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Lauren Rowles made rowing history, archer Jodie Grinham won gold while pregnant, and wheelchair tennis duo Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid buried lingering trauma during 11 action-packed days in Paris.
Javelin star Dan Pembroke, schoolgirls Bly Twomey and Iona Winnifrith, and Britain’s men’s wheelchair basketball team also hit the headlines at the first Paralympic Games to be staged in the French capital.
Here, the PA news agency picks out some of the standout moments.
Oar-some display
Rowles starred as Britain celebrated its greatest day of Paralympic rowing by grabbing three golds and a silver on a super Sunday at Vaires-sur-Marne Stadium. The 26-year-old became the sport’s first female triple champion after powering past China in the PR2 mixed doubles alongside former Royal Engineer Commando Gregg Stevenson. “This is definitely the best one yet,” she said, after adding to her Rio and Tokyo triumphs with Laurence Whiteley. “What feels better than making history?”
Delight for Dan
Pembroke made little secret of his desire to retain the F13 javelin title by breaking the world record. He more than delivered thanks to a gladiatorial-esque display at Stade de France. Visually-impaired Pembroke whipped up the crowd before blowing kisses, bowing and performing an impromptu lap of honour wrapped in the Union Jack after initially stretching the previous best global mark and then smashing it with a mammoth throw of 74.49 metres. “The crowd just got behind me and that was my secret weapon,” he said.
Game, set and match
Hewett and Reid suffered painful defeats to French pair Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer in the gold medal matches at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. The pair completed a career golden slam by finally ending their wait for Paralympic doubles glory. “It’s the stuff of dreams,” said Hewett, following a dominant 6-2 6-1 win over Takuya Miki and Tokito Oda at Roland Garros. Hewett fell agonisingly short against Oda in the singles final 24 hours later in one of the greatest matches in wheelchair tennis history.
Expectant mum delivers
Grinham spent time at a Paris maternity ward thinking she may be going into early labour, before winning two medals. At seven months pregnant, she dramatically snatched bronze from defending champion Phoebe Paterson Pine in the individual compound event. Three days later, the 31-year-old surpassed that feat by winning gold with Nathan Macqueen in the mixed team compound. Asked how she will relay the tales to her unborn child, Grinham said: “It will be like, ‘You were on the podium – the youngest member to be on the podium’.”
Landmark taekwondo titles
Amy Truesdale and Matt Bush wrote their names into the history books by grabbing Great Britain’s maiden Paralympic taekwondo golds. Truesdale jubilantly celebrated with a one-handed handstand and by performing the splits in the centre of the octagon following victory over Guljonoy Naimova in the women’s K44 +65kg final. “Sometimes you think, ‘Is it worth it?’. Today, it’s definitely worth it,” she said. Closing ceremony flagbearer Bush backed up the landmark success by beating Russian Aliaskhab Ramazanov in the men’s K44 +80kg event.
Great Britain’s quest for an historic first Paralympic wheelchair basketball gold was scuppered as the United States completed a ‘three-peat’ in the men’s final. A crowd of 20,000 crammed into Bercy Arena on the last evening of competition. Following bronzes in 2004, 2008, 2016 and 2021, GB moved within three points of the back-to-back defending champions with just under 12 seconds remaining. But they could not complete a sensational comeback. Silver represented their best result since losing the 1996 final to Australia.
Teenage dreams
At just 27, the combined age of Twomey and Winnifrith is precisely half that of GB’s oldest Paris Paralympian Jeanette Chippington. Twomey, 14, became Britain’s youngest table tennis medallist with doubles bronze alongside Fliss Pickard, before replicating the achievement in singles. Hours after the second of Twomey’s bronzes, swimmer Winnifrith emulated her idol Ellie Simmonds by standing on the podium aged 13. She posted a lifetime best to claim 100m breaststroke silver.
Maiden medal for Refugee Paralympic Team
Away from British achievements, a milestone moment arrived on the opening day of the Games when Zakia Khudadadi clinched a maiden medal for the Refugee Paralympic Team. Taekwondo star Khudadadi, from Afghanistan, claimed bronze in the women’s K44 -47kg category. International Paralympic Committee president Andrew Parsons singled out the achievement as a personal highlight. Visually-impaired Cameroonian runner Guillaume Junior Atangana, who lives in West Yorkshire, later added a second medal for the team by completing the podium in the men’s T11 400m.
