Keystone
Marcel Hug fulfills his duty in his first appearance at the Paralympics in Paris. The Thurgau native easily qualifies for the final in the 5000 m.
The four-time gold medalist at the Tokyo Games won his heats comfortably in 10:35.08 minutes, almost taking a whole lap of the track from some of his competitors.
Hug didn’t have to push himself to the limit in his first outing at the Stade de France and stayed a good 80 seconds over his world record. He needs to manage his energy well on the way to more gold medals.
In the women’s 5000 m, three Swiss wheelchair athletes are in the final with ten athletes. Catherine Debrunner won her heat, in which Manuela Schär, like Patricia Eachus, came third in the other heat.
Debrunner had a great showing at the World Championships a year ago, which also took place in Paris. The 29-year-old from Thurgau won four gold medals – including over 5000 m – and took one silver. She has also held the world record over 5000 m since February. The 39-year-old Schär, who is competing in her last track races in Paris, won silver over this distance at the Paralympics in Tokyo three years ago.
Blum surprises himself
Fabian Blum finished fifth in the 400 m final and secured a Paralympic diploma. Blum experienced a Paralympic debut in Paris. A debut that, as luck would have it, he also earned in Paris. Last year at the World Championships, he secured a quota place for Switzerland thanks to his sprint to silver in the 100 m.
As in the preliminary round, he managed the fifth-best time in the final, which meant he was able to exceed his own expectations. “My goal was to be in the final. It’s almost unbelievable that I’m now fifth.” Blum was even able to improve on his morning performance. He was only three tenths of a second away from fourth place. “I’m overjoyed,” said the wheelchair athlete, who can take a lot of positive feelings with him after his performance in the 100 m.
The second Swiss 400 m rider, 52-year-old Beat Bösch, was eliminated in the qualification as second to last in his heat.
Track cyclist Franziska Matile-Dörig finished fifth in the 3000 m individual pursuit and missed the race for bronze by just seven tenths of a second. She gave it her all, said the 32-year-old from Appenzell. Timothy Zemp was allowed to compete again in the 1000 m time trial after breaking his prosthesis at the start, but could not get past 18th place with his everyday prosthesis.
Badminton player Ilaria Renggli in the high
The badminton duo Cynthia Mathez/Ilaria Renggli suffered their first defeat in the doubles tournament after a marathon match. The only Europeans lost to the Thai pairing after 62 minutes with 25:23, 21:23, 19:21. In the second set, the Swiss even had a match point for their first ever victory against this pair, but were unable to capitalize. Mathez/Renggli have nevertheless qualified for the semifinals and thus have two chances of winning a medal.
Renggli did better in the singles competition, where she won her first two group matches. The Aargau native followed up her 21:9, 21:18 win against Taiwanese Yang I-Chen with a coup against Pilar Jauregui Cancino. She defeated the Peruvian, the 2022 world champion, 26:24, 19:21, 21:13. “I’m at a loss for words,” said Renggli after by far the biggest triumph of her career, thanks to which she qualified early for the knockout phase.
Cynthia Mathez, on the other hand, had no real chance in her second singles match after her victory against Israeli Nina Gorodetzky the day before. The Jura player lost to Chinese Yin Meng Lu 9:21, 13:21.
In the men’s tournament, Luca Olgiati suffered a clear defeat in his first singles match, his first ever appearance at the Paralympics. The Aargau native lost to the Japanese Takumi Matsumoto 10:21, 15:21.
Two tenths missing to reach the final
Sports shooter Nicole Häusler narrowly failed to qualify for the 10 m standing competition with the air rifle, coming in 11th place. The Oberaargau native, who has already competed in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, achieved 630.6 points and was only two tenths behind a place in the final.
Leo McCrea made his debut in the Paralympic swimming pool. The 20-year-old finished 14th in the 200 m individual medley and thus missed out on a place in the final of the best eight.
sda
