Paris 2024 Paralympics: multiple gold medallists left their mark on the competition

During the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, which came to a close this Sunday evening at the Stade de France, a number of para-athletes shone through their sporting performances. Ten of them made a particular impression.

Jiang Yuyan (People's Republic of China) - Para swimming

7 gold medals in the 50 m freestyle S6, 100 m freestyle S7, 400 m freestyle S6, 100 m backstroke S6, 50 m butterfly S6, mixed 4×50 m freestyle relay 20 points and mixed 4×50 m medley relay 20 points.

She is quite simply the most successful Para athlete and medal winner of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. In 10 days of competition at the Paris La Défense Arena, she won 7 gold medals. Hardly a day went by without her winning a medal. Her harvest began with the 50 m freestyle S6, then continued with the 100 m freestyle S7, the 400 m freestyle S6, the 100 m backstroke S6, the 50 m butterfly S6, the mixed 4×50 m freestyle relay 20 points and, finally, the mixed 4×50 m medley relay 20 points.

In the end, only the 200 m medley SM6 escaped Jiang Yuyan's disqualification, as she had to amputate her right arm and leg after a car accident when she was 4 years old.

Guo Jincheng (People's Republic of China) - Para swimming

4 gold medals in the 50 m freestyle S5, 50 m butterfly S5, 4×50 m mixed freestyle relay 20 points and 4×50 m mixed medley relay 20 points; 2 silver medals in the 100 m freestyle S5 and 50 m backstroke S5

In Para swimming, another Para swimmer from the People's Republic of China stood out in particular: Guo Jincheng. Deprived of both arms, he collected four titles (50 m freestyle S5 finished with just one breath, 50 m butterfly S5, mixed 4×50 m freestyle relay 20 points and mixed 4×50 m medley relay 20 points). There were also two silver medals in the S5 100 m freestyle and S5 50 m backstroke.

Saysunee Jana (Thailand) - Wheelchair fencing

3 gold medals in individual foil, epee and sabre in category B; 1 bronze medal in team epee

At the age of 50, Thai Para fencer Saysunee Jana has achieved great things at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. At the Grand Palais, in wheelchair fencing, she quite simply won individual gold in all three weapons: epee, sabre and foil. In fact, she was the first person since 1968 to do so. Her record is rounded off by a bronze medal in the team epee.

Catherine Debrunner (Switzerland) - Para athletics

5 gold medals in 400 m T53, 800 m T53, 1,500 m T54, 5,000 m T54 and marathon T54; 1 silver medal in 100 m T53

On the track at the Stade de France, Switzerland's Catherine Debrunner shone brightly. Winner of the T53 200m, T53 800m, T54 1500m and T54 5000m, she completed her golden collection on the last day of the Games in the T54 marathon. A cut above the rest, she will go down in Swiss sporting history just as Marcel Hug did at Tokyo 2020.

Feng Panfeng (People's Republic of China) - Para table tennis

3 gold medals in singles MS3, men's doubles MD8 and mixed doubles XD7

He has now won ten Paralympic titles. Seven-time Paralympic champion between Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, China's Fang Panfeng added three more gold medals at Paris 2024: the MS3 singles, with a final dispatched in 18 minutes, the MD8 men's doubles and the XD7 mixed doubles.

Mathieu Bosredon (France) - Para road cycling

3 gold medals in the H3 time trial, H3 road race and H1-5 mixed team relay

On the Clichy-sous-Bois circuit, Frenchman Mathieu Bosredon proved to be unstoppable. In the Para-cycling road time trial and H3 road race, he quite simply won the two Paralympic gold medals, putting the competition far behind him on both occasions. In the H1-5 mixed team relay, he won his third title with Joseph Fritsch and Florian Jouanny, making him the most successful French Para athlete at Paris 2024.

Ihar Boki (Neutral Paralympic Athlete) - Para swimming

5 gold medals in the 50 m freestyle S13, 400 m freestyle S13, 100 m backstroke S13, 100 m butterfly S13 and 200 m medley SM13

Ihar Boki, who competed for France's Alex Portal in the S13 Para-swimming event under the banner of Neutral Paralympic Athletes, left his opponent nothing but crumbs. Competing in five disciplines in the pool at the Paris La Défense Arena in Nanterre, he won five gold medals. He won the 50 m freestyle S13, the 400 m freestyle S13, the 100 m backstroke S13, the 100 m butterfly S13 and the 200 m medley SM13, bringing his total number of Paralympic titles to 21.

Jetze Plat (Netherlands) - Para triathlon, Para road cycling and Para athletics

2 gold medals in the Para road cycling H4 road race and H4 time trial; 1 gold medal in the Para triathlon PTWC; 9th place in the Para athletics T54 marathon

He is the Hercules of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. Competing in three Para sports, Dutchman Jetze Plat shone particularly brightly in two of them. While he finished 9th in the T54 Para athletics wheelchair marathon, he took gold in the Para road cycling, handbike, H4 road race and time trial, as well as the PTWC Para triathlon.

Gabriel Geraldo dos Santos Araujo (Brazil) - Para swimming

3 gold medals in the 200m freestyle S2, 50m backstroke S2 and 100m backstroke S2

He is perhaps the biggest star of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. Born without arms and suffering from phocomelia, he stunned the entire planet by dominating his S2 category in the 200 m freestyle, 50 m backstroke and 100 m backstroke. A star of the social networks, Gabriel Geraldo dos Santos Araujo, also known as Gabrielzinho, had already won two Paralympic gold medals at Tokyo 2020 and is also a six-time world champion.

Oksana Masters (United States) - Para road cycling

2 gold medals in the H4-5 time trial and H5 road race

American Oksana Masters is a grande dame of Paralympic sport. A thirteen-time medallist at the Paralympic Winter Games in Para biathlon and Para cross-country skiing (with 4 titles), she also won a summer medal in Para rowing. In Para road cycling, she was the reigning double Paralympic champion when she arrived in Paris 2024. In the French capital, she once again stood head and shoulders above the rest, holding on to her gold medals in the H4-5 time trial and H5 road race.