The race started in the Parc Georges Valbon, located in the Saint-Denis district (north of Paris). It continued near the Stade de France (where the closing ceremony of the Games will be held this afternoon).
The tour then continued through emblematic places in the French capital, such as the area around the Place de la Concorde, the Arc de Triomphe, the Champs-Élysées, and ended at the Esplanade des Invalides.
Congost, who rode alongside her guide Mia Carol, was in third position for much of the race and alone, as she was far behind her rivals, both those at the head of the race and those who could have knocked her off the podium.
In the end, the Barcelona athlete stopped the clock at 3:00’48”. The gold medal went to Moroccan Fatima Ezzahra El Idrissi, who broke the world record with 2:48’36” (personal best), while the silver medal went to Moroccan Meryem En-Nourhi (2:58’18”, personal best). However, Congost ended up disqualified for an infringement related to her guide.
FROM SPRINTER TO MARATHON RUNNER
Congost, 36, began his sporting career as a sprinter and gradually moved up the ranks to compete in middle-distance events and specialize in marathons.
At just 16 years old, Congost made her Paralympic debut in Athens in 2004, where she competed in the 100 and 200 metres (in the latter event she finished seventh). In Beijing in 2008 she finished sixth in the 1,500 metres and in London in 2012 she took her first Paralympic podium, taking silver in the 1,500 metres.
Her first major marathon competition was at the World Championships in London in 2015, where she won the silver medal. The greatest success of her sporting career came at the Paralympic Games in Rio in 2016, where she took the gold medal after a race held in Port Copacabana in which she led almost from the start.
She then took a break from training to become a mother of four children. Upon her return, she put on her shoes again to compete at the highest level. The 2024 Paris Paralympic Games were her fifth.
