PARALYMPIC GAMES – He gives France its second title in just a few hours in this Paralympic time trial. Thomas Peyroton-Dartet won the gold medal in the C3 category in the time trial, in 38:28.80, ahead of the Spaniard Eduardo Santas Asensio and the German Matthias Schindler. He gives the Blues of para-cycling an 8th medal in this crazy day, and the 14th gold for France, whose goal is to reach twenty Olympic titles.
Paralympic Games medal table: here’s where the French team stands in the rankings
“The emulation of this French team allowed me to go all the way with the effort” explained the new Paralympic champion to France TelevisionsThe one who was participating in his first Games indicated that it was in 2017, following a serious accident during a competition in Tahiti, that he discovered para-cycling. “It was difficult at first to accept the disability” acknowledged the athlete, especially since he suffers from an invisible handicap, cerebellar ataxia, which the public does not always realize.
Kevin le Cunff also won gold a few minutes earlier in this event in the C4 category, bringing home the 44th medal for the French delegation. The gold medallist in the C4 road race at the Tokyo Games ran a faultless race throughout the course, the second part of which was nevertheless very technical, in 36:46.49.
An exceptional podium for this event since another Frenchman, Gatien le Rousseau, took second place in the race, in 37:18.38, ahead of the Spaniard Ramos Sanchez and the Belgian Clincke.
The doubles keep coming
The French para-cycling party continued in the afternoon with the silver won by Loïc Vergnaud in the H5 individual time trial. A new silver medal for him, after the three other silver titles won in Tokyo. A success that was followed by a new French double. A gold and silver double for Mathieu Bosredon and Johan Quaile, respectively first and second in the time trial event in the H3 category. Thanks to Mathieu Bosredon’s Paralympic title, France now has 15 gold medals in Paris.
Earlier in the morning, the women opened the ball in the C5 category, at 8 a.m. If Marie Patouillet did not achieve the time she had hoped for by finishing 5th, she will be able to console herself with the gold medal she already won on September 1 in the pursuit, at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome.
Her compatriot Heïdi Gaugin, only 19 years old, allowed the French delegation to open the counter of this day by becoming Olympic vice-champion of the time trial in this same category, as in Tokyo. The British Sarah Storey, reigning Paralympic champion and legend of her sport, was too difficult to go after, by only 4 small seconds.
Already 3 medals for Alexandre Léauté
But with so many qualifiers, France certainly couldn’t leave without a Paralympic title this Wednesday. This is done with the Breton Alexandre Léauté, already a double medalist in track cycling during these Games. After the bronze medal in the time trial and the gold in the pursuit, the 23-year-old champion took the title in the C2 category road time trial.
He won just before 10am ahead of the Belgian Ewoud Vromant, whom he had already beaten in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, allowing France to surpass its record of Paralympic titles from Tokyo, by winning the 12th gold medal of the Paris Games. So it is well on its way to ticking off the “Top 8” objective given by Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, the Minister of Sports in the resigning government.
Handibike and tandem course
Among the events of the day, those of the H2 category, intended for paraplegic people. H for “handibike”, a recumbent bike used by athletes, which they propel with the upper body. In the men’s category, the podium is exactly the same as in Tokyo, with once again a Frenchman, Florian Jouanny, who took the bronze medal. The 32-year-old athlete finished just 4 tenths behind the Italian Luca Mazzone, 53 years old and already a multi-medal winner during the Paralympics. No podium, however, for Anaïs Vincent in H1-3. The athlete who took 3rd place at the 2021 Games finished 5th this morning.
Visually impaired athletes also have a dedicated category in road cycling, the B, and rode in tandem in this time trial, early in the afternoon. The Frenchman Elie de Carvalho took the lead for a large part of the race with his “pilot”, Mickael Guichard. But the Dutchman Tristan Bangma took 12 seconds from them in the last few km. Suffering from a rare genetic disease, the Millau native was participating in his first Games.
Another medal of the day, bronze this time in the C5 event for Dorian Foulon, already gold medalist in track cycling in the first week of the Games.
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