ParalympicsGB 2024: Gold rush for Great Britain on day three
It's been another golden day for ParalympicsGB, as Saturday medals more medals were secured on day three of the Games in Paris.
In less than an hour in the pool, Great Britain won three gold medals, breaking two world records in the process.
Elsewhere, there was success in the velodrome, with more golden moments on the track at the Stade de France, as well as in taekwondo and archery.
Swimming
A glorious day for Britain in the pool and one Stephen Clegg will never forget in the S12 100 metres backstroke - having failed to deliver in Rio and Tokyo, this time he dominated the race to take Paralympic gold.
Meanwhile, Will Ellard had already won Britain's first medal in the pool - a silver in the butterfly - but was even better in the S14 200 freestyle by securing another gold and another world record time.
Alice Thai had the widest smile of the day after winning her first Paralympic gold medal in the final of the S8 100 metres backstroke.
Tai missed Tokyo due to an elbow injury and has had her leg amputated below the knee in the three years since.
Poppy Maskill won S14 women's 200m freestyle silver ahead of bronze medal-winning team-mate Louise Fiddes, as GB's Olivia Newman-Baronius placed fourth.
The youngest member of the British team, 13-year-old Iona Winnifrith, is set to compete in the women’s SM7 200m individual medley later on Saturday.
Cycling
The velodrome has already provided a rich seam of gold and there had been strong hopes of success on Saturday.
Great Britain's Archie Atkinson celebrated with the silver medal following the 4000m Individual Pursuit gold Final at the National Velodrome, while Slovakia's Josef Metelka took gold.And Jaco Van Gass looks for his second gold of the Games in the men’s C1-3 1,000m time trial.
ITV News' Martha Fairlie sat down with para-cyclist medal winners Fin Graham and Matthew Robinson
Athletics
On the track there was no gold for Eden Rainbow-Cooper as she was sent crashing to the ground in the scramble from the start in the women's T54 wheelchair. The race had to be restarted and the episode wrecked her hopes of competing for a medal.
However, hopes are high for Britain's twice paralympic champion Sophie Hahn in the women's T38 hundred metres final.
Having won gold in Rio and Tokyo the 27-year-old charged through her heat in second place, with another Brit Maddie Down also through.
Sprint star Thomas Young will be looking to kickstart success in the Stade de France as he defends his title in the T38 100m. David Weir also returns to the track in the T54 5,000m.
Table Tennis
British pair Paul Karabardak and Billy Shilton claimed table tennis bronze in the men’s MD14 event.
A 3-0 defeat to top-seeded Thai duo Phisit Wangphonphathanasiri and Rungroj Thainiyom prevented Karabardak and Shilton progressing to the gold medal match.
“When we were leading we could have been a bit more positive,” said Welshman Karabardak, a silver and bronze medallist at Tokyo 2020, following the 11-9 11-9 11-7 loss.
“Had we taken one of those first two sets it might have been a different game – that’s sport and we have to give them credit for taking their opportunities.”
Archery
Pregnant archer Jodie Grinham delivered under pressure by snatching Paralympic bronze from fellow Briton Phoebe Paterson Pine.
The 31-year-old last weekend spent two days at a Paris maternity ward thinking she may be going into early labour after her baby stopped moving.
On Saturday evening, she grabbed the final podium place in the women’s individual compound event by a single point.
Grinham, who is 28 weeks pregnant with her second child, dramatically triumphed 142-141 at the Esplanade des Invalides.
Asked how she will tell the tale to the child, Grinham said: “It will be like ‘you were on the podium’. The youngest member to be on the podium!”
Meanwhile, Pine lost her semi-final 146-143 to Iranian silver medallist Fatemeh Hemmati.
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Taekwondo
Amy Truesdale and Matt Bush wrote their names into the history books by grabbing Great Britain’s maiden Paralympic taekwondo golds on a milestone evening in Paris.
Truesdale triumphed in the women’s K44 +65kg event when defending champion Guljonoy Naimova was dramatically stretchered out of the final.
With the Briton dominating and leading 8-2, the Uzbekistani fighter stayed down following a kick to the throat before withdrawing from the contest with just over a minute remaining.
Welshman Bush backed up his team-mate’s landmark success by beating Russian Aliaskhab Ramazanov 5-0 in the showpiece match of the men’s K44 +80kg event.
Chester-born Truesdale faced an anxious wait to discover her fate after her rival departed in distress before jubilantly performing the splits in the centre of the octagon following the referee’s decision.
Victory for the 35-year-old significantly upgraded the bronze she won on the sport’s Paralympic debut at Tokyo 2020.
Naimova defeated Truesdale in the semi-finals en route to glory in Japan and was backed by the drums and coordinated claps of passionate Uzbeki fans who had turned out in force amid the splendour of the Grand Palais.
Wheelchair Rugby and Wheelchair Basketball
Great Britain’s wheelchair rugby team continued their title defence by securing top spot in Group B with a nail-biting 50-49 win over France.
Aaron Phipps scored 21 tries, while Stuart Robinson chipped in with 15 as GB partially avenged finishing runners-up to the Paralympic hosts at the last two European championships.
Paul Shaw’s side will face the United States in the semi-finals on Sunday evening in a rematch of the Tokyo 2020 final, which they won 54-49.
Britain’s men’s wheelchair basketball team maintained their 100 per cent start with an 88-58 win over Canada at Bercy Arena. The women’s side were beaten 63-54 by the same nation.
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