On a day of fine margins for the NZ Paralympic Team Anna Grimaldi finished fourth in the defence of her Women’s Long Jump T47 final – just 1cm off a podium – and Cameron Leslie finished an agonising 0.13 shy of bronze in the Men’s 50m Freestyle S4 final on day nine of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
Elsewhere, defending champion Holly Robinson was disappointed to place sixth in the Women’s Javelin F46 final but the Para Canoeists – Scott Martlew and Peter Cowan showed their medal potential with impressive heat performances at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Centre.
In the Women’s Long Jump T47 there was disappointment for Grimaldi who was overhauled by just 1cm in the final round to narrowly miss out on a third successive Paralympic medal in the event. The Kiwi registered a best of 5.75m – just 1cm shy of her gold-medal winning distance at Tokyo 2020 – but today had to settle for fourth. World champion and world record-holder Kiara Rodriguez of Ecuador unleashed the three longest jumps of the competition to strike gold with a best of 6.05m and add this crown to the Women’s 100m T47 title she claimed earlier in the programme at Paris 2024. A PB of 5.85m propelled Petra Luteran of Hungary to the silver with Bjoerk Noerremark of Denmark soaring out to a lifetime best of 5.76m in round six to deny Grimaldi by the slimmest of margins.
The Dunedin-based athlete, who was seeking a hat-trick of Women’s Long Jump T47 titles, registered her first valid jump of the competition in round two, breaking the sand with a 5.65m leap to sit in provisional silver – 2cm ahead of Luteran.
However, the Hungarian athlete catapulted ahead of Grimaldi relegating the Kiwi to provisional bronze in round three with a PB of 5.81m. Grimaldi started to find her range in the fourth stanza letting out a scream of satisfaction after recording her best distance to date – a 5.75m effort – but Noerremark in round six was to deny Grimaldi a third successive Paralympic podium in this event by breaking the sand with 5.76m.
Grimaldi required a rapid response to navigate a route back to the podium and despite landing in the pit at what appeared to be medal-winning territory, she was given a red flag for a narrow foul and had to settle for fourth.
Grimaldi, the Women’s 100m T47 bronze medallist earlier in the week, said: “I’m disappointed in the display I put on, I know I am better than that and I train to be able to handle situations like that. I was really nervous. I had a good first jump but that foul (in round one) made me more nervous. If I had that 5.75m in my first round it might have calmed my nerves enough to be able to build on it, but I wasn’t able to today.”
Three-time Paralympic Cameron Leslie drew upon his vast reserves of experience to produce a season’s best performance in the final of the Men’s 50m Freestyle S8 to finish a highly commendable fourth. The three-time Paralympic champion competing in his third final at Paris 2024 had qualified fourth quickest for the final and after making a swift start he was very much in the medal conversation. Out front the Canadian teenager Sebastian Massabie quickly established early control of the race with Leslie locked in a battle for silver and bronze with Takayuki Suzuki of Japan and Ami Omer Dadaon of Israel.
Approaching the final ten metres a medal for Leslie still looked a possibility but in the final few strokes Dadaon just forged ahead of the 34-year-old Kiwi with the Israeli snatching bronze in 37.11 – 0.13 in front of the Kiwi. Out front, Massabie was untouchable shattering the world record in a time of 35.61 en route to gold with Suzuki taking the silver in an Asian record of 36.85.
Leslie, who climaxes his Paris 2024 campaign later today in the Men’s 50m Backstroke S4, said: “This week has been hard, but I am proud of the two swims I’ve had (in the Men’s 50m Freestyle S4). They were very respectable times for me, and so long as I doing myself proud, I have nothing to be disappointed about. It was super close to a personal best and not forgetting I am 34 years old, and to set personal bests at that age is not easy.”
“The race was hard, it was close race, really tough. For a swimmer to smash the world record like that by someone who has come out of the woodwork happens like that in a Paralympic year. It was once Ami and I trading world records and now here we are winning bronze and finishing fourth.”
On competing in the Men’s 50m Backstroke he said: “It gives me confidence ahead of tomorrow. I can sprint and it shows to me that what we are doing in training is on the right path for what we want to do tomorrow (day 10 later today NZT).”
The javelin is an event of rhythm and Robinson, who claimed a bronze medal in the Women’s Shot Put F46, just did not find her groove in what was to prove final ever javelin competition.
The Hokitika-raised athlete has been such a glorious ambassador for Para sport and she started promisingly launching the spear out to a season’s best 39.03m with her opening effort – which was retaken after she successfully protested an incorrect measurement – to take a first round lead.
Unfortunately for the 29-year-old two-time former Paralympic medallist in this event, that was as good as it got as she struggled to nail the technical complexities of the event and what followed was five successive fouls. In a high-class and dramatic battle for the medals – which demonstrated the rising depth of the event – Naibys Daniela Marillo Gil of Venezuela secured gold in round six with a stunning Paralympic record throw of 43.77m ahead of Shahinakhon Yigtalieva of Uzbekistan who posted an area record of 43.12m. The Rio 2016 champion Hollie Arnold picked up bronze with a best of 40.59m.
Robinson said: “I am really proud of how I attacked today’s performance in terms of my mindset and enjoying the competition, but I’m disappointed with the distance and not defending my title, so it is a mix of emotions for me. This will be my last ever javelin competition. I’ve done this for many years, but my body is ready to not be throwing javelin anymore. Reflecting on the last 12 years since London 2012 I am hugely proud of what I achieved.”
On today’s performance she said: “It was a timing and rhythm issue today. The last few years have been disruptive for me. My body is getting older I’ve had elbow surgery. I thought I might be lucky today and get one away, but I wasn’t lucky. That’s sport. It was a great competition one of the best in our class for a long time which was exciting. I can’t wait to see the future of this event.”
Men’s 400m T36 silver medallist Will Stedman successfully booked his ticket for the final of the Men’s 100m T36 – coming within 0.01 of his national record in his first round heat. Unperturbed by the disqualification for a false start of Algerian Mokhtar Didane in the adjacent lane, the Cantabrian maintained admirable focus to record a time of 12.41 to place fourth behind heat winner Yifei Yang of China who clocked a season’s best of 11.88. Stedman missed out on one of the three automatic qualification spots but advanced on time – sixth quickest overall – to the final which takes place later today (NZT).
Stedman said: “My start was awful but the rest of it was okay. I felt once I got going it was alright. My start needs some work and I can run a lot faster. It is cool to qualify for the final.”
Both NZ Paralympic Team Para canoeists – Scott Martlew and Peter Cowan – made their bow at Paris 2024 and caught the eye with a pair of electrifying performances at the Varies-sur-Marne Stadium.
Martlew executed an outstanding heat two of the Men’s 200m KL2 storming to victory in 43.51 to earn a spot in the A Final. The 31-year-old from Christchurch, who finished fourth in this event at Tokyo 2020, made a strong start before turning on the after burners in the second half of the race to forge ahead of Great Britain’s David Phillipson. The Kiwi than maintained a relentless pace to the finish, booking his slot in the A Final on Saturday to earn the bonus of bypassing the semi-finals. Defending champion Curtis McGrath of Australia claimed victory in the other heat, clocking a time of 42.66.
Martlew later returned to compete in the Men’s VL3 200m, where he finished sixth in a time of 53.03. The heat win was secured by world champion Vladyslav Yepifanov of Ukraine in 49.25. Martlew will feature in the semi-finals of that event on Sunday (NZT).
A satisfied Martlew said of his KL2 heat win: “I’m very excited to be out there and to get the racing underway. I had a good start and ran through my race plan as we had written down on paper. I’m happy with how it went. I could see that the other paddlers were there (in a tight first 150m) but I stuck to my guns and the race plan.”
“It is good to make it through directly to the final. Now it is all guns blazing for tomorrow, I’m excited to get out there on the start line.”
On his performance in the VL3 event he said: “The aim was to take it out hard to see where I was, but I didn’t want to burn too much energy for the following day in the kayak.”
Paralympic debutant Peter Cowan competed in the second heat of the Men’s VL3 200m and impressed to take second spot behind defending champion Curtis McGrath of Australia. The 29-year-old from Hawke’s Bay flew out of the start gate and held the lead at halfway until McGrath produced a late surge to win in a Paralympic Games best time of 48.97. Cowan crossed the line in second, registering 50.17 buoyed by the performance ahead of the semi-finals on Sunday (ahead of the final later that day).
Cowan said: “It didn’t feel too scary out there. Before the race I took in a moment to hear the crowd and soak up the atmosphere at my first Paralympic Games. Crossing the finish line felt like a happy moment because it was my last walk to the start gate as a Para athlete before becoming a Paralympian. It was special to be ushered through that experience competing against the reigning Paralympic champion (Curtis McGrath). I’m happy with the performance today and I’m looking forward to the next couple of races.”
“Seeing all our mahi come together over the last few weeks at the training camp in motion here definitely give me a lot of confidence. Moving forward I have no doubt we will be able to deliver similar performances, if not better.”
Six athletes will compete for the NZ Paralympic Team on day ten – the penultimate day of action at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. Martlew will go for a medal in the Men’s 200m KL2 final and Grimaldi completes her busy programme in the Women’s 200m T46 (heats and final to follow). Stedman takes to the track in the Men’s 100m T36 final and Leslie sets out for his fourth event of the Paris 2024 programme in the Men’s 50m Backstroke S4.
Also competing on day ten is Mitch Joynt, who makes his Paris 2024 bow in the heats (final to follow later in the day) of the Men’s 200m T64 while Para swimmer Gaby Smith rounds out her competitive schedule in the Women’s 200m Individual Medley SM10.
For a full guide of when to watch the Kiwis and other Paris 2024 related information go here.
