Greece’s athletes have continued their strong performance at the Paralympic Games with two more medal victories, increasing their overall tally to seven as a result.
The Greek team procured another silver and bronze medal, courtesy of athletes Antonis Tsapatakis and Konstantinos Tzounis.
Tsapatakis secured a third silver for the country in the final of the 100m breaststroke SB4, finishing with a time of 1:36.16.
He was beaten only by Russian world record holder Dmitry Chernyaev, who won the race with a time of 1:32.20.
The swimmer was beaming with joy following the race, saying:
“The feelings are that for one more day I was and remained free. Another day where I gave my best and it doesn’t matter the result because I know that if I lay down tonight to sleep, if I manage to sleep, that I have given it my all,” he said.
“I dedicate the medal to all of Greece, my parents, my wife and to those who inspired me and made them dream this night.”
Tzounis earned himself a bronze in the Men’s discus throw F56 with an effort of 41.32m.
The Paralympian secured the medal in his fifth attempt, with his other efforts coming in at 39.14m, 39.90m and 37.87m while also having two throws deemed invalid.
He was beaten only by Brazilian Claudiney Batista Do Santos (46.86m) and Indian Yoges Kathuniya 42.22m).
“It was a goal of mine, to become a Paralympian with a medal. And I wanted first of all to prove to myself that everything I did after Tokyo was not wasted,” he said after his performance.
Day Six will feature a number of Hellenic athletes in five sports, including the debut of Michail Kalarakis in Equestrian.
The day will commence with shooting wherein Sotiris Galogavros will compete at around 5.30pm (AEST) in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions SH1 (R7) qualifiers.
Archer Dorothea Poimenidou will compete a few minutes later in the Round of 16 as she continues her bid for a first ever podium finish.
Tania Keramida will compete in the F56 javelin (starting at 6.05pm), while tomorrow morning (3.04am) will see Efstratios Nikolaidis fight for the medal in the shot put F20, as will Athanasios Konstantinidis, Dimitrios Zisidis and Lazaros Stefanidis in the shot put F32.
Kalarakis will feature at 9.45pm, competing in the Individual championship test grade I as he becomes just the second Greek to participate in Equestrian at the Paralympic Games.
Grigoris Polychronidis and Anna Ntenta will combine in the mixed pairs BC3 category for Boccia, facing South Africa (Elanza Jordaan, Karabo Morapedi) in their first game and Brazil (Mateus Carvalho, Evelyn Oliveira) in their second.
For Cyprus swimmer Karolina Pelendritou took 7th medal for her country as part of her Paralympics career, securing a silver at the Paris gamesin the 50 metre freestyle of the S11 visual impairment category.
She was behind Chinese Jia Ma who achieved a world record time of 28.96, with 29.82.
AUSTRALIA’S DAY FIVE MEDALS
Lauren Parker, competing in triathlon, women’s PTWC) has won gold. Parker has been tortured by her one-second loss to Kendall Gretsch in Tokyo and exacted revenge on the American in style.
Alexa Leary, Jesse Aungles, Tim Hodge, Emily Beecroft (34-point mixed 4x100m medley) also came first. Trailing by more than six seconds with 100m to go, Leary jumped into the pool and produced the race of her career to run down Netherlands and capture gold.
Jake Michel (swimming, men’s 100m breaststroke S14) in second place, saw off world record holder Japan’s Naohide Yamaguchi in the final 20 metres, but so did Canada’s Nicholas Bennett, who finished just ahead of the Australian to claim gold.
Equally, Jamieson Leeson (boccia, women’s individual BC3) put in a gallant effort from Leeson, who became Australia’s first female boccia medallist. The 21-year-old lost 4-2 in a tight match to Hong Kong’s Ho Yuen Kei.
Dan Michel (boccia, men’s individual BC3) also won silver with a slow start that allowed Korean favourite Howon Jeong to prevail 5-2. Michel, who won bronze in Tokyo, will aim to claim gold when he and Leeson team up in the doubles.
Australia’s Wheelchair rugby team came third after uncharacteristic errors from Ryley Batt denied them a chance to compete in the gold medal match, the Steelers bounced back to claim bronze by defeating Great Britain 50-48.
Michael Burian (athletics, men’s F64 javelin) threw 64.89m – a season’s best – but it was not enough to prevent India’s Sumit Antil from defending his gold medal crown as he set a Paralympic record of 70.59. Burian also came away with the bronze medal.
WHAT ELSE HAPPENED?
* Athletics – Telaya Blacksmith set an Australian record in the T20 400m to qualify for the final. The 16-year-old clocked a time of 57.96sec.
* Archery – Australia’s mixed compound team of Ameera Lee and Jonathan Milne were bundled out at the quarter-final stage, falling to a 150-141 defeat at the hands of Great Britain.
* Table tennis – Fresh off winning the doubles gold medal, Australia’s Qian Yang is through to the semi-final of the S10 singles after brushing aside Taiwan’s Tzu Yu Lin in three straight sets.
MEDAL TABLE (after day five)
1. China – Gold: 43, Silver: 30, Bronze 14. Total: 87.
2. Great Britain – Gold: 29, Silver: 14, Bronze 10. Total: 53.
3. USA – Gold: 13, Silver: 19, Bronze 10. Total: 42.
4. Brazil – Gold: 12, Silver: 8, Bronze 17. Total: 37.
5. France – Gold: 10, Silver: 10, Bronze 13. Total: 33.
6. Australia – Gold: 8, Silver: 9, Bronze 12. Total: 29.
