Nélia Barbosa brought up the rear at lunchtime. This time the counter is closed. By winning silver in the 200m KL 3, as in Tokyo three years earlier, the kayaker brought the French delegation its last medal. France therefore ends these Paralympic Games, at home, with 75 medals (19 gold, 28 silver and 28 bronze) and the assurance of returning to the top 8 nations in the medal rankings, the objective set before the start of the competitions by Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra. Mission accomplished.
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Para-cycling shines, blind football surprises
The goal of doubling the number of medals seemed somewhat illusory, but the Blues almost achieved another goal set by the minister and Marie-Amélie Le Fur, the president of the Paralympic Committee, that of doubling the number of titles compared to Tokyo, going from 11 gold medals in Tokyo to 19 at these Paris Games. The French delegation relied on a radiant para-cycling with 28 medals won, compared to 17 in Tokyo, and double the number of gold medals (10 compared to 5 in Japan). An exceptional record that allows France to establish itself at the top of the discipline ahead of the Netherlands.
The para-triathlon also brought its share of satisfaction with four podiums including the dazzling performances of Jules Ribstein and the flag bearer, the conqueror Alexis Hanquinquant, even if the harvest could have been even better, with three fourth and four fifth places. The flag bearers of the French delegation for the closing ceremony, Aurélie Aubert, in boccia, and Tanguy de La Forest, in para-shooting, also made their mark, like the Didier siblings (Ugo in swimming and Lucas in table tennis) with four medals in these Paralympic Games.
Keita fails, zero points for French para-tennis
How can we not mention the sensation of blind football and these Blues who achieved a real feat by winning a title that had been the exclusive property of Brazil since the introduction of the event at the Athens Games in 2004. In terms of disappointments, the flag bearer Nantenin Keïta unfortunately missed out on these Games, which ended for her with a 6th place in the 400m, a distance she had mastered in Rio. A failure that was all the more painful to take as she was competing in her fifth and final Paralympic Games at the age of 39.
The zero point of the para-tennis is a blot on this very fine record of the French delegation. For the multi-medalist Stéphane Houdet, who had always returned with a trinket around his neck since his first Games, it inevitably has a bitter taste. But the next generation is slow to emerge, and the 53-year-old doyen, beaten in the quarter-finals in singles, defeated in the small final of the doubles, could not save appearances on his own.
- RMC Sport
