After his gold medal in the 100m freestyle (S9), the French swimmer won silver in the 100m backstroke.
Silver medalist in the 100m backstroke (S9), an event won by Belarusian Yahor Shchalkanau, Ugo Didier summed up in the mixed zone:“This medal has a nice flavour. This morning (Tuesday), I wasn’t at all calm, I had very bad feelings in the water, things weren’t going the way I wanted. Tonight it was a little better but even if I finished strong, in the last 25m, it was clearly lacking, it went a bit through. This morning, if I had been offered the silver medal, I would have signed because it was complicated. Of course, I wanted to bring home the gold, with an incredible atmosphere. All my loved ones came, my family, I wanted to bring them this gold medal, to make the Marseillaise resonate. I will settle for silver. In Tokyo, I brought home a 4e place. And today, it’s a silver medal that’s around my neck. There’s a bit of disappointment because there’s no Marseillaise, a bit of frustration. It’s a race that was swum relatively slowly compared to world standards and what we’ve been able to do this year. It shows that it’s the Games, a competition apart, extremely difficult both physically and mentally, that’s why the medal has a special flavor. And to promise: “I just have to remobilize for the 200m medley in two days.”
Ugo Didier (born with club feet and atrophied lower limbs), member of the TOEC Dolphins in Toulouse, like Léon Marchand, enjoyed the crazy atmosphere: “Sixth day of competition and it’s still just as crazy. It’s something very, very strong. I don’t know if I made the crowd proud, in any case the crowd made me proud. I’m proud to be French. Proud to see that this crowd responded, that they know parasports, that they are active, that they encourage. We can be very proud of this event.”
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Games that he experiences with Lucas, his brother (21 years old) who qualified for the quarter-finals of the table tennis tournament (MS9): “It’s going to be something great. I was lucky enough to see his last set on TV. It’s very emotional to see your brother at the Paralympic Games. I hope he goes as far as possible, that we play for the same medal on the same day. I wish him the best for the future. I hope he has a blast. I know he’s having fun, I hope he can express his ping 100%.”
