Welsh athletes bring home 16 medals at Paris Paralympics

Welsh athletes have brought home a grand total of 16 medals from the Paris Paralympics.

The haul includes 7 Golds, 5 Silvers, and 4 Bronzes.

That's an improvement on Tokyo 2020, where athletes won 4 Gold, 3 Silver, 7 Bronze- totalling 14 medals.

Laura Sugar was the cherry on Welsh paralympian's cake with a Gold medal winning performance on the final day of the games, defending her paralympic title in the KL3 Canoe Sprint 200m.

Cardigan's Jodie Grinham made history by taking gold in archery and, in the process, becoming the first pregnant woman to win a Paralympic medal.

Meanwhile, in the pool, Rhys Darbey also hit gold in the 4x100m mixed relay. The Connah's Quay swimmer stormed to victory in his debut Paralympic games.

There was success at the Palace of Versailles for Abergele's Georgia Wilson. She claimed a bronze medal in the dressage, and a silver in the grade 2 freestyle equestrian.

Phil Pratt and the wheelchair basketball team fell short of a comeback to settle for silver against the USA, first appearance in the final since 1996.

Abergavenny's Rob Davies also claimed silver in the Class 1 Table Tennis singles.

Wales' winning streak started on the fourth day of the games.

Table tennis star, Paul Karabardak, kicked off by earning ParalympicsGB a bronze. The Swansea Paralympian and his teammate, Billy Shilton, bowed out in the MD14 semi-final.

It was bitter-sweet for the pair. “When we were leading we could have been a bit more positive,” said Karabardak.

“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.”

His bronze began the medal rush, as Matt Bush won the first Welsh gold in Taekwondo followed by a bronze from Jodie Grinham.

More medals came on the fifth day of the games, and they were all one colour. Gold went to James Ball in the velodrome, Benjamin Pritchard on the rowing lake and Rhys Darbey in the pool.

Welsh shotputter, Sabrina Fortune, added another Gold to ParalympicsGB's tally and broke her own world record in the women's F20 final.

More records were broken when Jodie Grinham took gold in mixed-team compound archery, alongside her teammate Nathan Macqueen. She became the first Paralympian to win a medal whilst pregnant.

“I’ve been in and out of hospital this week, it’s been really difficult,” Jodie said.

“It was really starting to worry me that the baby’s going to move and I’m going to be at full draw and it’s going to affect my shot", she said.

Fiona Reid CEO Disability Sport Wales says this games has been "incredible."

"We've had a few days where the medal count just seems to be going up and up and up.

"It takes incredible commitment to be a performance athlete. We're incredibly proud of everybody

"It's nice that this games we've had some of the more experienced, multi-games athletes like Aled Davies and David Smith, as well as some of the younger ones like Funmi Oduwaiye and Rhys Darbey where this is their first games, so to share those experiences is incredible.

But she says it's important to remember that disability sports aren't just for an elite level, and happen all year round.

"Whilst we are very proud of our Paralympians and anyone who competes at an elite level, we're also very proud of anyone who just gets involved and becomes more active. The paralympics is hugely inspirational and shows everybody what's out there, but that doesn't have to be the end point for everyone.

"The Paralympics are a great opportunity for the wider public to see what the opportunities are.

"Our role is to make sure that people know there is choice, to ensure that there is really good, year-round opportunities for disabled people to get involved with sport, enjoy it and see where that takes them, whether they become Paralympians, or deaf olympic athletes,or not, we've got to ensure their's a place to start.

For now though, after a well-deserved rest, Welsh athletes will begin a new paralympic cyle.

"We're really excited for what Los Angeles brings, we're hopeful there'll be a Commonwealth Games as well, the athletes are always very proud to wear a Welsh vest as well as a GB vest."

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know…