Paris 2024 Messages from the CEO

Day 10

Kia ora and bonjour from Paris.

The penultimate day of competition at this Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

And a GOLDEN evening for Paralympian #195 Anna Grimaldi, racing to the Gold medal and Paralympic Champion in the 200m T47 at Stade de France. Anna had earlier qualified fastest breaking her own Personal Best and National Record, again surpassing these marks in the Final.

How good was it to hear the anthem for the first time at the Paralympics? And there was a flurry of finals on Day 10 as well with some fantastic performances.

Action kicked off in the pool at Paris La Defense Arena, where Paralympic debutant Gaby Smith secured another Final’s berth in the 200m Individual Medley SM10, qualifying in 7th position and then also placing 7th in the final. Paralympian #164 Cameron Leslie had a cracking heat to qualify second fastest in the 50m Backstroke S4 – before being edged out by those fine margins once again to narrowly miss the podium and finish in 4th place.

In addition to Anna’s golden day, sprinting featured at Stade de France, with Paralympian #208 William Stedman flying 6th place and a new Personal Best in the 100m Final T36. Still at the track, our final Para athlete to debut at Paris 2024, Mitch Joynt, had a great heat to finish 3rd and automatically progress to the Final of the 200m T64, before placing 6th place chasing down the field to the finish line.

Paralympian #198 Scott Martlew was back on the water in the Final of the Kayak Single 200m KL2. In a hotly contested event, Scott was 0.21 seconds off the podium, finishing in 5th place. He’ll be back on the water tomorrow with Peter Cowan, with both seeking a spot on the Final.

As competition activity winds down, the ‘To Do List’ for members of our Games Delivery Team starts to get a bit longer. Whilst departures have already commenced and the remainder of the Team will depart Paris following the Closing Ceremony, preparations are also underway for a busy couple of days for pack out of the Village following the Team’s departure.

One of the biggest tasks on the list – and when we say big, we mean a 40 foot shipping container – is beginning the detailed task to sort, inventory, pack and palletise a high volume of items that will travel back to New Zealand via shipping container. Gym equipment, medical equipment and supplies, air purifiers, electronics, office supplies, and lots more – all of the items that are needed to create the home away from home, a remote office, a pop-up medical centre, preparation and recovery spaces – all aimed to ensure that an environment for the members of the NZ Paralympic Team to be able to prepare and perform at their best. In short – it will be a complex game of Tetris, and let’s hope when the container arrives back in New Zealand, that it hasn’t turned into a big game of Jenga!