American amputee athlete Ezra Frech cemented his status as a new Paralympics star on Tuesday as he added a sparkling high jump title to his 100 metres crown, while Chinese swimmers gobbled up medals in the pool.
Frech, jumping with a prosthetic blade, cleared a Paralympic record height of 1.94m in the T63 high jump event to win his second gold of these Games.
The 19-year-old Californian, who was born with congenital differences that left him without a knee or fibula in his left leg and without fingers on his left hand, had three unsuccessful efforts at bettering his own world record of 1.97m but could not clear 1.98m.
After he made his final attempt, he ran into the arms of his watching parents in the Stade de France just as he had after winning a surprise gold in the T63 men’s 100m 24 hours earlier.
At the La Defense Arena pool, China won four of the 15 golds on offer and swept the medals in two finals to extend their advantage in the overall medal table.
China’s first one-two-three came in the men’s 50m backstroke S5 as Yuan Weiyi took gold, Guo Jincheng silver and Wang Lichao bronze.
The real highlight came in the women’s race of the classification as world record holder Lu Dong defended her crown in emphatic fashion with He Shenggao in second place and Liu Yu third.
“When there is another strong swimmer behind you, you will be more motivated,” Lu told AFP.
“Because you’re all in China, and you will race every year, and then we will train together.
“It becomes even more advantageous.”
USA basketball win
In men’s wheelchair basketball, the USA thrashed France 82-47 in the last quarter-final of the day.
The Americans stayed on course for their third consecutive title as Jake Williams top-scored with 23 points at a Bercy Arena packed with French fans to set up a semi-final against Canada.
The Americans face a challenge from a fast and skilful British squad who overpowered Australia 84-64 thanks to Ben Fox’s 26 points to reach the semi-final.
Germany beat Spain 57-49 to secure a last-four clash with Britain and Canada overcame the Netherlands 79-67 in the other two quarter-finals.
Back at the Stade de France, Swiss wheelchair racer Catherine Debrunner won her third gold of these Games in the T54 1500m — and turned her attention to three more events.
Debrunner has already taken gold in the 800m T53 event and the 5000m T54 final and will now aim for glory in the 100m, 400m and the marathon for a remarkable six-gold haul.
But there was more disappointment for her Swiss teammate, wheelchair racing great Marcel Hug, who had to settle for the silver medal for the second time at the Paris Games.
Having been beaten by a late surge from the USA’s Daniel Romanchuk in the T54 5,000m final on Saturday, Hug was undone in the 1500m T54 by a devastatingly fast last lap from China’s Hua Jin.
China streaked ahead in the medal standings on the sixth day of competition to stand on 53 golds, opening up a big gap on closest challengers Britain who have 30. The USA are third on 20.
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