Paralympic pool delivers Australia medals on day one
GOLD
Tom Gallagher (swimming, men’s S10 50m freestyle) - Not a bad week to be a Gallagher! The 25-year-old secured Australia’s first gold medal to compete a remarkable comeback story after nearly dying with pancreatitis following the Tokyo Games.
SILVER
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BRONZE
Brenden Hall (swimming, S9 men’s 400m freestyle) - Five-time Paralympian Hall came third in an enthralling race where French hero Ugo Didier sealed a dramatic late win.
Rowan Crothers (swimming, men’s S10 50m freestyle) - Finished narrowly behind Gallagher but couldn’t have been happier for his fellow Australian.
WHAT ELSE HAPPENED
* Wheelchair basketball - The Rollers, fell 66-55 to the Netherlands in their opening match of the tournament.Australia trailed by just four points at the end of the third quarter only for the Dutch to pull away. Bill Latham finished as Australia’s top scorer.
* Boccia - Gold medal hopeful Daniel Michel got off to a strong start in his first of three pool games as he defeated South Africa’s Karabo Morapedi 10-2 in the men’s BC3 singles. Jamieson Leeson suffered a 6-1 defeat to Kang Sun-hee of South Korea in the women’s BC3 singles.
* Para-badminton - Juergen Klopp watched on as New Zealand’s Wojtek Czyz fell to a straight-set loss against GB’s Daniel Bethell. The ex-Liverpool manager befriended Czyz after a football injury forced the Polish-born Kiwi to have his leg amputated over 20 years ago.
* Para-triathlon - The Seine has forced another shake-up with all 11 para-triathlon races condensed and will now take place on September 1. Originally due to be spread across September 1 and 2, anticipated rainfall led to the change.
WHO SAID WHAT?
* “It was the first time my in-laws had seen me swim live, so I had to give them something to enjoy” - Brenden Hall knows how to leave a good impression with his wife’s parents after winning the S9 400m freestyle bronze.
* “The home nation France tomorrow night, it’s going to be loud.” - The Steelers are going to have to fight against a wall of French noise on day two to keep their Paralympic medal hopes alive after falling 58-55 against Great Britain.
MEDAL TABLE (after day one)
1. China - Gold: 4, Silver: 1, Bronze 0. Total: 5.
2. Great Britain - Gold: 2, Silver: 3, Bronze 1. Total: 6.
3. Italy - Gold: 2, Silver: 2, Bronze 5. Total: 9.
4. Netherlands - Gold: 2, Silver: 0, Bronze 0. Total: 2.
5. France - Gold: 1, Silver: 2, Bronze 0. Total: 3.
6. Australia - Gold: 1, Silver: 1, Bronze 2. Total: 4
