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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Michael Butler (now), Will Unwin and Niall McVeigh (earlier)

Paris 2024 Paralympics day five: GB gold rush continues, Japan beat USA in wheelchair rugby – as it happened

Daisuke Ikezaki (left) is challenged by USA’s Sarah Adam during the wheelchair rugby final, won 48-41 by Japan.
Daisuke Ikezaki (left) is challenged by USA’s Sarah Adam during the wheelchair rugby final, won 48-41 by Japan. Photograph: Alex Davidson/Getty Images

That’s it from me. Thanks for reading, and for your emails. Check in tomorrow for another day of Paralympic action. Here is the latest medal table.

Our report on the various triathlons from earlier today.

USA's Roderick Townsend is men's high jump champion again!

With his hair colored in a design reminiscent of the eyes in a Picasso painting, Team USA athletics captain Roderick Townsend was ready to go for a three-peat at the Paralympics.

“I’m a showman,” Townsend said, explaining the hairstyle he had done at a salon in Paris. “Had they been out there booing me? I’d probably still be jumping.”

Instead of booing, the Stade de France crowd followed Townsend’s every command, sitting quiet or cheering, as he won the T47 high jump finals on Sunday night, notching a 2.12-meter (6 feet, 11.5 inches) jump and collecting his third straight gold medal in the event. The T47 category is for competitors who have either lost part of an arm, or have low to moderate movement problems in one arm.

Here are some of the best photos from Paris today.

Great Britain have beaten France in the men’s wheelchair basketball, the game finishing 85-50. Some of the shooting is absolutely astounding from the three-point line. That means GB finish unbeaten in the pool stage for the first time since 1968. They are one of the favourites for the gold, with the quarter-finals to come next.

Updated

Gold for Japan, who win the wheelchair rugby final!

Many of the Japanese fans are in tears as the players celebrate their 48-41 victory! Katsuya Hashimoto is an absolute superstar, surely the player of the match. Japan’s first ever gold medal in the wheelchair rugby.

Updated

This is the story of how USA reached the final of the wheelchair rugby final, although it looks like the Americans are going to have to settle for silver – they trail Japan 40-47 with just over a minute remaining.

Updated

That's swimming done for the day

In the final swimming race of day five, Australia win gold in the mixed 4x100m medley relay - 34 points final. Netherlands take silver, Spain bronze.

Updated

Hello everyone. The wheelchair rugby gold medal match between Japan and USA is on an absolute knife-edge. Japan are 33-30 ahead in the third quarter. The USA’s Lee Fredette has just hit the deck after a particularly brutal collision. Wow.

The USA have won a medal at every Paralympic Games since Sydney 2000.

Updated

Time to hand back to Michael for the rest of the evening’s action …

In the men’s F64 javelin final, India’s Sumit Antil has defended his Tokyo title with a Games record throw of 70.59m. That is India’s third gold medal of these Games, with Avani Lekhara (shooting) also defending her gold from 2021.

Sri Lanka’s Dulan Kodithuwakka, who won bronze in Tokyo, goes one better with silver – his country’s first-ever Paralympic silver medal. Australia’s Michal Burian, second in 2021, has to settle for bronze this time.

Updated

The penultimate medal in the pool has just been won – it’s gone to Brazil’s Gabriel Araújo in the men’s S2 200m freestyle final. It’s his third gold of the Games and takes Brazil’s gold medal tally at these Games to 11.

Updated

Jonnie Peacock tells Channel 4: “I was so happy with that first 60 metres, but then I just lost it … it’s a lack of practice, I think. I just needed to finish how I started. [My mindset] before the race wasn’t great … I’ve been trying to find my form for the last five years. It’s almost like this race has come too soon.”

Now this is interesting: Peacock saves his final words for the Diamond League, for not regularly including para-sprinters. He addresses Seb Coe straight down the lens: “put us in the Diamond League! We deserve to be there. Not when the cameras are off … people want to see us race.”

Updated

Gold for Costa Rica! Guity Guity is unstoppable, powering home in 10.65, a new Paralympic record! Manu dips to beat defending champion Streng on the line, with Johannes Floors in fourth and Peacock settling for fifth.

Updated

They’re away first time, Streng leading from Peacock, who starts to tire at 60m … and Costa Rica’s Sherman Guity Guity is coming through on the outside, alongside Italy’s Maxcel Manu …

No let up in the action here, as we’re off to the Stade de France for the 100m T64 final, with Jonnie Peacock part of an elite field led by Germany’s Felix Streng.

As Macqueen wipes away tears and Hadi Nori stares into the middle-distance, a nice moment as Iran’s Fatema Hemmati comes over to hug Jodie Grinham and offers a pat of her baby bump.

Grinham: “We trained hard, we knew we could do it.” Macqueen adds: “We’ve both got kids now, so there’s a lot of sacrifice. But this makes it all worth it.” Grinham adds: “We’re parents and we get to come here and do this and be this, it’s very special.”

Britain's Macqueen and Grinham win archery gold

This is quite literally the business end, and the British pair land 10s, exchanging a fist-bump as the gold draws close. They’re left needing 17 points from their last two shots … Nathan Macqueen hits 10, so Jodie Grinham only needs seven … and she hits a 10. Why not! Great Britain win 155-151, and it’s an emotional moment for both gold medallists.

Updated

In the third end, Iran’s Nori looks to the skies after hitting only an eight – but Macqueen does the same. Grinham tidies things up with a 10, and Fatema Hemmati follows suit. It’s another eight for Nori, though, and Britain lead 115-113 with one end to go.

Updated

A quick update from the Stade de France, where Brazil’s Jerusa Geber dos Santos and her guide have set a world record in the women’s 100m T11 semi-final – racing home in a time of 11.80 seconds.

The British pair lead after the first of four ends, but Iran pull things back in the second – even with Grinham hitting a pair of 10s – and it’s 77-all at halfway. Truly, it could not be closer …

Up next: Jodie Grinham and Nathan Macqueen go for gold in the mixed team compound open archery, up against Iran’s Hadi Nori and Fatemeh Hemmati.

Grinham, who is seven months pregnant, has already made a piece of Paralympic history with bronze in the women’s event.

Updated

Here’s a selection of the best pictures from day five – and more will be added later.

Thanks, Michael. I bring you news of another gold in the pool – Dmitrii Cherniaev, who is Russian but competing here as a neutral athlete, has won the men’s 100m breaststroke S4, just failing to break his own world record in the process.

Going to hand over to Niall McVeigh for a bit. Enjoy!

Ukraine's Ihor Tsvietov storms to T35 100m gold!

The 30-year-old comes home in 11.43 seconds, also a lifetime best! It took a while for Tsvietov to get into his groove, but he looked so relaxed as he crossed the line. Artem Kalashian, who won bronze at Tokyo, took silver (also in a lifetime best) and Dmitrii Safronov came third.

Updated

The athletics is underway at the Stade de France! And it starts with a bang. We’ll have the men’s T35 100m final now, and then Jonnie Peacock will go in the men’s T64 100m final at 6.50pm BST. Peacock has already heaped pressure onto himself, but only qualified for this final as the fifth quickest qualifier.

Nathan Macqueen and Jodie Grinham are through to the archery final of the mixed team compound open! They are guaranteed a silver at least and will face Iran in the final, which is due to take place in about 20 minutes from now.

British tennis player Alfie Hewitt, who earned a career grand slam with a Wimbledon wheelchair singles title earlier this summer, is through to the men’s singles quarter-final here, after a straight sets victory over Japan’s Daisuke Arai.

A reminder that Jodie Grinham became the first openly pregnant woman to win a Paralympic medal on Saturday after winning a shoot-off for bronze against fellow Briton and great friend Phoebe Paterson Pine in the women’s archery individual compound open. Grinham is seven months pregnant, what a story!

In the archery mixed team compound open, Great Britain’s Nathan Macqueen and Jodie Grinham are attempting to qualify for the final, which would guarantee them a silver medal at least. They are currently leading Italy pair Eleonora Sarti and Matteo Bonacina by five points with just one end to go.

GB's Louise Fiddes shocks the field to win the women's SB14 100m breaststroke final!

Wow, what a turn up for the books. Brazilian twins Débora Carneiro and Beatriz Carneiro were seen as the favourites here, and both had a strong opening 50m, but Fiddes was so strong off the turn, and pulled away in the final metres to secure another gold for GB.

Fiddes:

I genuinely can’t believe it. Ahhh … everything … there are so many years where I thought my dream was slipping away. I’m in great shape, but that was pure determination.

Fiddes was in tears of happiness for much of that interview. God, I’ve gone again.

Fiddes is roommates with Ellie Challis, what a party it is going to be tonight. The expression on Fiddes’ face when she finished that race and looked up to the screen at the result was absolutely priceless. She was open-mouthed and in complete shock.

Updated

That’s Canada’s first gold of the Paralympics, for Canada’s Nicholas Bennett in the men’s SB14 100m breaststroke final! Canada have had four silvers and six bronzes but Bennett is supreme here, beating Australia’s Jake Michel, while Japan’s Naohide Yamaguchi, the champion in Tokyo, has to settle for bronze.

Updated

The swimming finals are coming thick and fast. Britain’s Harry Stewart is next in the men’s SB14 100m breaststroke final but it’s a very competitive field.

Ellie Challis!

I was very confident. A PB is all I could ask for. But wow, that was a good swim. Para sport is so different, you never know what the year is going to hold. This has been the most amazing day ever. That was fun! I want to say a big thank you to my dad and my sister. I couldn’t have done it without my coach [Aled Davies], I couldn’t have done it without him.

Gold for Ellie Challis in the women’s S3 50m backstroke!

The world champion, the European champion is now the Paralympic champion! Challis sets a lifetime best, a British record, as she romps home in 53.56!

Zoya Shchurova of the Neutral Paralympic Athletes won silver and Marta Fernandez Infante takes the bronze.

Updated

Here comes Great Britain’s Ellie Challis! She speeds into the swimming area atop Whirly, her blue scooter, and she is the overwhelming favourite to take gold here the women’s S3 50m backstroke final after taking silver in Tokyo as a 17-year-old. She is all smiles and brimming with confidence.

USA swimmer Morgan Stickney is an absolute superstar and has won the women’s S7 400m freestyle final! Stickney broke the Paralympic record in the heats and has done it again in the final as she claimed gold in just 4mins, 53.88secs. The 27-year-old won two Paralympic golds at Tokyo and adds to her collection here.

That’s 26 gold medals for GB at this Paralympics and 50 medals in total!

Boccia gold for Great Britain's Stephen McGuire!

The Scot, at his fourth Games, is Paralympic champion! Chica simply had too much to do, and despite the Colombian putting on a fine display in the final he can only add two in the final end, which sees McGuire crowned as the winner 8-5! The 40-year-old looks to the heavens in celebrations as his supporters go mad in the stands. McGuire embraces Chica in an immaculate show of sportsmanship. Tears in my eyes!

Updated

Back at the pool, the men’s 400m freestyle S7 final kicks off our swimming medals.

McGuire with a mammoth end to take a 8-3 lead, with just one to play! Chica must score five in the final end if he is to force a tie-break. The Colombian throws long – a bit of a Hail Mary – and it’s up to McGuire to see this out!

Back to the boccia, and Chica has drawn level with GB’s Maguire in the gold-medal BC4 men’s individual final match after a superb end. It’s 3-3 and all to play for.

To the pool! The swimming is nearly upon us, one of the marquee events of the Paralympics. In the next three hours, there will be a total of 13 swimming finals, all with a glittering golden prize at the end of them. Ellie Challis was GB’s youngest medallist at Tokyo 2020, when as a 17-year-old she picked up a silver in the women’s S3 50m backstroke. She has rapidly improved since and goes into the same event today as favourite for gold. Challis was 16 months old when she contracted meningitis, an illness that led to the amputation of her four limbs. But, inspired by footage of a dolphin called Winter at a Florida aquarium, whose tail was amputated after an injury, Challis started swimming aged eight and has now risen to the top of her sport. She often arrives at poolside on her blue scooter, which she calls Whirly.

Hello everyone. To the boccia BC4 men’s individual final, where Great Britain’s Stephen McGuire is taking on Colombia’s Edilson Chica Chica (so good they named him twice). McGuire is going for gold, and has taken an early lead, he’s 3-0 up.

Thank you very much for joining me. Michael Butler will take you through the rest of the action today.

Men’s wheelchair tennis: Another break in the third game as neither is able to hold. Hewett has three break points but hits the net twice, completing the job at the third attempt with a wicked return.

Men’s wheelchair tennis: Hewett breaks in the opening game but Arai has the chance to do likewise, only for a fine ace to take us to deuce. Arai produces a cracking shot to get the advantage and returns a serve straight at Hewett and he has no response – 1-1.

We also have you covered when it comes to the US Open.

Men’s wheelchair tennis: Alfie Hewett is about to take on Daisuke Arai in the third round as he looks to complete a career ‘golden slam. The Brit is certainly favourite at Roland Garros today.

Wheelchair rugby: ParalympicsGB lost out the bronze medal match to Australia earlier in a closely-fought clash.

“If you’d have asked me two years ago, I’d have probably snatched your hand off for the experience of playing for a bronze medal,” said GB’s Gavin Walker. “In the end there were too many errors really in the game. We finished it with a timeout and that could have stopped the turnover in our favour, so the better team beat us on the day.

“The team and what we’ve managed to develop over the years has been outstanding and I’m really proud of getting to this stage and the performances we’ve put in. We go into another rebuilding process, another four years ahead of us and looking towards LA now.”

Goalball: Ukraine edge past Iran 6-3 in the quarter-final. Things were level until late goals for the Ukrainian edged them through to the semis.

GB’s Megan Richter took gold earlier women’s PTS4 triathlon, just ahead of compatriot Hannah Moore.

“I still in shock, I can’t believe that still happened,” Richter told Channel 4. “I worked so hard and so many people put everything into this. I’m so proud. Everyone in the team are so nice, it’s so great to be a part of it. I had a plan just to go as hard as I could on the run and that’s what I did.”

Later today we will have Johnnie Peacock in the men’s T64 100m final at 6.46pm BST later, while there will be plenty of interest in the men’s T54 1500m heats. Nathan Maguire, Daniel Sidbury and David Weir will all be involved.

As Britain enjoys another rush of gold medals in the opening days of the Paris Paralympic Games, the British national Paralympic committee has set out an ambitious programme for reforming the way PE is taught in schools, asking for greater emphasis on physical activity for all and greater resourcing to make it happen.

It is kicking off in Paris.

Wheelchair rugby: AUSTRALIA WIN BRONZE. A 50-48 victory over GB seals third spot and a medal for Australia in Paris after a fiery game.

Updated

Wheelchair rugby: Australia are closing on bronze after moving three tries ahead of GB with three and a half minutes to go.

Keep up to date with the medal table in Paris.

Wheelchair rugby: Australia edged into a 39-37 lead. GB need to produce something impressive to turn things around.

Wheelchair rugby: GB need not worry as they quickly bounce back to make it 34-34 at the end of the third quarter.

Wheelchair rugby: GB have a couple of sloppy moments and Australia take advantage to moved 34-32 ahead in the bronze-medal match.

Dan Bethell had to settle for badminton silver after an incredible final.

Wheelchair rugby: Australia and GB are trading points at a rates of knots. The score moves to 31-31 after some aggressive play from both sides.

Badminton: Mariam Eniola Bolaji of Nigeria became the first African athlete to win a badminton medal at a Games - Olympics or Paralympics -when she clinched bronze in the women’s singles SL3 at the Paris Paralympics on Monday.
The 18-year-old beat Ukraine’s Oksana Kozyna 21-9 21-9 to secure a podium finish three years after her coach, Bello Oyebanji, died in a road accident as she was preparing for the Tokyo Paralympics. It is also Nigeria’s first medal at the Paris Paralympics.

Wheelchair rugby: Australia v GB is 24:24 in the third quarter. Should be a lively finish.

Updated

The Italian transgender sprinter Valentina Petrillo said that her debut at the Paralympic Games was “the realisation of history” after she qualified for the semi-finals of the T12 400m on Monday.

ParalympicsGB has no concerns about the treatment of horses in the British camp ahead of the equestrian competition in Paris following the whipping scandal which plagued the Olympics.

Dressage events are scheduled to begin on Tuesday at Chateau de Versailles, with GB riders Natasha Baker, Mari Durward-Akhurst and Georgia Wilson among those in action.
Equestrian was engulfed in controversy during the Olympics after three-time gold medallist Charlotte Dujardin was suspended on the eve of the Games when a video emerged of her repeatedly whipping a horse.

While ParalympicsGB chef de mission Penny Briscoe has not explicitly asked if horse whipping has occurred in British Para equestrian, she believes the set-up is “really positive and well-run”.
“It was a very difficult situation for the sport but also for TeamGB,” Briscoe said of the Dujardin incident, which was recorded several years ago but made public in July.
“As chef de mission, I don’t have any qualms or concerns in terms of I’ve worked with Para equestrian, this is my sixth summer cycle, and I’ve always found the environment to be hugely supportive. “Have I asked the question: have you whipped horses? No, I haven’t. But I know the athletes are in a good place coming in and I think we’re focusing on them and their performance, not what’s happened in TeamGB.

“I think it was hats off to TeamGB that they were able to regroup from that. The sport, it’s got to go away and look at that, hasn’t it? But, from my perspective, we’ve always found the Para equestrian environment really positive and well-run.”

Dave Ellis said after his victory: “It’s absolutely unreal. Tokyo was the complete opposite but so happy I had an awesome race today. You only get a couple of chances in your career to do a Paralympics - you get a lot more nervous and have to do it on the day, so it is so special to pull it off.

“The (organisers) moved it up and all the races are being run today, but we’ve done plenty of heat work and got through the race. It will take a while to sink in. I was thinking back to Tokyo yesterday - this is a much happier feeling.”

Ellis and guide Pollard take gold in the men’s PTVI triathlon, Richter wins women's PTS4 gold

Paralympics GB’s Dave Ellis and his guide Luke Pollard took glory in the men’s PTVI triathlon, while Megan Richter won the women’s PTS4 gold and Hannah Moore earned the bronze.

Updated

Preamble

Welcome! It is day five in Paris. After a golden 24 hours for British athletes, we face another action-packed schedule across the French capital.

Today’s Paralympics daily briefing offers a comprehensive rundown on what is happening.

Coombs’ lead role in badminton After the Games have come to a close the Porte de La Chapelle Arena in northern Paris will become a cultural hub serving the local community, hosting concerts, shows and – less excitingly – “various conferences”. Before Shakespeare or PowerPoint presentations get their chance to reverberate around the 8,000-seat space, it will play host to the rapid pwock thwock of shuttlecocks and today is finals day in badminton. Dan Bethell will be looking to go one step further than his silver medal in the SL3 para-badminton singles in Tokyo. Bethell lost out to India’s Pramad Bhagat in a closely fought final in 2021. Bhagat – the world No1 – is not competing in Paris after receiving an 18-month suspension for three whereabout failures in 12 months. Another Indian, Kumar Nitesh, is Bethell’s final opponent at lunchtime. In the evening session, Krysten Coombs goes for SH6 gold against the home hope Charles Noakes. Coombs took bronze in Tokyo. Away from the court the 33-year‑old has worked at Ikea and also as an actor, appearing in one episode of Game of Thrones, The Witcher and assorted pantomimes.

Robinson ready to tackle Australia ParalympicsGB’s wheelchair rugby team scooped a historic gold in Tokyo in 2021, scoring 14 tries in the 54-49 victory over USA. The sport was known as ‘Murderball’ during its early days and is still known for “noisy contact, frequently punctured tyres and even wheelchairs flipping over”. The Americans gained revenge in Sunday’s semi-final, leaving the British team trying to repeat their group-stage victory over Australia, the world champions, and claim bronze. The 42-year-old former soldier Robinson is ParalympicsGB’s vice-captain in Paris and has a remarkable backstory having only started playing the sport – which combines elements of rugby, handball and basketball and is played with a round rather than oval ball – as part of his rehabilitation after losing both legs when his patrol vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device near Camp Bastion in 2013, on what was his fourth tour of Afghanistan.

Peacock aiming for 100m hat-trick “Can you handle it? Can you handle everyone looking at you? Can you handle a stadium full of people screaming and then doing the job that matters?” Paralympics GB’s Jonnie Peacock attempts to make it a hat-trick of T64 100m gold medals. After sharing the bronze medal in Tokyo in a photo finish, Peacock’s particularly bullish quotes leading into these Games suggest he knows he’ll have to run the race of his life in Saint-Denis in order to defeat the defending champion and world No 1, Italy’s Maxcel Amo Manu. “This is the big one and this is the pressure cooker. I’m not the hunted any more, I am the hunter,” Peacock continued. “Once you’ve got gold, you’re not looking for silvers.” He came through his heat successfully on Sunday but only in third, showing how much he has to do to claim a medal of any colour.

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