Paris 2024 Paralympic Games–highlights of 29 August: Poppy Maskill leads Great Britain's medal rush on Day 1. Ellie Marks makes it three Para swimming medals for Team USA
The first competition day of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games on Thursday, 29 August, saw 11 of the 22 sports on the programme contested, with medals awarded in Para cycling track, Para swimming, Para table tennis and Para taekwondo.
The much-anticipated wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rubgy tournaments also started on opening day.
Para cycling track awarded four gold medals, including the first gold medal of the Paralympic Games, which went to the Netherlands’ Caroline Groot in the C5 500m time trial at the National Velodrome with plenty of drama and excitement.
The Paris La Défense Arena swimming venue came alive again as 15 gold medals were awarded on Day 1 to the thrill of the roaring crowds.
Find out more about the opening day of competition at the Paralympic Games.
Para swimming: Poppy Maskill wins Great Britain’s first gold in 100m butterfly S14
The Paris La Défense Arena welcomed more swimming talents and enthusiastic sports fans for a stacked night of 15 finals. Poppy Maskill, a 19-year-old from Great Britain, opened her first Paralympic Games with a massive win in the 100m butterfly S14, coupled with a world record time of 1:03.00.
“It’s unreal,” Maskill said of her gold medal performance. “I was just hoping that I swam as hard as I could and see what happens. It gives me more confidence, but we’ll see what happens.”
Maskill is a multi-medal contender at these Games. Her competition schedule also includes the 200m backstroke, 200m freestyle and 200m individual medley S14 events.
Fellow Para swimmer Tully Kearney added a second gold for the Brits, winning the 200m freestyle S5 to close out a huge first day of competition at Paris La Défense Arena.
Silver medallist Christie Raleigh-Crossley of the United States (L), gold medallist Yi Chen of the People's Republic of China (C) and silver medallist Aurelie Rivard of Canada on the podium of the women's 50m freestyle S10.
Para swimming: Team USA’s Christie Raleigh-Crossley—a silver medal and a world record in 50m freestyle S10
USA's Christie Raleigh-Crossley won a silver medal in the women's 50m freestyle S10 after an arduous trek to her first Paralympic Games. She led up to that medal by setting a world record of 27.28 seconds in Heat 2 of qualifying.
Raleigh-Crossley’s first Paralympic medal has been coming for a long time. The 37-year-old mother-of-three endured numerous devastating accidents and physical setbacks in the years leading up to her Paralympic start. She celebrated her medal with her children cheering her on from the crowd.
The Para swimmer now hopes to inspire other athletes like herself, saying, "We see a lot of amputees, we see a lot of visually impaired. You don’t usually see people who are ambulatory wheelchair users. (People) who use a multitude of mobility aids."
Team USA earned two more Para swimming silver medals on Day 1, with Ellie Marks earning silver in the women's 50m freestyle S6 and Grace Nuhfer in the women's 100m butterfly S13.
Kate O'Brien of Canada competes in the women's C4-5 500m time trial final.
Para cycling track: Two-time Olympian Kate O’Brien wins first Paralympics medal for Canada in C4-5 500m time trials
Canada’s Kate O’Brien won bronze in Para cycling track C4-5 500m time trials — the first Paralympic medal for Canada at Paris 2024 — to add to her silver medal from Tokyo 2020. She finished on the podium behind Dutch gold medallist Caroline Groot and French silver medallist Marie Patouillet.
The Tokyo 2020 defending champion from Great Britain, Kadeena Cox, crashed at the start, but is looking forward to a better finish in the upcoming team sprint, where Team GB are the defending champions.
“The boys are going to be counting on me to go out and deliver a quick lap, so I’m hoping I can get my head back in the game and go out there for them,” Cox said.
Great Britain also had a big showing on the track, earning two silver medals. Stephen Bate won silver in the men’s B 4000m individual pursuit and Daphne Schrager took silver in the women’s C1-3 3000m individual pursuit.
Italy's Stefano Raimondi of Italy (R) and Australia's Thomas Gallagher compete in the men's 50m freestyle S10 final.
Para swimming: Australia’s Thomas Gallagher wins gold after health scare at Tokyo 2020 Paralympics
Australia’s Thomas Gallagher won gold in the men's 50m freestyle S10 in his first Paris 2024 race. Following the victory, he reflected on the 400m freestyle bronze medal finish at Tokyo 2020 that nearly killed him:
"I finished my 400, had a massive pancreas attack. I didn't make it to the podium because I was in no state. But obviously, I'll be able to go on the podium tonight, so that definitely makes up for it. It's just a little hurdle. A lot of people have hurdles and that happened to be mine. It makes the victory even better.”
Wheelchair rugby and basketball preliminary rounds underway
The preliminary rounds of men’s wheelchair basketball saw Team USA’s Steve Serio score a triple-double to win over Spain, 66-56. Great Britain beat Germany 76-55, while the Netherlands took down Australia 66-55.
Complete men’s and women’s basketball results are available here.