Paralympics, Day 8 Finals: Aurelie Rivard Wins S10 400 Free for Third Time
Few para swimming dynasties rival what Aurelie Rivard has done in the women’s S10 400 freestyle. For the third straight Games, the Canadian has worked her way to the top step of the podium.
Rivard on Thursday picked up her first gold of the 2024 Paris Paralympics by going 4:9.20 to win the 400 free with ease. It’s her third title in this event, dating back to the 2016 Rio Olympics.
The medal standings after Day 8:
All the action from Day 8 at the Paris La Defense Arena.
Women’s SB7 100 breaststroke
Mariia Pavlova began the eighth session with a bang, lowering her world record in the 100 breast by nearly a second. Pavlova took her mark from June in Limoges down from 1:26.86 to a winning time of 1:26.09, 3.6 seconds clear of the field, to defend her title from the Tokyo Paralympics. For Pavlova, swimming as a Neutral Paralympic Athlete, it’s her first medal of these Games and third overall.
Closest to her was Great Britain’s Iona Winnifrith, the 13-year-old getting her first Paralympic medal in 1:29.69.
“Pretty cool,” Winnifrith said. “I am really happy about the performance. As much as I wanted that gold, I knew I had to fight for it and that’s what I did. A silver medal is really cool at 13.”
Tess Routliffe of Canada was third the entire way, securing bronze in 1:31.58, for her second medal of the Games and third all-time.
Men’s S5 50 freestyle
What could be better for Chinese para swimming than a podium sweep? How about a podium sweep with a world record?
Guo Jincheng lowered his world record to 29.33 seconds to win gold. He lowered his world record (29.78) from Worlds in Manchester last year and his Paralympic record from prelims (29.97). Guo has four medals at these Games, with silver in the 100 free and 50 back.
His countrymates filled the podium. Yuan Weiji was second in 30.80. Wang Lichao took bronze in 31.23, six tenths over Ukraine’s Oleksandr Komarov.
Men’s S6 100 freestyle
Antonio Fantin was well ahead of the field in the S6 100 free, his time of 1:03.12 in finals setting his second Paralympic record of the day. He had been 1:03.67 in prelims. Fantin put a scare into his world record of 1:02.70, set in March. The 23-year-old Italian and five-time World Champion now has back-to-back golds in this event, his two Paralympic golds among six total medals.
Fantin’s back-end speed was impressive, going out in 31.06 and back in 32.06. No one else was under 33.7.
“I’m so satisfied with this result,” Fantin said. “It confirmed the gold in Tokyo 2020. Despite not breaking the world record, the important thing is the gold and singing the national anthem and looking at the Italian flag.”
Second went to Brazil’s Talisson Henrique Glock in 1:05.27. He was .01 ahead of the home-crowd hope, Laurent Chardard of France, who nonetheless secured bronze. Both charged home after being fifth and sixth, respectively, on the wall. It came at the expense of Nelson Crispin, the Colombian fourth, eight tenths off the podium.
Women’s S10 400 freestyle
Aurelie Rivard proved why she is the two-time reigning Paralympic champion in this event. Though she didn’t reach her world record speeds, set in Tokyo, she was head and shoulders above the field in 4:29.20, more than two seconds clear. Rivard built her swim, third at the midpoint before turning on the kick and pulling away in the third 100. She split 33s in the last four 50s while no one else could manage faster than 34s.
“It’s surreal right now because it was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, prepare for this race,” she said. “Especially mentally, ever since the 2022 world championships when I couldn’t finish the race, but also at the beginning of the week when I had two disappointing performances.
“I had to find the confidence to show up tonight and deliver. It took a lot and I am really proud. I am happy I was able to overcome my fears.”
Rivard withstood a charge around the 300-meter mark from Ali Truwit of the U.S. Truwit led early, which positioned her to be on the podium once Rivard’s inevitable charge came. It’s her first Paralympic medal, in 4:31.39 for silver.
“I am feeling good,” Truwit said. “I am really excited I am able to contribute to Team USA’s medal count. On the blocks I was just feeling really excited to walk out and see almost 60 of my family and friends in the crowd, here in Paris and cheering for me. It’s absolutely incredible and gives me chills.
“Throughout the race I was feeling happily surprised with where I was, keeping up with people and somewhat in the lead and wanting to hold on. Determined to fight and put up a good race.”
Truwit was more than four seconds clear of bronze medalist Bianka Pap of Hungary, who went 4:35.63 and was herself nearly three seconds up on fourth-place Oliwia Jablonska of Poland.
Men’s SB11 100 breaststroke
Rogier Dorsman retained his gold medal in this event, controlling the field to win in 1:11.07. It’s his sixth career medal at the Paralympics, five of them gold.
“Technically, it was a pretty good race,” Dorsman said. “A little bit messier than this morning. This morning, it was pretty strict, and I was going almost in a straight line. But tonight I was a little bit more zigzagging. I hit the lane rope a little more often.
“I hoped this would be a little bit better. But in the end, gold is gold, and that’s all it matters.”
The race was for silver, with Yang Bozun of China outlasting Ukraine’s Danylo Chufarov by just over a quarter second in 1:12.26.
Women’s SB11 100 breaststroke
World record holder Daria Lukianenko added the Paralympic record in 1:18.31 to win gold. She was third at the turn by used a second-50 split of 41.04 to get gold. She downs the PR of Karolina Pelendritou of Cyprus in Tokyo. Pelendritou won bronze in 1:21.64, with China’s Ma Jia getting silver in between. Ma went 1:19.24 to set an Asian record. China had three finalists, with Zhang Xiaotong fourth and Cai Liwen seventh.
Men’s SM9 200 individual medley
Timothy Hodge has his first individual gold medal, and a PR to boot. The Australian, who finished second in this event in Tokyo, got to the top step of the podium in 2:13.31. He downs the long-standing record of countryman Matthew Cowdrey, set in Beijing at 2:13.60. Hodge took down Cowdrey’s world record in the event.
“Having a barrier like that helps me get into the mental head-space that I am going to race fast, that I’ve got it in me to race fast,” Hodge said. “Going into the race, I knew that a lot of the guys would go fairly easy in the heats so coming into the final they’d be going a lot harder. But I was confident in myself.”
Beyond Hodge, though, was French delight. Ugo Didier of the host nation added another medal with silver in 2:15.98. Hector Denayer came out of Lane 8 to get bronze in 2:17.34. That left two NPA athletes off the podium, including reigning champ Andrei Kalina in fifth.
Women’s SM9 200 individual medley
Zsofia Konkoly got to the wall first in 2:33.31 to win gold, her third of these Games and sixth medal all-time. She was second in this event in Tokyo but takes over as the champion from New Zealand’s Sophie Pascoe.
“I am really, really happy with this,” Konkoly said. “I didn’t expect to win two gold medals, I just wanted to somehow get to the podium. After winning the 40m (free) on the first day it resulted in a big appetite for good results.”
Konkoly was first after the butterfly leg and second as they turned for home. She came home in 35.84 to overtake Spain’s Nuria Marques Soto for gold by .88. Marques Soto went 2:34.19, losing 1.1 seconds on the final lap. Fellow Spaniard Anastasiya Dmytriv got bronze.
Fourth was Toni Shaw of Great Britain, who had been second in prelims. American Natalie Sims was third in prelims but a distant sixth in the final. Lakeisha Patterson of Australia was fifth.
Men’s SB13 100 breaststroke
Germany’s Taliso Engel capped a dominant day with a gold medal. He lowered his world record from 1:02.22 to 1:01.84 in prelims, then got near that time again in finals with a 1:01.90. It extends his dominance in this event, which now includes two Paralympic titles and three World Championships.
“It absolutely took the pressure off,” Engel said of his morning world record. “I was relaxed and knew I could swim fast here. It was good for me to swim very fast this morning, so I could go into the evening very relaxed.”
Second in the multiclass event was SB12 swimmer Nurdaulet Zhumagali of Kazakhstan, who set the Paralympic record and an Asian record of 1:04.83. That’s his second Asian record of the day.
The dominance stayed in Central Asian. Vali Israfilov won bronze in 1:05.35, ahead of Uzbekistan’s Firdavsbek Musabekov.
Perhaps the best chance to break the American medal drought, David Abrahams finished fifth in 1:06.63. He had won silver in this event in Tokyo and bronze at the World Championships last year. Through eight days of competition, the American men have zero Paralympic medals.
Women’s SB12 100 breaststroke
There were records aplenty in this race, starting with Elena Krawzow of Germany lowering her world record to win in 1:12.54. Krawzow has going 1:12.71 in 2019. She set a Paralympic record of 1:13.19 in prelims. Krawzow won the SB13 event in Tokyo and silver in SB13 in London in 2012 but has been reclassified as her vision loss progressed and after a battle with brain cancer in 2021.
“That’s just unbelievable for me,” she said. “Three years ago, it was a tough time for me after the diagnosis. My biggest goal was to break my own record, my PB, and today it happened. It’s just incredible. I can’t say anything. I’m just happy.”
Carol Santiago won silver in 1:15.62, her fifth medal of the Games (three gold, two silver).
“I’m very happy,” Santiago said. “It’s a race that I really like, and it’s always a very difficult race to do because it’s at the end of the program. It’s a lot more work for me. I have to train twice as hard, in addition to my regular training.”
Third was China’s Zheng Jietong in an Asian record 1:20.03. She re-set that record twice on the day, as did South Africa’s Alani Ferreira for the Asian record (to 1:21.36 in finals for fifth) and Australian Jenna Jones for the Oceania record (to 1:22.04 for sixth).
Women’s SB13 100 breaststroke
For the third time, Rebecca Redfern is a medalist in this event. For the first time, it’s gold.
The 24-year-old from Great Britain led the way in prelims and finals to win in 1:16.02. She used a first 50 that was 1.2 seconds quicker than anyone else to bank a lead and coast home. She had gotten silver in Tokyo (to Krawzow) and in Rio.
American Olivia Chambers won silver in 1:17.70. In bronze position for the third straight games is her countrywoman Colleen Young, in 1:18.52. Ireland’s Roisin Ni Riain was just off the podium in fourth.
“It was a bit of a surprise,” Chambers said. “Breaststroke is a hit or miss for me, if I’m being honest. And tonight I was on. I was feeling good. I was really excited to see that we (with Young) both will go on that podium together.”
Women’s S8 50 freestyle
Alice Tai has another medal and another gold for her collection, the British swimmer going 29.91 to win gold. It’s her second gold and fourth medal of these Games for the world record holder. She outswam Cecília Jeronimo de Araujo, who won the silver medal for the second straight Games in this event, with a time of 30.31.
Tai knew it might take a sub-30 time to win but was surprised to see it was her.
“I just can’t believe I am getting back down to my times (pre-amputation),” she said. “My backstroke, I dropped almost a whole second since I swum it a few weeks ago. Just today, I knocked 0.7 off my best time since my amputation, which is insane for a 50. And my medley, I swum faster than I did when I had two legs.”
Third was the reigning Olympic champ, Viktoriia Ishchiulova in 30.79, just .18 ahead of China’s Jiang Shengnan. The bronze medalist in Tokyo, Xenia Palazzo of Italy, was sixth. American Mallory Weggemann, the only S7 swimmer in the final, finished eighth.
Mixed 200 medley relay 20 points
China set a world record to claim gold in 2:24.83, cutting nearly three seconds off their existing record from Worlds in 20203. Lu Dong, Zhang Li, Wang Lichao and Guo Jincheng comprised the squad, with only Wang having swum in prelims when the Chinese finished second to the U.S. China was fifth at the midway point and second at the final handoff, but it had Guo’s 29.23 waiting in reserve.
The U.S. earned silver in an American record 2:31.01. Ellie Marks, Morgan Ray, Abbas Karimi and Leanne Smith comprised the quartet. Smith held off a charge by Ukraine on the anchor that got within a half-second. The Ukrainian foursome of Yaroslav Semenenko, Anna Hontar, Oleksandr Komarov and Iryna Poida set the European mark in 2:31.53.
“This is the happiest moment of my life,” Karimi said. “We’ve just got started, and we’re getting better and better and faster. We’ve been fast in the morning, and we got faster in the final, so we got the job done and we got another medal.”