Paris:
Young Chinese swimmer Jiang Yuyan claimed her seventh gold medal at the Paris Paralympics on Saturday, while the United States aimed to win a third straight men’s wheelchair basketball title.
Jiang, 19, who lost her right arm and leg in a car accident when she was four, claimed her seventh gold medal by breaking the Paralympic world record in the women’s 100m backstroke S6 to defeat defending champion Jessica Long of the United States on the final day of the Olympics. Swimming programme.
She was one of three Chinese swimmers to win the titles in a 30-minute span as Paris bid farewell to the 2024 La Defense Arena, one of the most stunning venues at the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The Chinese then claimed six more medals, including a sweep of the podium in the women’s 200m individual medley SM5, ensuring they take the top spot in the swimming medal table for a fourth consecutive Games.
“It’s really incredible for me,” Jiang said. “I just finish each little goal, then I take a break and start again. I don’t think about it too much, I just do it.”
She added, “(Improving) the world record represents a new challenge for me in the future. From now on, my competitor is me.”
Long, a double amputee, won the 18th gold medal of her career and 31st overall since her debut at Athens 2004, where she easily qualified to the 100m butterfly S8.
At Percy Arena, the U.S. men’s wheelchair team is gunning for a third straight title, but faces a hungry Great Britain team making its first appearance in a Paralympic final since 1996.
Greg Warburton, Team Great Britain’s goalkeeper, should provide a test for the Americans in the same arena where LeBron James led his American team to Olympic glory four weeks ago.
At the Stade de France, British wheelchair racer Hannah Cockroft won her second gold medal of these Games by winning the T34 800 metres. This was the ninth Paralympic title of her career.
On the clay courts of Roland Garros, Briton Alfie Hewitt had one hand on the wheelchair tennis singles crown, but the 18-year-old Japanese player Tokito Oda snatched it from his grasp.
Hewitt, who won the doubles gold on Friday, earned the gold medal point but settled for the silver.
Meanwhile, the host nation had something to cheer about as France won the men’s blind football gold medal on penalties against Argentina, after the match played in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower ended in a 1-1 draw.
The wheelchair fencing action was completed at the Grand Palace, a venue that has posted millions of photos on social media since its Olympic debut, where China’s women won team saber gold.
With several events still to be decided on the penultimate day of competition, China topped the medal table with 94 gold, with Great Britain in second place with 47 gold and the USA in third place with 35.