second bronze medal for Laurent Chardard in the 100m freestyle

The Frenchman came third in the final on Thursday, behind the Italian Antonio Fantin and the Brazilian Talisson Henrique Glock.

The Tokyo curse has been broken for Laurent Chardard, and in style. Having returned empty-handed in 2021, the Frenchman, who already won his first bronze medal in the 50m butterfly on Tuesday, repeated the feat on Thursday, September 5. The French swimmer won bronze in the 100m freestyle (S6 category) after dominating his series a few hours earlier. He clocked 1’05″28, just one hundredth faster than the Brazilian Talisson Henrique Glock, who won silver. The Italian Antonio Fantin set a new Paralympic record in 1’03”12. This is the 56th medal for the French delegation.

The Frenchman, who was in a bad way in the first 50m since he was sixth, managed to come back in the second 50m to reach third place. The Reunion native collected a second medal, but did not hide his disappointment. “It’s fantastic, after that it’s decided by a hundredth so it’s always a bit tough. The race was a bit difficult. (…) It’s not what I came for, I’m still a bit disappointed. The last 5 meters were tough, I paid for it at that moment”he analyzed on France Télévisions after his race.