Key events
And here’s a report on the 14-year-old Twomey’s achievement:
British schoolgirl Bly Twomey is dreaming of gold at Los Angeles 2028 after claiming her second bronze medal of an impressive Paralympics debut in Paris.
The 14-year-old from Brighton was already guaranteed a podium place in the women’s class seven singles ahead of a tense semi-final showdown with world and European champion Kubra Korkut.
Twomey flew out of the blocks against an opponent more than twice her age and looked set to remain on course to become Great Britain’s youngest Paralympic table tennis champion after taking the opening two sets. But experienced 30-year-old Korkut gradually turned the tide before progressing with a 9-11 7-11 11-6 11-5 11-5 victory.
“I’m a bit disappointed that I lost but I’ve played so well,” said Twomey, who was backed by identical twin sister Ellis and a vocal contingent from Brighton Table Tennis Club at South Paris Arena.
“I was very much in the moment, I didn’t think anything about the final, I was just point by point, it was an unlucky loss.
“It’s a lot to win two bronze medals at my first Paralympic Games at the age of 14 – I’m really proud to represent my country and it’s just been an amazing experience.
“It gives me a lot of hope to know that I’m on the same level as them. It gives me a lot of confidence because I think maybe I can get a gold in the future.”
Twomey only took up table tennis three years ago and had already won doubles bronze alongside Fliss Pickard in France. The teenager, who has cerebral palsy, says the sport has changed her life.
“When I first started table tennis, I wasn’t confident at all,” she said. “I couldn’t really go places or into big crowds because I was afraid people might get rid of me because of my disability. But now I’m here everyone has a disability.
“Brighton Table Tennis Club have done a lot for me. They’ve been an amazing part of my experience and without them I couldn’t have achieved any of this.”
Twomey’s travelling fans, who are also supporting 2016 gold medallist Will Bayley in Paris, celebrated every successful point and repeatedly chanted her name.
Sister Ellis said: “I feel really proud of her, she’s come so far in the short time she’s been playing. She’s become a lot more aware and happy of her disability. She used to be quite sad and think of herself as not as good as other people. PA Media
So there have been three medals for GB so far today, all bronzes, for Olivia Broome in the 50kg powerlifting, Anna Nicholson in the F35 shot put and Bly Twomey in the WS7 table tennis. This was the moment Broome claimed bronze:
None of the quartet appear willing to attempt a race-winning move yet. There’s 3km to go …
It’s a fourth Paralympic gold for the imperious Valize, who also won the H5 individual time trial yesterday, along with the road race-time trial double in Tokyo three years ago. Meanwhile the women are gearing up for a sprint finish, with still nothing to choose between Eskau, Masters, Vitelaru and Sun. They’re on their final lap.
Mitch Valize of the Netherlands wins gold in H5 road race
But let’s go straight to the men’s H5 road race, where Mitch Valize of the Netherlands has claimed a commanding gold, finishing 1min 15sec ahead of Loic Vergnaud, the Frenchman, with Pavlo Bal of Ukraine third, after his race-long battle with Luis Costa of Portugal. Gutting for Costa, who misses out on a medal after one hour and 37 minutes of racing by just 13 seconds.
Merci Daniel. Et bonjour le monde! I’ll be here for the next four and a half hours, and coming up in that time we’ve got Britain’s men in wheelchair basketball semi-final action against Germany, 13-year-old swimmer Iona Winnifrith in the SB7 100m breaststroke final and, at the other end of the age scale, 41-year-old discus thrower Dan Greaves going for his seventh medal at his seventh Games in the F64 event. Sammi Kinghorn, after her wonderful gold in the T53 100m yesterday, is back for the 400m, while home hero Timothee Adolphe goes in the T11 100m final.
There’s also powerlifting and fencing, plus goalball and boccia – two sports that are unique to the Paralympics. And let’s not forget the tennis at Roland Garros, where GB’s Alfie Hewett, 30 times a grand slam champion but yet to win a Paralympic gold, bids to reach the final of the men’s wheelchair singles.
Oh man I’d love to bring you the end of this. But luckily for youse, my watch is over, so here’s Katy Murrells to call it home. Ta-ra!
We’ve one lap to go in the women’s race, Eskau in front and leading Masters from Vitelaru from Sun.
Back with the women’s H5 road race, Eskau of Germany leads from Masters of USA from Vitelaru of Italy from Sun of China. I assume Masters will go at some point, but we may just get a sprint finish for the ages.
Valize ploughs on towards gold in the men’s H5 road race, Vergnaud giving it everything to hang on to silver while, in the women’s race, we’re set for a belter of a finish with four racers in with a chance of gold and one destined to depart without a medal.
Apologies, we’ve one more match on Lenglen before Hewett, the bronze-medal match in the quad singles.
After the third lap, Valize leads Vernaud by 43s in the men’s H5 road race, Bal and Costa chasing the latter for a hack at silver in the knowledge that they may also be rucking for the bronze; they’re 2.33s behind. In the women’s event, Masters, the favourite, leads, with Viterlaru, Eskau and Sun close by.
The bronze-medal match in the women’s tennis is over, Wang and Guo of China beating Li and Zhu of China; I think Alfie Hewett is on next for his singles semi against Martin de la Puente of Spain.
Mohamed Elmenyawy of Egypt wnis gold in the men’s up to 50kg powerlifting
Two white lights, celebration, prayer, and what a moment! Qi Yongkai of China takes silver and Mohsen Bakhtiar of Iran the bronze.
And he does it! 200kg raised aloft, so Elmenawy must bang 201 for gold! Here he comes!
“So what’s going on in the powerlifting?” I hear you ask. Well, Aceituno of El Salvador has just raised 196 to restore himself to the bronze medal position, but Bakhtiar of Iran will now go at 197 to inch back in front … and he brings it home! He takes the medal, but Qi Yongkai will now have a go at 200 to try and turn silver into gold.
I don’t think Vergnaud can get at Valize, who has decided now is the time to emphasise his superiority; the Frenchman now has pressure form behind with Bal and Costa chasing him together. Meantime, the women complete the second lap and Masters, leading with the others in her slipstream, is irritated she’s having to do all the work. Such is the price of dominance.
Valize is hard, hard man. He breaks away on a climb, leaving Vergnaud, and it feels inevitable that he’ll boust to the gold.
Back to the women’s road race, Vitelaru now leads, Masters and Sun with her – the others have gone … no they haven’t, EAskau of Germany rejoining the group. Apparently, Masters was complaining at the lack of help she was getting from the others, but I guess it’s every rider for themselves.
In the mens Valize leads Vergnaud, while Costa now leads Bal in the second group.
All change in the men’s up to 50kg powerlifting! Qi Yongkai, the defending champ, who lifted 192kg in round one, sorts out 197 second go and goes to the top of the leaderboard. Mohsen Bakhtiar of Iran is second on 195 and now Elmenyawy of Egypt, in front after his first go, will have a hack at 198 … and up it goes! This is a contest! The chief ref gave him a red but the other two were happy, and so is yerman
In the women’s race, Sun stil leads, but with her are Masters, Eskai and Vitelaru, while in the men’s, Bal of Ukraine has had enough of trying to catch the leaders with the help of Portugal’s Costa, so he sprints off a loan to close on the pack.
Shorn of teammate De Vries, Valize is looking to do it himself, but Vergnaud is right behind … but have a look! In the women’s race, Haenen takes a corner too quickly, crashes, and she’ll do well to get back involved never mind challenge for anything. Sun of China now leads, Masters behind her.
Masters still leads the women’s road race and she’s chatting to Haenen of the Netherlands; in the men’s Vergnaud has broken away and Valize is in pursuit, catching him as I type.
Smack laid down in the men’s powerlifting, Mohamed Elmenyawy of Egypt banging 194kg first up; behind him, Herbert Aceituno of El Salvador us on 193 with two more having hosited 192.
The men complete their first lap of four, Liu Qiangli now leading but by very little. Tim de Vries of the Netherlands has been has been dropped – I think he may have endured a misfortune – but he’s chasing and Valize, his teammate, will want him back to help him go for gold. Meantime in the women’s race, they’re further behind, Chantal Haenen leading with Oksana Masters of USA, the favourite, looking strong behind her.
The distance they’ve to cover, by the way, yanking their wheels round and round, is 56.8km. I’ve no idea how they manage it and I’m in awe.
In the men’s road race, Loic Vergnaud of France is setting the pace; he won solver last time, but Mitch Valize of the Netherlands who took gold in Tokyo is only just behind and the man they all fear.
The men’s up to 59kg powerlifting is under way, the early leading mark 176kg hoisted by Stanislav Shakiyev of Kazakhstan.
I’m still buzzing from this last evening. And don’t forget, Sammi goes again in the 400m this evening; of course we’ll be bringing it to you.
Channel 4 are now showing women’s wheelchair basketball from earlier – I’ve no idea why given there’s live sport going and this is for classification 5-8. But GB beat Japan 67-55.
Tapia rings the bell and that is, I think, the end of our morning athletics sesh. But fear not: we’ve both the men’s and women’s H5 para cycling road races about to start.
Oney Tapia of Italy wins gold in the men’s F11 shot put
Hassan Bajoulvand of Iran takes silver and Alvaro del Amo Cano of Spain bronze.
…it’s good … but it’s not good enough. 40.44 isn’t his best effort but it it is better than the marks hit by all but Tapia, who’ll now take his last throw knowing he’s the champ. He has to make do with 39.09 and he celebrates like he means it, cuddling with his team. Well done sir.
Back to the discus, Alvaro del Amo Cano is about to go, lying fifth … and he lands 39.60! That shatters his PB by 40cm! He moves into the bronze-medal position and lumps pressure on Mahdi Olad who has one shot at bettering him … and he can’t! So if Bajiulvand can’t beat 41,92, having already hurled a PB of 41.75, Tapia takes gold. Here he comes…
Yao Juan of China wins gold in the women’s F64 shot put
Arelle Middleton of USA, aged just 16, takes silver and Yang Yue of China the bronze.
We’re getting towards the last round of the men’s discus, Oney Tapia of Italy leading with 41.92, landed just now, from Hassan Bajoulvand of Iran’s 47.75.
Safia Djelal of Algeria wins gold in the women’s F57 shot put with a Paralympic record of 11.56m
Xi Mian of China takes silver and Nassima Saifi of Algeria bronze.
Clara Fuentes of Venezuela wins gold in the women’s up to 50kg powerlifting with a Paralympic record of 124kg
Xiao Jinping of China takes silver and Olivia Broome of GB bronze, both raising 119.
She hollers, she lifts … and no, she can’t get it up. I think, though, that I was wrong about the rules – there’s a powerlift the athletes can go for to split them, but in meantime, Fuentes comes out to go at 124kg … and Funmi Oduwaiye takes her final go in the shot, looking to force her way from fifth into the medal positions … but she cannot. Still, a great effort from her, but back to the powerlifting, Fuentes, who missed 120 in the opening round, bangs 124 to break the Paralympic record! I’m not certain how things progress from here, but bear with me and I’ll let you know once I do.
Go on Olivia! She takes out 119kg, so if Xiao Jinping can’t complete her next lift, I think she’ll take silver because Xiao failed at 123. For her part, the Chinese will, I imagine, go for gold and look to beat the 120 leading mark. Yup, she’s going for 123kg and here it comes…
She’s going for 119kg, secure in the knowledge bronze is hers…
That battle for the bronze is raging in the powerlifting. Akidakhon Akhtamova of Uzbekistan can’t lock out 115kg and here comes Camila Campos of Chile trying for 117, Broome having raised 114 … and she can’t! So Bose Bejide of Nigeria attacks 118 … nope. Broome is next to go, 119 to beat to move second and 120 to go first.
The shot’s going on, a Brit is chucking, and on the specific athletics coverage we’re watching … a medal ceremony. Come on lads.
Arelle Middleton, the 16-year-old American, is second in the shot and she delivers 12.02 – 17cm off her best but still well beyond the next best, that 11.77 I mentioned a moment ago.
Time to drop in on the women’s F64 shot and Funmi Oduwaiye is ready. She spins … and lands 10.90, well off her best of 11.27, which is good enough for fourth. For third, she needs to better Yang Yue’s 11.77.
Now then! Clara Fuentez Monasterio of Venezuela has just smashed 120kg in the powerlifting and leads, having broken the Paralympic record; there are five athletes contesting the medals, and this is getting serious. Broome slips down to the bronze-medal position.
In the men’s F11 discus, Hassan Bajoulvand of Iran leads with 47.75; they’ve had three goes of six.
