sniff – While they were hoping for medals, Kylian Portal finished 4 hundredths of a second off the podium, while the 4x100m mixed relay failed to finish 5th, this Saturday evening
At Paris La Défense Arena,
This was supposed to be the final fireworks for the French swimmers, major medal providers for the delegation with 14 podiums since the start of these Paralympic Games, including the very first title that had launched the machine towards the record, by Ugo Didier in the 400m freestyle S9. But the last session in the boiling Olympic pool this Saturday evening turned into a nightmare for the Blues, who suffered a series of disappointments.
Kylian Portal, who won bronze in the 400m S13 behind his brother Alex last weekend, first finished 4th in the 100m butterfly, 4 tiny hundredths of a second behind third place. A result that the 17-year-old will take a long time to digest.
Portal very hard on himself
Crying at the edge of the pool after the race, it took him a good hour to regain his senses, helped in particular by his brother. It was only then that he came to the mixed zone, but even after all this time, he still hadn’t digested it. “I’m having a perfect race, except for that touch at the end. I’m so disappointed… I had everything in my arms,” he regrets.
The Frenchman is inconsolable, and is very hard on himself. “I had a better time in training a few years ago(…) - 20minutes
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