After the first medal of the Paralympic Games for France, silver, won by Marie Patouillet in track cycling, Ugo Didier struck a major blow by winning gold in the 400m freestyle, in the S9 category. This is the first title for the French team on this first day of competition, Thursday, August 29. In goalball, the French women were dominated 10-0 by Canada for their first match in the tournament of this discipline reserved for visually impaired and blind athletes. The French men’s team also lost its first match against Brazil, the reigning champion (8-5). The Blues of wheelchair rugby, which is played by mixed teams, on the other hand converted the try against Denmark (53-51) for their first match in the competition. Follow our live stream.
First gold medal for Ugo Didier in the final. And first title for the French delegation. After having brilliantly won its series (4’21″28) in the 400m freestyle, the French swimmer waited until the last length to take the lead and win his first Paralympic title. Great hope of the French delegation, Alex Portal also made a successful entry into the competition in the 100m butterfly, with the second time in the series (55″25), and will try to imitate his compatriot at 8:09 p.m.
First medal for the French team. Marie Patouillet won the silver medal in the 500m time trial (C4-C5) in paracycling on the track. She was only beaten by the Dutch Caroline Groot. The cyclist opened the counter for the French delegation, as in 2021 in Tokyo, where she won two bronze medals but finished just off the podium in this event.
Medal assured in para table tennis. Fabien Lamirault and Julien Michaud qualified for the semi-final of para table tennis. The French defeated in five sets (11-3, 7-11, 14-12, 7-11, 11-9) a Polish pair. They are guaranteed to win a medal, as the two pairs beaten in the semi-finals will be awarded bronze.
Team sports in decline. While the afternoon started with the heavy defeat of the Bleues against Canada in goalball (10-0), the men’s team did not do any better at the end of the day and lost 8-5 to the Brazilians, the reigning champions. Fortunately, the mixed wheelchair rugby team secured a victory on the gong against Denmark (53-51), before the Bleus of sitting volleyball challenged Kazakhstan at 8 p.m.
