The La Défense Arena pool will once again vibrate for the French swimmers. Alex Portal dove back into action for the 400m freestyle S13, alongside his brother Kylian on Saturday, August 31. The two brothers finished first in their series, thus qualifying for the final at 6:37 p.m. Léane Morceau finished 3rd in her series and will compete in the final starting at 5:30 p.m. in the 100m backstroke S12. Although Assya Maurin-Espiau, competing in the 200m freestyle S14, finished last in her series, she is nevertheless happy with her performance, which allowed her to enter the competition. At only 17 years old, she hopes to shine in the 100m breaststroke, her specialty. For her part, the Frenchwoman Gaëlle Edon finished fifth in the 10m air pistol (SH1) final. Follow our live stream.
Team sports to follow. The French men’s goalball team played their third match against the United States, losing 4 to 5. Les Bleus are therefore on a three-game losing streak, after their matches against Iran and Brazil. The women will face Korea at 7 p.m. to forget their defeat against Canada. In sitting volleyball, the French men’s team, beaten in the first match by Kazakhstan, will face Egypt at 6 p.m. In wheelchair rugby, France will want to confirm its form against Great Britain at 7:30 p.m., after its success against Denmark. Finally, in wheelchair basketball, Les Bleus will face Germany at 9:30 p.m. Find today’s schedule here.
Imperial, Dorian Foulon retains his title. He left no room for doubt. Dorian Foulon, competing in the 4,000m individual pursuit (category C5), retained his Paralympic title by largely dominating his Ukrainian opponent. For his part, Alexandre Léauté won bronze in the 1,000m time trial (category C1-3), after winning his first Paralympic title in the 3,000m pursuit. Still on the track of the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome, it was finally Gatien le Rousseau who left with a bronze medal after a fratricidal duel against his compatriot Kevin le Cunff in the 4,000m individual pursuit (category C4).
Antoine Praud unlocks the French athletics counter. A nice surprise to start the day. Frenchman Antoine Praud won the bronze medal in the 1,500m (T46), giving French athletics its first medal. Dimitri Jozwicki will try to win a second one, in the final of the 100m (T38 category). Sprinter Timothée Adolphe qualified for the semi-final of the 400m in the T11 category. The two French women in the finals on Friday, Delya Boulaghlem in the long jump and Mandy François-Elie in the 200m (T37 category), failed to bring back a first medal for French athletics at the Paralympic Games.
Two bronze medals in table tennis. Facing Chinese pairs, the French pairs Florian Merrien-Flora Vautier and Esteban Herrault-Clément Berthier won two bronze medals on Saturday. Competing in mixed doubles (category XD7), the former, both in wheelchairs, were unable to do anything to the Chinese pair Panfeng Feng-Ying Zhou, seeded number 1 (11-4, 11-9, 11-8). Their compatriots, competing in men’s doubles (category MD14), also lost to the Chinese Keli Liao and Shuo Yan, a pair seeded number 4.
Meeting with the stars. Two days after his first victory at the Paris La Défense Arena in the 100m backstroke (S2 category), the Brazilian “Gabrielzinho” qualified for the final of the 50m backstroke, a discipline in which he won in Tokyo in 2021, which will take place at 7:30 p.m. On the track at the Stade de France, Marcel Hug will compete in the 5,000m in the T54 category, reserved for wheelchair para-athletes. The Swiss has six Paralympic titles and 12 medals in total to his name.