2024-08-30 02:42:50
A gold medal to open, in style, the French team’s counter. Other podiums (two silver medals) to confirm the ambitions of France. Victory down to the wire to test the strength of character of the Blues. The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games began on Wednesday August 29, as the two-week Olympics began, with a bang. And, to those who doubted the ability of the public to shake a lot for this new sports session as it has between July 26 and August 10, the first day of this competition provides positive answers.
The end of the summer holidays for many families and the approach of the beginning of the school year does not seem to have dampened the enthusiasm of the French for these home Games. In Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome (Yvelines) for example, the atmosphere rose to a crescendo on Thursday. 500 meter time trial event (category C4-C5).
Then it was in an enclosure full of Blue supporters, but also Italians, Irish, Danes and Argentinians, that the harvest of the French disabled sports team started around 3:45 pm As in the Tokyo Games, Marie Patouillet gave the French cycling team a first medal, in silver. During his two sets, the stadium began to shake, to encourage and praise him. “Allez Marie, Allez Marie…” “You really carried me”welcome the horse rider.
An hour ago, the weather started to work with Alexandre Lloveras and Yoan Paillot in tandem (4,000 m pursuit). “It’s way more than we thought, Alexandre Lloveras said. We had the impression of having all of France behind us. » This was not enough to reach the final for the Tokyo Olympic champion, who now competes in road events.
As the roar of the spectators gathered under the boss of the Grand Palais in Paris was not enough to avoid the elimination of the French parataekwondo fighter, Bopha Kong. The 43-year-old four-time world champion, weakened by a knee injury, succumbed after two defeats in the quarter-finals and in the replays.
“In difficult times, you help us a lot”
The audience of Paris La Défense Arena, in Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine), does not need a warm hand to light up the stands on the first day of the river. At the end of the afternoon, Toulouse’s Ugo Didier was given a rock star standing in the swimming pool by 15,000 spectators, where the announcer had to call for silence to close the door. “Ugo”. The emotion that followed the 22-year-old athlete throughout the 400m freestyle final, which was won by Italian Simone Barlaam and Australian Brenden Hall.
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