The stars of the Paralympic sprint world entered the fray at the Paris Games on Sunday after organisers were forced to delay the triathlon events by 24 hours due to concerns about the water quality of the River Seine after heavy rain.
British wheelchair racer Hannah Cockcroft made it four gold medals in four Paralympics stretching back to London 2012 in the women’s T34 100 metres and said she had been boosted by the roars of the crowd at the Stade de France, declaring: “My wheels were vibrating!”
China were piling up the medals again, reaching 30 golds midway through the evening session but Britain were chasing hard on 23 golds as Cockcroft led the way on the track and British swimmers scooped four golds.
But the water quality of the Seine, an issue that has dogged both Olympic and Paralympic organisers this summer, caused fresh problems. The 11 triathlon races were to take place early on Sunday but after heavy rain on Saturday which can stir up pollution in the river, organisers and governing body World Triathlon decided to postpone by a day.
“The latest analysis shows a deterioration in the water quality of the Seine following heavy rainfall over the past two days,” the organisers said. “It was decided to schedule the 11 medal sessions of the Para triathlon on September 2,” they added.
The water quality issue also caused disruption to the Olympics triathlon and open-water swimming events earlier this summer, with several practice sessions cancelled. Despite 1.4bn euros ($1.5bn) spent on improving the Paris sewerage and water treatment systems, the Seine has been beset by pollution concerns, notably for its levels of enterococci and E.coli bacteria.
On the track, the 32-year-old Cockcroft, one of Team GB’s biggest stars, pushed away at the start of the women’s T34 100m to leave her rivals far behind for an easy win in 16.80sec with her British teammate Kare Adenegan taking silver with Chinese teenager Lan Hanyu winning bronze.
Cockcroft said the roar from the estimated 50,000 spectators at the Stade de France had taken her by surprise. “They said ‘On your marks’ and it didn’t go quiet,” she told reporters. “My wheels were vibrating. I was afraid I wasn’t going to hear the gun. But this is what we want, it’s fantastic. “I means so much to get a fourth gold,” she added – and pledged to keep competing until the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics – but her immediate priority is her wedding to fellow British Paralympian Nathan Maguire later this year.
The scene was set for the entry into the competition of the amputee sprinters. The heats of the men’s T64 100m event features arguably the deepest field in any event on the Paralympics track and field programme. Reigning champion Felix Streng of Germany has a fight to defend his title in the face of the challenge from two-time champion Jonnie Peacock of Britain and US athlete Hunter Woodhall.
The blind football competition kicked off at the foot of the Eiffel Tower with the players guided by a rattle in the ball.
Brazil, who have not lost a single match since the event was introduced in 2004, breezed past Turkiye 3-0 in their opening game and face host nation France today. In other games, Colombia beat Japan 1-0 and Morocco and Argentina drew 0-0.
Hannah Cockroft of Britain celebrates after winning gold in the women’s 100m T34 race. (Reuters)