It was a barren day in them thar Paralympics for the French delegation. But the powers-that-be can console themselves that the cream of the land are fifth in the medals table and on course to finish eighth.
No one meddles with gold
Weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. For the first time, there were no gold medals for France leaving the gang with 11. Still there were two silvers and two bronze to take the overall tally up to 38.
Silver daze
After the brothers in larmes act of Alex and Kylian Portal following their silver and bronze in the SL13 400m freestyle, Alex was back in the Paris La Défense Arena to try and hack away at Ihar Boki in the men's 200m individual medley - SM13. Not this time.
Industrial sample
The review's taken back to the gold medal match in the table tennis at the Olympics between China and Sweden. China, comprising Chuqin Wang, Zhengdong Fan as well as the living legend Ma Long, mashed up Sweden to keep hold of the prize their illustrious predecessors first acquired in Beijing in 2008 when the event was introduced at the Olympics. Kristrian Karlsson, one of the conquered Scandinavians told RFI: "It's not real – those three guys. There should be rules against having people like that in the same team." Well after Ihar Boki won his fifth gold medal of the 2024 Games to notch up his 21st gold medal, Kristian's spirit seems apt.
Life is a Minestrone
There haven't been too many musical references in The Daily Review. What? Is The Review feeling sad, depleted and lugubrious? Under attack? No, we can confide that we are vibrant and happily remembering the 10CC song during which they sing: "I'm leaning on the Tower of Pisa, had an eyeful of the tower in France ..." And that Parisian landmark may well be getting a new look after the creative whizzes in City Hall say they want to display the Olympic logo permanently on the Eiffel Tower. "The idea is to make permanent the events that Paris has lived through," deputy mayor Pierre Rabadan, told the French news agency AFP.
And therefore
Not going to be happy times as the idea has been criticised by descendants of the tower's designer Gustave Eiffel. A petition on Change.org against the idea had gathered 34,000 signatures. The Association of Gustave Eiffel's Descendants says that it is against the idea of the tower becoming an advertising outpost. Don't want to get that lot riled. They can be a real handful.
