remains unchanged,” organizers said.
Water quality in the Seine River was also a major issue at the Olympics. Bacteria levels in the long-polluted Paris waterway fluctuate constantly depending on weather. Heavy rains cause wastewater and runoff to flow into the river, causing bacteria levels to rise.
The organizers said the river’s water quality and flow will continue to be monitored each day and that decisions on preparatory swims for para triathletes to train over the next couple of days, and on the morning of Sept. 1, will be made before each event.
Organizers said events can be pushed back to Sept. 2 and 3 “if needed.”
Sarah Adam becomes first American woman to compete in Paralympic rugby
It did not take long for Sarah Adam to make history on the first full day of competition at the 2024 Paralympic Games.
Simply by taking her place in the starting lineup for the U.S. wheelchair rugby team, she became the first American woman to play at the highest level of a sport so violent it is referred to as “murderball.”
Only two minutes into the opener against Canada, she took a pass and raced downcourt, scoring the first of her six points in a 51-48 victory.
“It’s always been important to me that I’m going to be a contributor to this team and be seen as any other athlete,” she said. “I think I was able to prove that today.”
Though wheelchair rugby has always been a mixed-gender event at the Paralympics, it has always been male-dominated. Three years ago in Tokyo, only four of 96 players were women. This time, the number is eight.
The sport blends rugby with elements of basketball and team handball. Teams of four dribble and pass a modified volleyball, fighting for territory on a basketball-sized court, pushing their way toward goals at either end.
A 40-second shot clock encourages end-to-end action and full-contact rules allow players to ram each other or use their chairs to form screens that teammates can wheel around. Concussions and broken bones are part of the game.
“It’s not just about smashing into each other,” Canadian player Zachary Madell said. “There’s obviously some strategy and finesse required.”
Still, he added, physicality is “a huge part of the sport and what keeps the viewers coming back.”
The 33-year-old Adam discovered wheelchair rugby while studying to become an occupational therapist. Smaller than many of her teammates and opponents, she focused on the cerebral role of ballhandler.
“I have to be smart and see what’s going to happen three plays ahead of time,” she told the Olympic News Service. “It’s a chess match to outsmart your opponent out there.”
Earning a spot on the national team in 2022, Adam helped the U.S. to gold at the 2023 Parapan American Games, a victory that qualified her team for the Paralympics.
The Americans — favored to medal in Paris — began preliminary round play against rival Canada in a game that remained close until the end.
“I liked our composure in the second half,” said Chuck Aoki, who scored a team-leading 21 tries. “Through the second quarter, third quarter, it got away from us a little bit but we settled down, trusted our process and ended up with a healthy enough margin.”
The final score was only part of the equation for Adam.
Being on the court, holding her own against male opponents, pushing across the goal line time after time, she could see the bigger picture.
“It’s just a really exciting time for women in sports, getting the attention I think we’ve always deserved,” she said. “And, for other females to see that, if this is where you want to play, go do it.”
For Paralympian Ezra Frech, normalizing disability is his ultimate gold medal
Ezra Frech made history, extended his arms wide and flashed a knowing smirk to the cheering crowd. On an NBC interview after he soared to a world-record 1.97-meter high jump at the U.S. Paralympic trials, the budding superstar nonchalantly called it “all a part of the plan.”
And this plan is only getting started.
Frech won’t settle for just winning his first Paralympic medals while breaking the limits on disability. The favorite for the high jump title in Paris, who also competes in long jump and the 100 meters, is headed next to USC, where he was the first above-the-knee amputee to commit to a Division I track program. He also struts on fashion runways with his prosthetic left leg, graces billboards in a running blade and shares everything on his social media channels that have more than half a million followers.
“I feel I have the beautiful burden to share my story and inspire the next generation because this community means the world to me,” said Frech, 19. “What I literally believe I was put on this planet to do is to normalize disability.”
Track cyclist Caroline Groot of the Netherlands wins Paralympics’ first gold medal
PARIS — Track cyclist Caroline Groot of the Netherlands won the first gold medal of the Paralympic Games on Thursday.
Groot won the final of the C4 and C5 classifications in the 500-meter time trial in women’s track cycling. It was the first medal event of the Games that opened with a spectacular ceremony on Wednesday.
Groot went last after watching C4 world record holder Kadeena Cox crash on her attempt. The British cyclist was denied the opportunity of restarting because a mechanical error was not to blame for her fall.
Groot won in 35.390 seconds, a world record in C5. French cyclist Marie Patouillet (C5) took the silver, and Canada’s Kate O’Brien (C4) took bronze.
C1 to C5 are para cycling classifications for athletes with physical impairments that affect their legs, arms and/or trunk causing issues with functionality who can use a standard bicycle.
C4 is for cyclists with lower limb impairments or issues with lower limb functionality caused by the likes of cerebral palsy, amputations and other lower limb impairments, while C5 is for cyclists with less severe impairments.
Paralympic Games opening ceremony starts final chapter on a long summer of sport in Paris
PARIS — Just weeks after hosting the Olympics, Paris inaugurated the 2024 Paralympics on Wednesday with a nearly four-hour-long opening ceremony in the heart of the city.
Against the backdrop of a setting sun, thousands of athletes paraded down the famed Champs-Elysées avenue to Place de la Concorde in central Paris where French President Emmanuel Macron officially declared the Paralympic Games open.
About 50,000 people watched the ceremony in stands built around the iconic square, which is the biggest in Paris and is visible from afar because of its ancient Egyptian Obelisk. Accessibility for athletes in wheelchairs was facilitated with strips of asphalt laid along the avenue and placed over the square.
More than 4,000 athletes with physical, visual and intellectual impairments will compete in 22 sports from Thursday until Sept. 8. Organizers say more than 2 million of the 2.8 million tickets have been sold for the various Paralympic events.
The opening ceremony was held outside the confines of a stadium, just like when the Olympics opened in the city on July 26. Fighter planes flew overhead, leaving red-white-and blue vapors in the colors of the French national flag, before the delegations entered the square in alphabetical order.
Some delegations were huge — more than 250 athletes from Brazil — and some were tiny — less than a handful from Barbados and just three from Myanmar.
Ukraine’s delegation got a loud cheer and some of the crowd stood to applaud them.
Flag bearers Steve Serio and Nicky Nieves led the U.S. team’s delegation. The French arrived last and to roars from the crowd, which then sang along to popular French songs, including “Que Je T’aime” by late rocker Johnny Hallyday.
Throughout the show, directed by Thomas Jolly who also led the Olympic opening ceremony, singers, dancers and musicians with and without disabilities performed on stage together seamlessly, projecting a theme of inclusion and overcoming physical differences. Lucky Love, a French singer who lost his left arm at birth, was joined by performers in wheelchairs. Other acts featured dancers with crutches.
International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons said he hoped the Paris Paralympics would start an “inclusion revolution” beyond the field of sport.
“The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games will show what persons with disabilities can achieve at the highest level when the barriers to succeed are removed,” he said in a speech. “The fact these opportunities largely exist only in sport in the year 2024 is shocking. It is proof we can and must do more to advance disability inclusion — whether on the field of play, in the classroom, concert hall or in the boardroom.”
As the ceremony concluded, the Paralympic torch was carried into the area by former Olympic wheelchair tennis gold medalist Michaël Jérémiasz, who was surrounded on stage by dozens of torchbearers. Five French Paralympians lit the Olympic cauldron, which is designed to look like a hot air balloon and glowed gold-like in the night.
The Paralympic flag was raised high into the night sky and its emblem adorned the top of the Arc de Triomphe about 3 kilometers (2 miles) away.
Although Wednesday night’s show started at 8 p.m. local time, fans had gathered hours earlier under a scorching sun to get top spots along the way. As performers entertained the crowd on stage, volunteers danced alongside Paralympians as they waved their national flags and the sky gave off a postcard-perfect orange glow.
Tony Estanguet, the president of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, called Paralympians “immense champions who we have the honor of being with tonight.”
The first medals handed out on Thursday will be in taekwondo, table tennis, swimming and track cycling. Athletes are grouped by impairment levels to ensure as level a playing field as possible.
The closing ceremony will be held at Stade de France, the national stadium.
For visually impaired parathletes, sound and touch guide their passions
McClain Hermes knows precisely what it takes to swim, as fast as possible, to the far end of a 50-meter pool. Keeping count is vital because she is blind.
“I have broken several bones running into the wall,” she says. “I’ve broken my fingers multiple times and broken my nose multiple times. I’ve gotten several concussions.”
Some of the athletes at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris will wear prosthetics, others will be in wheelchairs. Those who are visually impaired will face a different sort of challenge.
Swimmers will charge toward an unseen wall. Long jumpers will sprint down a narrow runway, aiming for the sound of a voice or clapping. Soccer players will continually yell “Voy” — I’m coming — so they don’t smack into each other.
What to watch as the Paralympic Games featuring 4,400 athletes open in Paris
PARIS — Let the games begin again.
The Paralympic Games are set to open Wednesday as some 4,400 athletes with disabilities, permanent injuries or impairments prepare to compete for 549 medals across 22 sports over 11 days in Paris.
The French capital, which just hosted the Olympics, again provides the backdrop for what promises to be another spectacle, with many of the same venues hosting Paralympic competitions.
Historic square Place de la Concorde, which hosted skateboarding, breaking and 3x3 basketball during the Olympics, will host the opening ceremony.
What sports are in the Paralympics and how does the classification system work?
PARIS — Being the follow-up act to the Paris Olympics is no easy task, but the Paralympic Games that begin Wednesday promise to offer up their own fair share of memorable sporting moments.
This is an event that highlights the human ability to overcome hardships and disabilities, so the word “insurmountable” isn’t one you’re likely to hear in Paris over the next two weeks as around 4,400 athletes with a wide range of life-impacting impairments compete for medals in 549 events across 22 sports.
Here’s a look at some of the other events that athletes will be competing in at the Paralympics and how competitors are categorized based on their disability or impairment.
Which sports are in the Paralympics?
Of the 22 Paralympic sports, only two do not have an Olympic equivalent — goalball and boccia.
Goalball is played on an indoor court the size of a volleyball court with goals set up at each end. Teams of visually impaired or blind players (wearing eyeshades to ensure fairness) take turns rolling a ball containing bells toward the opposing goal while the defending team’s players act as goalkeepers.
In boccia, players throw or roll leather balls as close as they can to a small ball called a jack.
Who can qualify to compete at the Paralympics?
To compete at the Paralympics, athletes must have “an underlying health condition that leads to a permanent eligible impairment,” the International Paralympic Committee says.
Impairments can be caused by the likes of cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, amputations, physical injuries or an intellectual impairment, blindness or reduced sight.
How are athletes classified?
To ensure fair competition between Paralympians, athletes are grouped by how limited they are by their impairment — in other words, how much of an effect it has on their ability to compete in their chosen sport.
The classifications aim to ensure that every competitor has a fair chance to win and that “sporting excellence determines which athlete or team is ultimately victorious,” the International Paralympic Committee says.
Assessment and sports classes
All Paralympians undergo an assessment by a panel of experts to determine which sports class they should compete in based on the degree and nature of their impairment. Each sport has its own criteria for how to assess the eligibility of competitors. Some, like para powerlifting, only have one sports class. Para athletics, which is open to athletes with any impairment, has more than 50 sports classes.
The classification system focuses on grouping together athletes with similar functional abilities rather than similar disabilities, so athletes with different impairments can compete against each other if they are allocated to the same sports class.
How to watch and stream the Paris Paralympics
The 2024 Paris Paralympics are set to begin Wednesday, with the opening ceremony scheduled for 11 a.m. PDT. The first events for the Games will begin late Wednesday night PDT (Thursday morning in Paris).
Here’s everything you need to know to watch the Paralympics:
Opening ceremony: NBCUniversal’s coverage of the Paris Paralympics opening ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. PDT Wednesday on USA Network, an hour before the scheduled start.
How to watch the events: USA Network and CNBC will provide at least nine hours of coverage every day from Aug. 29-Sept. 8. Every event will be streamed live on Peacock and on NBCParalympics.com and the NBC Sports app (iOS, Android).
NBC will also have coverage at select times throughout the Games.
For a full rundown of the TV and streaming schedule, check out the NBC Olympics site.