The Best Moments From The Paralympics 2024
As the Olympics came to a close on August 11, the French capital once again opened its doors to the globe's best athletes, this time round, for the 2024 Paris Paralympics. From August 28 to September 8, 4,400 athletes with a range of disabilities will compete in 549 medal events across 22 sports.
From archery to swimming, wheelchair basketball and track and field events, there's much to look forward to as the world watches in to witness the years of dedication and practice that have gone in towards this year's games.
Here's a look at the rolling highlights of the Paris 2024 Paralympics:
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Jodie Grinham Competes While Seven Months Pregnant
The 31-year-old Welsh athlete Jodie Grinham won both gold and bronze in archery. Her double medal wins were made more impressive by the fact that Grinham is seven months preganant and is the first openly pregnant athlete to win a Paralympic medal in archery.
In an interview with Sky News, she shared her excitement of competing while carrying her child, 'You acknowledge it and go "I know you're there, mummy loves you" and you carry on with your process, so it wasn't a distraction.'
Sheetal Devi Shooting A Perfect Bullseye
Of course, when it comes to the athletes competing on the world's biggest stage, having immense skill is an obvious factor. However, social media is currently losing its collective mind over the sheer amount of precision and expertise needed to compete in the Paralympic's Archery events.
In particular viewers have been in awe by India's 17-year-old Sheetal Devi, who shot a perfect bullseye without arms. Although Devi has now been knocked out, the young athlete became the youngest ever women's para archery competitor.
Zakia Khudadadi's Emotional Bronze Medal Win
Zakia Khudadadi fled Afghanistan, her homeland when the Taliban banned sports from the country. Since then, Khudadadi joined the refugee team at the Paris Paralympics and won bronze at this years's games. More so, she has become the first refugee Paralympic team member to win a medal.
Britain's Golden Sunday
On September 1, Team GB made history by winning 12 medals in one day. Leading the pack was Hannah Cockroft, a wheelchair racer was the first to bring home the gold when she claimed the first place in the women's wheelchair racing.
Debora And Beatriz Borges Carneiro's Sweet Moment On The Podium
Twins Debora and Beatriz Borges Carneiro earned the second and third spots for the women's 100m breastroke.
When they got to the podium, they bowed to the gold medalist, Team GB's Louise Fiddes, which was a recreation of Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles tribute to Rebeca Andrade at the Olympic Games.
Blind Paralympic Long Jumpers
Another Paralympic moment that has gone viral online comes from the blind Paralympic long jumpers who impressively rely on a guide in order to time a perfect jump.
In a video posted on X, the athletes run at full speed and jump at the moment their guide ends the signal call.
Maisie Summers-Newton Scores Double Gold
The 22-year-old Paralympian not only won gold in the women's SB6 100m breastroke, she did the same again in the 200m individual medley, and outswam her second place competitor by five seconds.
Sabrina Fortune Breaks The Shot Put World Record
From placing third in the women's shot put back in 2016 Rio Paralympics to winning gold at the Paris games this year and breaking the world record for the women's F20 shot put, Sabrina Fortune has come a long, long way.
Junior Xavier de Oliveira Proposes To His Girlfriend
Brazil's Junior Xavier de Oliveira took advantage of being in the city of love and took a moment during his tennis match to propose to his girlfriend Edwarda de Oliveira Dias, a volleyball player, to marry him, to which she said yes.
The Proposals Continue
This year, love was truly in the air! Italian runner Alessandro Ossola also took the opportunity to also propose to his girlfriend Arianna, who said yes.
Ossola lost his leg back in 2015 in a motorcycle accident which led to his wife's death.
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