Immediately for Italian swimming in the finals at the Paralympics. The blue Simone Barlaam, reigning champion, dominated the S9 50-meter freestyle, breaking the world record. The twenty-four-year-old from Milan finished with a time of 23″90, beating the neutral athlete Denis Tarasov (25″15) and the Norwegian Fredrik Solberg (25″33). After 10 seconds of the race, Barlaam launched into a progression that first caught up with Solberg, then distanced himself from the rest of the opponents with world record strokes: he lowered his own limit by 6 hundredths. He showed off his muscles to the audience at the Defense Arena, in an atmosphere that had nothing to envy to the Olympic days.
Bicelli wins gold in the 400 freestyle, Ghiretti wins the 100 breaststroke
Before Barlaam’s performance, Federico Bicelli also won gold in the S7 400 freestyle with a time of 4’38’’70. The 25-year-old from Brescia beat the Ukrainian Andrii Trusov, who took silver in 4:40.17, and the Argentine Inaki Basiloff, who took bronze in 4:40.27. Gold also for the Parmigiana Giulia Ghiretti in the 100 breaststroke SB4 by 4 hundredths over the Hungarian Illes: “A wonderful emotion. I thank everyone who came here to cheer for me. A struggle that lasted years, I am moved and very happy.”
Manuel Bortuzzo, the interview: “We Paralympians are real athletes, judge us only by the victories”
In the triumphant day for the blue swimming team, there were also three bronzes. Giulia Terzi claimed third place in the S7 400 freestyle. For a long time in second place, she was overtaken only by the Americans Morgan Stickney, gold, and McKenzie Coan, silver. A 29-year-old from Bergamo, this is her sixth Paralympic medal after five in Tokyo, and she is linked to Stefano Raimondi, who won his second gold in Paris on Sunday: a few months ago she became a mother to Edoardo, to whom she dedicated the victory. In the freestyle 50 meters, Carlotta Gilli made it to the podium, having seen the Brazilian Maria Carolina Gomes Santiago (26’’75) and the American Gia PergoliniPolo Lopez (4 hundredths behind) at the finish line. For the Torinese, this is her fourth medal in Paris after the gold in the 100 butterfly, silver in the 400 freestyle, and bronze in the 100 backstroke. Within the blue team, fourth places went to Vincenzo Boni in the S3 50 backstroke and Domiziana Mecenate in the S3 50 backstroke.
Manuel Bortuzzo wins bronze in the 100 breaststroke
Manuel Bortuzzo won the bronze medal in the SB4 100 breaststroke. The blue athlete finished with a time of 1’42″52, defending himself from the attack of Nicolas Rivero. In front of Bortuzzo, Dmitrii Cherniaev finished in 1’32″20, ahead of the Greek Tsapatakis: “I’ve never won anything, I set the Italian record, I don’t know what to say, it’s beautiful. In the last lap, I was stuck, but I thought about all the hard work it took to get here. This bronze is everything. It was already a lot to be here, a medal is an exaggerated thing. There have been many times when I risked giving up. Thanks also to the sports team of Fiamme Oro and the Italian national team.”
Athletics, silver for Maxcel Amo Manu in the 100 meters
Silver medal for Maxcel Amo Manu. The blue athlete placed second in the men’s 100 meters T64 category after nearly falling at the start: “That’s my weak point; I came out in progression. I am disappointed, I wanted gold, but I accept second place; it was still my first Paralympics. The hunger remains for the 200 meters.” Gold went to Sherman Isidro Guity Guity from Costa Rica in 10″65. Bronze went to the German Felix Streng (10″77). Amo Manu, 32 years old from Bologna, has two world championship golds in his career, those from 2023 in Paris, in the 100 and 200 meters also in the T64 category. Valentina Petrillo was eliminated in the semifinals in the T12 400 meters with the Italian record.
Paralympics, Veronica Yoko Plebani and Francesca Tarantello: two silvers in the triathlon. And a bronze comes in mixed team archery
Tattoos, medals, and Oksana’s strength: sports to overcome the Chernobyl nightmare
