paris paralympics 2024 | 05 September 2024
Paris Paralympics Day 7 Wrap Up
World, hold on!
The Fisher pump-up song has become a self-fulfilling prophecy for Dolphin sprint star Lex Leary who first claimed a world record in the heat and then broke her own world record in the final to claim gold in the women’s 100m freestyle S9 at La Defense Arena in Paris.
It was the 23-year-old’s second Paralympic gold medal after the bike crash survivor spearheaded Australia’s stunning mixed medley relay (34 points) gold medal in the pool on Monday courtesy of an epic anchor leg.
It’s been just over three years since doctors told Leary’s family she would not live after a horror accident while completing triathlon training, and the Gold Coaster promised to “bring the beast” to the final.
With a social media shout-out from Fisher himself: “You legend you … bring home the gold”, Lex did just that, her 59.53 the best the world has ever seen which prompted a “f$%^ yeah” and fist pumps.
Teammate Emily Beecroft also clocked a PB in the event, her 1:03.36 seeing her finish fourth.
“I’m very impressed with myself,” Leary told Channel 9 said post-race.
“It’s a miracle I’m living and walking and talking … my family are the reason I am here. When I was in ICU, Dad called in a fortune teller and see if I would survive my nine brain operations … and she said I would go to a Paralympics.”
In addition to Leary’s gold, Day 7 of finals also delivered two bronze medals to the Australian medal table with crowd favourite Grant ‘Scooter’ Patterson and Ricky Betar standing on the podium.
With another impressive start off the blocks, two-time Olympian Betar set an Oceania record with a PB in the men’s 200m individual medley SM14 final, touching in 2:08.69. Canadian world record holder Nicholas Bennett was too strong (2:06.05) with Great Britain’s Rhys Darbey claiming silver (2:08.61).
And then Grant ‘Scooter’ Patterson captured the second bronze of his Paris campaign – this time in the men’s 50m breaststroke SB2 final.
Scooter, who has diastrophic dysplasia, a form of dwarfism, revealed prior to the Games that a camera session with a biomechanist, visiting with Olympic coach Michael Bohl and his squad in Cairns, had corrected his body positioning.
“A bronze medal at the Paralympics, I can’t complain. Sportsmanship, looking after one another is what sports all about and my favourite memory in Paris (so far) is the mixed relay and sharing the pool with three of my fave teammates,” he said.
The 35-year-old then said the LA and Brisbane Games were also on his cards.
In the men’s 400m freestyle S8, rising Sunshine Coast swimmer Callum Simpson, in Year 11 at Matthew Flinders Anglican College on the Sunshine Coast, showing no fear, went out hard in the first 100m before fading to 6th.
It was one of closest finishes of the session with just 0.77 seconds separating the three medallists: Alberto Amoswo (ITALY) with gold (4:23.23), Reid Maxwell (CANADA) silver 4:23.90 and Andrei Nikolaev (NPA) bronze (4:24.00).
In other results:
- Women’s 100m Freestyle S12: Dolphin Jenna Jones placed eighth with a time of 1:04.40. Brazil’s Maria Gomez Santiago won gold (59.30), Ukraine’s Anna Stetsenko silver (1:00.39) and Japan’s Ayano Tsujiuchi the bronze (1:01.05).
- Women’s 200m Individual Medley SM14: Triple Paralympian Paige Leonhardt, 23, completed her Paris program with an eighth in the final of the women’s 200m individual medley SM14 with 2:35.33. Medallists were: Valeriia Shabalina (NPA) 2:22.40; Poppy Maskil (Great Britain) 2:23.93; Aira Kinoshita (JAPAN) 2:25.96.
- Women’s 400m Freestyle S8: At her first Paralympic Games, Ella Jones dropped six seconds in two swims – a five second PB in the heat and then another second in the final to finish sixth in 5:02.86. American Jessica Long won the event – her 17th Paralympic gold medal – in 4:48.74.
- Women’s 100m Freestyle S7: Paralympic debutant Chloe Osborn touched the wall at 1:13.76, placing seventh overall. China’s Yuyan Jiang joined the world record club, setting a new time of 1:06.98. Joining Jiang on the podium is USA’s Morgan Stickney (1:10.11) and Italy’s Giulia Terzi (1:10.43) in third.
