Beau Dure (now) and Emillia Hawkins (earlier) 

Paris 2024 Paralympics day three: GB golds in taekwondo, plus athletics – live

Join our team of writers for the latest news as the action continues with 97 golds up for grabs in Paris
  
  

Amy Truesdale has won taekwondo gold for ParalympicsGB at the Grand Palais.
Amy Truesdale has won taekwondo gold for ParalympicsGB at the Grand Palais. Photograph: Maja Smiejkowska/Reuters

AND IT’S OVER! USA will play for gold in badminton mixed doubles.

Thanks for following along today – enjoy the rest of the Games.

Krajewski hits the floor on back-to-back shots! Seven match points for the USA.

Krajewski at full extension AGAIN! That forces an error. 18-13.

Three straight for India. 17-13.

Another epic rally, and the frustration is evident when an unforced error puts India behind 17-10.

USA run the lead to 15-8. Can they close it out?

Wait … this goes to 21, apparently. These folks need to start these matches earlier. I was supposed to be done an hour ago. Riveting, though.

USA lead 11-7.

Simon with a succession of brilliant returns close to the net. 10-7.

Long, long rally, and Simon makes an unfortunate unforced error. Now it’s 8-7.

Quick mistake from India. 9-7.

I’m becoming a full-time badminton blogger after this.

Oh, that’s not fair. Krajewski dives at full extension and somehow gets it back over the net, but the cross-court return falls gently to the floor.

Then two more for India, and it’s 8-6.

What a match.

And it’s 8-3. Those drop shots just aren’t working for India any more.

Reminder: This is a semifinal. Winner plays for gold. Loser plays for bronze.

USA out to a 5-2 lead. This game is to 11, like Spinal Tap.

In running back through the play-by-play, it appears the foul that gave Germany the free throw was an unsportsmanlike foul, which means Germany maintained possession after the free throw, and basically, Germany will win.

Meanwhile, the USA have seven game points against India. They convert the second. We’ll go to a decisive third game.

A free throw has put Germany up 68-64 with 21 seconds left.

Meanwhile, India have made a series of errors, and the USA lead 17-12 in Game 2.

And while the badminton held my full attention, Germany reeled off a big run to take a seven-point lead in the men’s wheelchair basketball game.

But France rallied with the old-fashioned three-point play (basket, foul, free throw) to cut it to 66-62 with 52 seconds left.

It’s not a unique take, but it should be said – water covers 70% of the planet, and Miles Krajewski covers the rest.

It’s 7-7 in the second set, and this is scintillating stuff here.

Can’t argue with this …

Back to basketball – Germany inched ahead by four, but France have stuck around to cut it to one. Exactly four minutes left.

Game 1 to India, as Solaimalai keeps hitting these brilliant shots that just barely cross the net on a diagonal. Even when Simon and Krajewski can reach them, there’s hardly any way to return them.

What a rally. The stats show the longest rally of the game is 48 shots, and that had to have been it. That includes a diving shot from Krajewski to keep things going. It ends with Solaimalai hitting a cross-court shot that lands barely a foot on the other side of the net.

And now it’s Solaimalai’s turn to hit the floor, diving onto his own backline to return, but Krajewski simply chips a shot into the open court to cut the lead to 16-15.

After nearly three minutes, we have our first basket of the fourth quarter in the men’s wheelchair basketball game. Germany have taken the lead at 52-51.

Krajewski showed in his big singles win that he’s not rattled when he falls behind. He and Simon have run off four straight points to get to 10-11.

The fourth quarter in the Germany-France wheelchair basketball game has started with seven missed shots and a shot-clock violation. Still 51-50.

India have put together a run of dazzling shots, ending with a precise drop shot, to take a 10-5 lead in the first set against the USA’s Krajewski and Simon.

Krajewski covers the court with astounding quickness, but the Indian team’s shot-making is too good to be overcome right now.

Back to basketball, Germany scored the last six points of the third quarter and now trail France by the Van Halen score: 51-50.

All basketball pool-play games are basically just for seeding, but that certainly matters.

A couple of full stories on the day’s action …

Regarding the latter – if you think being scolded by a French soldier while trying to peek through some railings is intimidating, imagine have a Chinese soldier swinging a baton around after leaping out to surprise you at night when you can’t find the media bus in Qinhuangdao. Good times. The staff couldn’t have been nicer, though.

Unfortunately, I can’t seem to watch the wheelchair basketball game in progress, but I can tell you France have pushed out to a seven-point lead late in the third quarter.

This is not an easy matchup for Krajewski and Simon. India’s Sivarajan Solaimalai and Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan are the second seeds.

We’re down to three events today … one badminton match in progress, Krajewski/Simon’s badminton match starting soon, and a men’s wheelchair basketball game in which France have taken over the lead from Germany in the third quarter.

Miles Krajewski and Jayci Simon, the US mixed doubles team, have not yet taken the court for their semifinal. Cancel my dinner plans …

Earlier today, Simon took a straight-set win in her SH6 (short stature) pool-play finale, but she will not advance to the knockout rounds. GB’s Rachel Choong won her pool.

India’s Krishna Nagar, the defending men’s champion who lost to Krajewski yesterday, retired from his final match today. Krajewski has qualified for the knockout rounds in the SH6 classification, as has GB’s Kyrsten Coombs.

GB’s Daniel Bethell won his pool in the SL3 (standing, lower-limb impairment) classification.

At last, badminton

“I will make the decision as to when the court gets wiped,” says the chair umpire to a player who would prefer not to have so many interruptions to dry things off.

That’s in the Indonesia-France mixed doubles match, which has been rather tense throughout. Indonesia lead 1 set to 0, 10-7 in the second.

Before moving over to badminton, here’s a quick look at a few things you might have missed today, no matter how closely you were trying to follow every event at once:

Medals for Australia: Gold for Lei Li Na/Yang Qian (table tennis WD20 mixed doubles) and Amanda Reid (cycling C1-3 500m time trial); silver for Michael Roeger (men’s T46 1,500m); bronze for Madison de Rozario (women’s T54 5,000m) and Jack Ireland (men’s S14 200m freestyle)

Medals for USA: Their best day so far, by far …

  • Gold: Olivia Chambers and Mallory Weggemann in swimming; Jaydin Blackwell and Daniel Romanchuk in track and field

  • Silver: Noah Malone, Ryan Medrano and Susannah Scaroni in track and field

  • Bronze: Believe it or not, the USA had no bronze medals after two days. Today, they got five. Liza Corzo and B Hatz in track and field, Elouan Gardon in cycling, Julia Gaffney in swimming, Evan Medell in taekwondo.

Medals for GB: Too many to count. Let’s try:

  • Gold: Stephen Clegg, William Ellard and Alice Tai in swimming; Matt Bush and Amy Truesdale in taekwondo

  • Silver: Archie Atkinson (cycling), Poppy Maskill (swimming)

  • Bronze: Jodie Grinham (archery), Louise Fiddes (swimming), Paul Karabardak/Billy Shilton (table tennis)

Medals for China: Nine gold, 17 total

Other big winners on the day:

  • Brazil had three gold medals and a staggering 11 total. One gold and five total were in track and field; two more gold medals were in swimming.

  • Uzbekistan took gold in men’s F12 shot put, men’s F57 javelin, and men’s 80kg taekwondo.

Medal count by golds: China 20, GB 11, Brazil 8, Netherlands 6, USA/Australia/Uzbekistan 5 each

Medal count by total: China 42, GB 25, Brazil 23, USA/Ukraine 19 each

Thanks to Niall McVeigh across the Atlantic for passing along comments from Amy Truesdale, speaking with Channel 4:

“I don’t think it’s sunk in, it’s the last medal I needed to complete my career. I’m a Paralympic champion ... I’m just so grateful for the support. I had three really tough fights, but the hardest fight for me is always the one in my mind. That last minute, I was a bit on edge, because I’d accidentally kicked her incorrectly. I can’t believe it, it’s unreal!”

GB's Matt Bush wins taekwondo gold

Two straight dominant performances for GB taekwondo athletes, with Bush taking a 5-0 win, completely shutting down Neutral Paralympic Athlete Aliaskhab Ramazanov.

That’s 11 gold medals for Team GB, and Bush celebrates by picking up his infant child, who beams while wearing sturdy ear protection.

Updated

In boccia, Australia’s Jamieson Leeson has advanced to the BC3 class semifinals with a 4-3 win over Argentina’s Stefania Ferrando.

After taekwondo, there is one more event to watch – badminton, where the USA’s Miles Krajewski and Jayci Simon are in the mixed doubles SH6 semifinals.

Now up, for the last medal event of the day, GB’s Matt Bush vs. Neutral Paralympic Athletes’ Aliaskhab Ramazanov in men’s heavyweight taekwondo.

Bush looks a bit like Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, doesn’t he? But with an impressive beard?

The GB athlete is only the fourth seed, but he’s also the 2023 world champion.

Ramazanov edged the USA’s Evan Medell in the semifinals. Medell took bronze.

Taekwondo athlete Amy Truesdale wins GB's 10th gold medal

Truesdale has been given a yellow card. Everyone stands around a moment, not quite realizing what that means.

It apparently means one point to Naimova. That means Truesdale still has an 8-2 lead. Naimova has left the mat, and the referee emphatically gestures to Truesdale to declare her the winner.

Updated

We’re having a tense moment at taekwondo now, as the referee has asked for a review to see if Truesdale should be penalized for a kick that has left Naimova down for medical treatment.

It appears Naimova will not continue. Will Truesdale be disqualified? Commentators seem to think it’s unlikely that Truesdale kicked to the head intentionally.

Apparently, the staff doctor said Naimova could continue, but she said no.

Listening to the opening of Van Halen’s Right Now on a loop isn’t reducing the tension.

Amy Truesdale is finally up on the mat to compete for a taekwondo gold medal, and she’s up 8-1 already on Uzbekistan’s Guljonoy Naimova.

Naimova is the top seed; Truesdale is second.

Updated

Another US athlete has just had a few millimeters affect his chances – long jumped Ezra Frech landed with what appeared to be a pretty good effort, but as he took off, the blade on his prosthetic leg just rolled over the board and barely touched beyond it. The foul nullified his jump, and he remains in fifth place.

It’s hard to call a silver medal “heartbreaking,” but Noah Malone seems to be in a bit of shock. He led the men’s T12 100m most of the way through, but Türkiye’s Serkan Yildirim somehow flung his torso across the line 0.01 seconds ahead of the US runner.

Coming up next …

GB taekwondo athletes Amy Truesdell and Matt Bush will take their shots at gold shortly.

But on the track right now, it’s the men’s T12 (visually impaired) 100m, with the USA’s Noah Malone hoping to improve from silver in Tokyo. He’s a key runner on Indiana State’s track and field team and was one of the 10 US athletes in our preview.

Team GB have finished wheelchair rugby pool play unbeaten, hanging on to beat France 50-49.

The host country cut the lead to one after forcing a turnover with 2:41 left, but each team scored on every possession the rest of the way. France scored its last try with 1 second left for the final margin.

Tomorrow’s semifinals are set: Japan v Australia, GB v USA.

USA's Daniel Romanchuk wins men's T54 5,000m

Where did he come from?!

With all eyes on Marcel Hug as the six-time Paralympic gold medalist went out wide to try to pass the pack, the Tokyo 400m champion suddenly sprang into daylight and wound up winning by two wheelchair lengths.

Romanchuk won in 10:55.28, 0.5 seconds ahead of Hug. Only 1.1 seconds separated second place from eighth.

An accident in the last few meters could affect the final podium. Kuwait’s Faisal Alrajehi is the bronze medalist for now, but he was involved in some contact that sent Thailand’s Putharet Khongrak into the inside rail. Khongrak topped over and took out the USA’s Brian Siemann, sending both racers tumbling to the track.

After getting some assistance, Siemann crossed the finish line nearly two minutes behind Romanchuk.

GB’s David Weir, who won this event and three others in London 12 years ago, slid to eighth.

Over to the track, GB veteran David Weir is very much in the thick of things in the men’s T54 (wheelchair) 5,000m. World and Paralympic champion Marcel Hug is also near the front. But so is everyone.

One lap to go …

Ma Jia sets world record for China's 20th gold medal

The defending champion in the women’s S11 (visual impairment) 50m freestyle knocked nearly a quarter of a second off her previous record, finishing in 28.96 and easily outdistancing the field.

That’s 20 gold medals for China, more than twice that of second-place GB (nine).

Australia win women's doubles table tennis gold

Lei Li Na and Yang Qian faced some nervous moments at the end, dropping the third game 11-3 and falling behind by two in the fourth game, but the Australian duo converted the second of two chances to close out the match, ending with an effective cross-court smash by Yang to win the WD20 class.

Australian gold medal alert … tune into the WD20 women’s doubles table tennis final, where Lei Li Na and Yang Qian are two points away from closing out top seed Lin Tzu Yu and Tian Shiau Wen of Chinese Taipei.

Jodie Grinham has defeated fellow GB archer Phoebe Paterson Pine in the women’s compound archery bronze medal match with a stunning comeback in the final end.

Paterson Pine, the defending champion, led 115-113 after four ends. Each archer scored 9 on her first shot of the final three. Then Grinham pulled within one point with a 10 against Paterson Pine’s 9. With her final arrow, Paterson Pine was far off the mark and scored 8, while Grinham hit the center for the 142-141 win.

The final is in progress, and Iran’s Fatemah Hemmati does not appear to be enjoying the intermission music – Can’t Hold Us, by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. Turkey’s Oznur Cure Girdi held a three-point lead heading into the final end and slammed the door shut with 10s on her first two arrows for the win.

Updated

A final word from boccia today – GB won one and lost one in the women’s BC2 quarterfinals. Kayleigh Haggo is out, but Claire Taggart has advanced to the semifinals.

A USA-GB semifinal in wheelchair rugby is looking likely at the moment.

Earlier today, Chuck Aoki scored an astounding 34 tries and Sarah Adam, the first woman on a US Paralympic wheelchair rugby team, added 13 as the USA beat Germany 57-47. Japan beat Canada 50-46 to win the group, with the USA in second.

GB is up against France right now, leading 36-34. Should GB hold on, they’ll win the group with a 3-0 record. If not, three teams will be at 2-1, and things will get more complicated.

Karen Tatiana Palomeque Moreno sets 100m world record

The Colombian sprinter made quick work of the T38 100m final, finishing in 12.26 to knock 0.12 seconds off the previous world and Paralympic record.

GB’s Sophie Hahn, who set the previous record in Tokyo, was sixth.

Updated

USA's Mallory Weggemann sets Paralympic record

She didn’t challenge the world record she set in 2010, but she beat her own Paralympic record and put plenty of distance between herself and the rest of the pack in the SM7 200m individual medley. Her time of 2:53.29 knocks nearly one second off her mark from Tokyo.

Canada’s Tess Routliffe cruised to a silver medal, while the USA’s Julia Gaffney rallied in the freestyle leg to claim bronze.

All things tennis …

Team GB has had a good day … everywhere, actually, but that includes Roland Garros.

Advancing out of the first round: Andy Lapthorne (quad singles), Gregory Slade (quad singles), Lucy Shuker (women’s singles) and Ben Bartram/Dahnon Ward (men’s doubles).

USA’s Maycee Phelps beat GB’s Abbie Breakwell in women’s singles. Phelps is the only US player to advance today.

Two GB archers will face off for bronze in the women’s compound event, as Phoebe Paterson Pine and Jodie Grinham dropped their semifinal matches to Turkey’s Oznur Cure Girdi (the 2023 world champion) and Iran’s Fatemah Hemmati.

Paterson Pine and Grinham have been remarkably consistent, each shooting a 143 in their quarterfinal and semifinal matchups.

Updated

It’s a final in women’s wheelchair basketball: Netherlands 69, USA 56.

Neat symmetry on the court today. Team GB played Canada in both men’s and women’s action, with the men winning in a rout and the women losing. The USA played the Netherlands in men’s and women’s, with the men winning in a rout and the women losing.

The GB and US men are both 2-0 in pool play. The GB and US women are both 1-1, but GB has a tougher road to the top two because they have to face first-place China. The US will face last-place Japan.

But all eight teams make the knockout rounds, anyway, so it’s just a battle for seeding.

Make it TWO GB athletes in taekwondo finals today, as Amy Truesdale has defeated Mexico’s Fernanda Vargas Fernandez 26-13 in the 65+kg semifinal.

Truesdale will fight for gold at just before 8 p.m. BST (3 p.m. ET). Matt Bush will compete in the next final on the mat.

Quick word from boccia: GB’s Stephen McGuire has advanced to the semifinals of the BC4 class. That’s one of the classes that does not use a ramp and an assistant.

USA’s Jaydin Blackwell smashes world record in T38 100m

So many talented runners at the starting line, but within 30 meters, two-time world champion Jaydin Blackwell had left them in the dust. The only question left was whether he would better his own world record of 10.72, and he certainly did that, with a time of 10.64.

Ryan Medrano made it a 1-2 USA finish with a time of 10.97 in a very tight finish for the podium. Colombia’s Juan Alejandro Campas Sanchez (10.99) took bronze just 0.01 ahead of defending champion Thomas Young of Team GB.

Updated

A thriller on the track … in the women’s T13 (visually impaired) 1,500m, Ethiopia’s Tigist Menigstu has taken gold by 0.59 seconds over Morocco’s Fatima El Idrissi, with the USA’s Liza Corso another 0.47 back.

Next up: the men’s T38 (coordination impairment) 100m, with a loaded field of sprinters with glittering resumes …

Over at Roland Garros, the USA’s Maylee Phelps leads GB’s Abbie Blackwell 6-3, 4-1.

Back at the pool, Jessica Long’s streak of medaling in four straight Paralympics in the S8 100m backstroke has ended with a sixth-place finish. She’ll have a few more chances to add to her medal collection through next week.

Thanks Emillia, and my apologies for jumping the gun and getting in before my introduction. On the track and in the pool, I’d be disqualified for a false start.

Everything is happening all over the place. At the moment, I’ve got my eyes on wheelchair basketball, where the perennial medalist US women are down by 12 points to the defending champion Netherlands.

That’s all from me today. I’ll hand you over to Beau Dure, who will guide you through the remainder of day three in Paris. Over to you, Beau!

USA's Olivia Chambers wins gold in pool

Hello everyone, it’s your Stateside commentator Beau Dure stepping in. Thanks to everyone for covering everything in the US morning hours.

At last, the USA have a second gold medal after a hauling in enough silver to slay a village of vampires.

It’s 21-year-old Olivia Chambers, who got out to an early lead and held off a challenge from the great Italian swimmer Carlotta Gilli to win the women’s S13 400m freestyle.

Updated

Matt Bush has guaranteed himself a medal with a 26-13 win over Iran’s Hamed Haghshenas in the men’s K44 +80kg para-taekwondo semi-final.

Following her quarter-final win, Jodie Grinham said: “For one shot, I couldn’t draw up my arrow because the baby was kicking so much. I just rubbed my belly and said ‘I know you are supporting me but we just need a minute’. But it is a really nice thing and a lovely feeling and a reminder of actually the wider picture of why I am here and what I do. I enjoyed it.”

Updated

Great Britain’s Phoebe Patterson Pine is next up in the women’s individual compound. She faces Mariana Zuniga of Chile in her quarter-final.

Jodie Grinham is through to the women’s individual compound semi-finals. She beats Jane Karla Gogel 143-141 after taking maximum points from her final three shots.

Over to the para-archery now and Jodie Grinham is competing for a spot in the women’s individual compound semi-finals. She’s facing Brazil’s Jane Karla Gogel.

Gold for Britain's Alice Tai

Alice Tai wins gold in the women’s S8 100m backstroke final – and she does so with a Paralympic record time of 1:09:06.

Viktoriia Ischiulova takes silver, with Germany’s Jeanne Mira Maack claiming bronze.

Updated

Next up in the pool we have the women’s S8 100m backstroke final. Great Britain’s Alice Tai features in this race.

Those medals have taken Great Britain TOP of the para swimming medal table!

Updated

Maskill and Fiddes take medals for GB

Poppy Maskill wins silver for Great Britain in the women’s S14 200m freestyle final, with Louise Fiddes taking bronze. Olivia Newman-Baronius narrowly misses out on a medal after finishing fourth.

Valeriia Shabalina wins gold.

Thanks, Niall!

Now we move on to the women’s S14 200m freestyle final, which includes ParalympicsGB stars Olivia Newman-Baronius, Poppy Maskill and Louise Fiddes.

“Probably the most nervous I’ve ever been before a race,” says Ellard. “The last 100m, it hits you like a brick wall. When I saw Nick coming back at me [at the final turn], I thought ‘I’ve got to go now’. I knew with 25m to go that I was going to win.”

Time to hand back to Emillia …

Updated

Gold and world record for Britain's Will Ellard

Ellard still in front as they turn for home, with Bennett lurking on his shoulder – but the Briton, just like Clegg before him, leaves everyone behind on the final length. It’s gold –and a world record! 1:51.30. A tiring Bennett hangs on to silver ahead of Ireland.

Updated

Ellard takes the first turn first in front of Bennett, with Jack Ireland of … Australia in third place. The leading trio maintain that order at the halfway mark …

Next up in the pool, it’s the men’s 200m freestyle S14, where Britain’s Will Ellard is going up against Nicholas Bennett of Canada…

Here is Paul MacInnes on events in the velodrome, where Archie Atkinson took silver after a dramatic fall denied him gold.

Stephen Clegg: “Thank you to everyone who’s got me here, I’m very privileged to be part of such an excellent program at Edinburgh. I’ve wanted to bury my head in the sand at times before … but this was one of my weaker events and I’ve got the world record. This gold has been a long time coming, and now the pressure is off a little bit.”

Clegg then puts on some headphones to exchange some words with his sister in the studio – it’s an emotional moment for both of them.

Updated

Gold and world record for Britain's Stephen Clegg

Clegg turns fastest and while Raman Salei and Ukraine’s Denysenko are keeping pace, he turns on the afterburners and races for home. He finishes in 59.02, taking gold and setting a new world record!

Updated

Clegg goes in lane four – to his right are brothers Raman Salei (who’s competing for Azerbaijan) and Dzmitry Salei (who’s here as a neutral); both were born in Belarus. And off they go …

Updated

Stephen Clegg is going for gold in the men’s 100m S12 backstroke, and his sister Libby is in the studio watching on. She won two Paralympic golds on the athletics track at Rio 2016. The third Clegg sibling, James, won swimming bronze at London 2012; a talented family.

Updated

Thanks, Emillia. The next live medal action is coming up in the pool shortly. While we wait, have a look at the best pictures from Saturday in Paris.

I’m going to head off for a quick break now, but Niall McVeigh will be stepping in to keep you up to date with everything happening in Paris.

Over to you, Niall!

Phoebe Paterson Pine has progressed to the quarter-finals of the women’s individual compound with a 140-136 win over Melissa-Anne Tanner.

Following her last-16 win over Kseniya Markitantova in the women’s individual compound, Jodie Grinham said: “It was brilliant. I love the energy out there. There was a bit of a change in conditions between the practice field and the competititon field but I found my flow and my shot. I knew I needed a 30 in that final end and I delivered so I am happy with that. I wasn’t nervous going into that final end. The second end I put in an 8 and I knew I had to pull it back but in the last end I knew I could do it and I did.”

Phoebe Paterson Pine is now starting the defence of her Paralympic gold medal against Australia’s Melissa-Anne Tanner in the women’s individual compound.

Billy Shilton and Paul Karabardak were delighted to secure bronze for ParalympicsGB in the MD14 table tennis doubles semi-final earlier today. Shilton said: “We were a little inconsistent in patches but I’m proud of myself, I’m proud of Paul and I think we can be happy, when we look back in a couple of days when it all settles we’ll be happy we won a bronze for sure. I’m a bit emotional with the match but I’m unbelievably happy that Paul and I managed to win a bronze. I’ve been thinking about feeling that feeling again of winning a medal since Tokyo and it’s a special thing so I’m absolutely delighted I can do it with Paul.”

Karabardak went on to add: “I think when we were leading we could have been a bit more positive. Had we taken one of those first two sets it might have been a different game. That’s sport and we have to give them credit for taking their opportunities. It is disappointing but we played superbly against Brazil, we’ve done really well and we can be pleased with that bronze. It’s a great achievement for me and Billy.”

Jodie Grinham has progressed to the women’s individual compound quarter-finals with a narrow 141-142 win over Poland’s Kseniya Markitantova.

Archie Atkinson was in good spirits after his fall earlier today. The 20-year-old told Channel 4: “I think I’m okay. I can see and I’m all in one piece, I’m happy. I couldn’t have any better than that. I’ve never dug that deep before and I think it showed. I just sort of ran out of energy and went down.”

He continued: “It’s been mega. It’s been a bit out of this world. I feel a bit sick, I’m very proud, very happy. A Paralympic record and a silver, I don’t think I’d have believed that in my wildest dreams. To be in a final against [Jozef] Metelka who is one of the best C4’s we’ve ever had is a privilege. For your first Games, two rides against him, one I came out on top of and the second one, he’s a better rider so hats off to him.”

This afternoon’s archery session has been slightly delayed due to the weather in Paris. Jodie Grinham and Phoebe Paterson Pine are set to compete for ParalympicsGB.

Great Britain’s Amy Truesdale has booked her place in the women’s K44 +65kg para-taekwondo semi-finals. She earned a 30-9 victory over Rajae Akermach of Morocco this afternoon. Truesdale is now set to face Fernanda Vargas Fernandez of Mexico this evening.

Tanya Aldred is in Paris for this summer’s Paralympic Games, click below to read her diary from this week.

Speaking after his fourth-place finish in the men’s C1-3 1,000m time trial final, Jaco van Gass told Channel 4: “It’s heartbreaking to be very honest. It’s just the factoring system, it shows that they don’t quite have it right. To ride a world record and not be right in the medals, it shows that the factoring system needs a bit of work, maybe a shout out to the UCI to look into that, because they’ve taken off the third rider of each category but the top riders like the French and the Chinese are so far ahead, it keeps benefitting them. Yeah, it’s how it works.”

Despite his crash, Archie Atkinson does take the silver medal. That is still an incredible achievement, especially for a 20-year-old. No doubt he’ll be back even stronger!

Updated

Heartbreak for GB's Atkinson in cycling pursuit

That is absolutely devastating for Archie Atkinson. The ParalympicsGB star was leading Jozef Metelka by a significant margin in the men’s C4 4,000m individual pursuit final and was just moments away from winning gold. However, in the closing stages of the race he suffered a nasty crash out of nowhere, giving Metelka an easy route to the finish line.

Atkinson leaves the track with help from medics to spectators cheering his name. Heartbreaking.

Updated

Gatien le Rousseau has secured bronze in the men’s C4 4,000m individual pursuit after beating fellow Frenchman Kevin le Cunff.

Next up, it’s ParalympicsGB star Archie Atkinson, who is up against Slovakia’s Jozef Metelka for gold.

Updated

ParalympicsGB have just earned an 88-58 win over Canada in the men’s wheelchair basketball group stages. They are now closing in on the quarter-finals.

Eden Rainbow-Cooper did not finish her first T54 women’s 5,000m final at Stade de France this morning. Just a few seconds into the race, she got caught up in a crash and the event was restarted. While she initially attempted to go again, she quickly withdrew from the race.

Switzerland’s Catherine Debrunner won gold, with Susannah Scaroni of the United States taking silver and Australia’s Madison de Rozario securing bronze.

Li wins gold in men's C1-3 1,000m time trial

Li Zhangyu has won his fourth Paralympic gold medal in the men’s C1-3 1,000m time trial. The 36-year-old won the event at London 2012, Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020 and now Paris 2024.

His fellow countryman Liang Weicong takes silver, with France’s Alexandre Leaute claiming bronze. Jaco van Gass narrowly misses out on a medal, finishing fourth.

World record for Leaute!

Frenchman Alexandre Leaute has taken the silver medal position with a C2 world record time of 1:04:207! Liang remains top of the time sheet, with Van Gass in third. One cyclist to go.

Jaco van Gass has been knocked down to the silver medal position following a blistering run from China’s Liang Weicong, who recorded a time of 1:04:103.

Updated

World record for Van Gass!

Jaco van Gass has just recorded a new C3 world record in the velodrome! He completed his run in a record time of 1:04:825 which puts him in the gold medal position. Three cyclists still to go…

Jaco van Gass is looking to add to his medal haul this afternoon in the men’s C1-3 1,000m time trial final. The 38-year-old won gold in the men’s C3 3,000m individual pursuit just yesterday, but he faces a huge challenge today having qualified in fourth.

David Smith recorded a 4-1 win against Daniel Perez of the Netherlands this morning in his second boccia pool match. Having also won his first, Smith now progresses to the quarter-finals which are scheduled for Sunday morning.

Jodie Grinham is looking to make history at the Paralympic Games this afternoon. The 31-year-old has already become the first pregnant athlete to compete at the Paralympics, but now she wants to go one better and become the first to win a medal. Grinham is completing while seven months pregnant but insists she is still determined to go for gold.

The archer said: “I’m pregnant, so what? If I worked in an office they’d be fine for me working there until I’m 39 weeks. So, what’s the difference for me competing at the Paralympics? I want to be a mother and an athlete. I’m not willing to sacrifice either of them. At home I am mummy but if I’m in athlete mode that is my mindset and total focus.”

So far today in Paris… Paralympics GB duo Paul Karabardak and Billy Shilton took bronze in the men’s double MD14 table tennis after losing to Thailand in the semi-finals.

Great Britain suffered a 54-63 defeat to Canada in the women’s wheelchair basketball group stages.

And in the men’s wheelchair basketball, GB are leading Canada 50-33 in the second quarter.

Preamble

Hello and welcome to day three of the 2024 Paralympic Games. There are plenty of medals up for grabs this afternoon – 97 today in all – in the archery, athletics, cycling, table tennis, taekwondo and shooting.

Those are just some of the events set to keep us entertained. I’ll be with you all afternoon – join me!

 

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