Key events
Here is Paul MacInnes on events in the velodrome, where Archie Atkinson took silver after a dramatic fall denied him gold.
Stephen Clegg: “Thank you to everyone who’s got me here, I’m very privileged to be part of such an excellent program at Edinburgh. I’ve wanted to bury my head in the sand at times before … but this was one of my weaker events and I’ve got the world record. This gold has been a long time coming, and now the pressure is off a little bit.”
Clegg then puts on some headphones to exchange some words with his sister in the studio – it’s an emotional moment for both of them.
Gold and world record for Britain’s Stephen Clegg
Clegg turns fastest and while Raman Salei and Ukraine’s Denysenko are keeping pace, he turns on the afterburners and races for home. He finishes in 59.02, taking gold and setting a new world record!
Clegg goes in lane four – to his right are brothers Raman Salei (who’s competing for Azerbaijan) and Dzmitry Salei (who’s here as a neutral); both were born in Belarus. And off they go …
Stephen Clegg is going for gold in the men’s 100m S12 backstroke, and his sister Libby is in the studio watching on. She won two Paralympic golds on the athletics track at Rio 2016. The third Clegg sibling, James, won swimming bronze at London 2012; a talented family.
Niall McVeigh
Thanks, Emillia. The next live medal action is coming up in the pool shortly. While we wait, have a look at the best pictures from Saturday in Paris.
I’m going to head off for a quick break now, but Niall McVeigh will be stepping in to keep you up to date with everything happening in Paris.
Over to you, Niall!
Phoebe Paterson Pine has progressed to the quarter-finals of the women’s individual compound with a 140-136 win over Melissa-Anne Tanner.
Following her last-16 win over Kseniya Markitantova in the women’s individual compound, Jodie Grinham said: “It was brilliant. I love the energy out there. There was a bit of a change in conditions between the practice field and the competititon field but I found my flow and my shot. I knew I needed a 30 in that final end and I delivered so I am happy with that. I wasn’t nervous going into that final end. The second end I put in an 8 and I knew I had to pull it back but in the last end I knew I could do it and I did.”
Phoebe Paterson Pine is now starting the defence of her Paralympic gold medal against Australia’s Melissa-Anne Tanner in the women’s individual compound.
Billy Shilton and Paul Karabardak were delighted to secure bronze for ParalympicsGB in the MD14 table tennis doubles semi-final earlier today. Shilton said: “We were a little inconsistent in patches but I’m proud of myself, I’m proud of Paul and I think we can be happy, when we look back in a couple of days when it all settles we’ll be happy we won a bronze for sure. I’m a bit emotional with the match but I’m unbelievably happy that Paul and I managed to win a bronze. I’ve been thinking about feeling that feeling again of winning a medal since Tokyo and it’s a special thing so I’m absolutely delighted I can do it with Paul.”
Karabardak went on to add: “I think when we were leading we could have been a bit more positive. Had we taken one of those first two sets it might have been a different game. That’s sport and we have to give them credit for taking their opportunities. It is disappointing but we played superbly against Brazil, we’ve done really well and we can be pleased with that bronze. It’s a great achievement for me and Billy.”
Jodie Grinham has progressed to the women’s individual compound quarter-finals with a narrow 141-142 win over Poland’s Kseniya Markitantova.
Archie Atkinson was in good spirits after his fall earlier today. The 20-year-old told Channel 4: “I think I’m okay. I can see and I’m all in one piece, I’m happy. I couldn’t have any better than that. I’ve never dug that deep before and I think it showed. I just sort of ran out of energy and went down.”
He continued: “It’s been mega. It’s been a bit out of this world. I feel a bit sick, I’m very proud, very happy. A Paralympic record and a silver, I don’t think I’d have believed that in my wildest dreams. To be in a final against [Jozef] Metelka who is one of the best C4’s we’ve ever had is a privilege. For your first Games, two rides against him, one I came out on top of and the second one, he’s a better rider so hats off to him.”
This afternoon’s archery session has been slightly delayed due to the weather in Paris. Jodie Grinham and Phoebe Paterson Pine are set to compete for ParalympicsGB.
Great Britain’s Amy Truesdale has booked her place in the women’s K44 +65kg para-taekwondo semi-finals. She earned a 30-9 victory over Rajae Akermach of Morocco this afternoon. Truesdale is now set to face Fernanda Vargas Fernandez of Mexico this evening.
Tanya Aldred
Tanya Aldred is in Paris for this summer’s Paralympic Games, click below to read her diary from this week.
Speaking after his fourth-place finish in the men’s C1-3 1,000m time trial final, Jaco van Gass told Channel 4: “It’s heartbreaking to be very honest. It’s just the factoring system, it shows that they don’t quite have it right. To ride a world record and not be right in the medals, it shows that the factoring system needs a bit of work, maybe a shout out to the UCI to look into that, because they’ve taken off the third rider of each category but the top riders like the French and the Chinese are so far ahead, it keeps benefitting them. Yeah, it’s how it works.”
Despite his crash, Archie Atkinson does take the silver medal. That is still an incredible achievement, especially for a 20-year-old. No doubt he’ll be back even stronger!
Heartbreak for GB’s Atkinson in cycling pursuit
That is absolutely devastating for Archie Atkinson. The ParalympicsGB star was leading Jozef Metelka by a significant margin in the men’s C4 4,000m individual pursuit final and was just moments away from winning gold. However, in the closing stages of the race he suffered a nasty crash out of nowhere, giving Metelka an easy route to the finish line.
Atkinson leaves the track with help from medics to spectators cheering his name. Heartbreaking.
Gatien le Rousseau has secured bronze in the men’s C4 4,000m individual pursuit after beating fellow Frenchman Kevin le Cunff.
Next up, it’s ParalympicsGB star Archie Atkinson, who is up against Slovakia’s Jozef Metelka for gold.
ParalympicsGB have just earned an 88-58 win over Canada in the men’s wheelchair basketball group stages. They are now closing in on the quarter-finals.
Eden Rainbow-Cooper did not finish her first T54 women’s 5,000m final at Stade de France this morning. Just a few seconds into the race, she got caught up in a crash and the event was restarted. While she initially attempted to go again, she quickly withdrew from the race.
Switzerland’s Catherine Debrunner won gold, with Susannah Scaroni of the United States taking silver and Australia’s Madison de Rozario securing bronze.
Li wins gold in men’s C1-3 1,000m time trial
Li Zhangyu has won his fourth Paralympic gold medal in the men’s C1-3 1,000m time trial. The 36-year-old won the event at London 2012, Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020 and now Paris 2024.
His fellow countryman Liang Weicong takes silver, with France’s Alexandre Leaute claiming bronze. Jaco van Gass narrowly misses out on a medal, finishing fourth.
World record for Leaute!
Frenchman Alexandre Leaute has taken the silver medal position with a C2 world record time of 1:04:207! Liang remains top of the time sheet, with Van Gass in third. One cyclist to go.
Jaco van Gass has been knocked down to the silver medal position following a blistering run from China’s Liang Weicong, who recorded a time of 1:04:103.
World record for Van Gass!
Jaco van Gass has just recorded a new C3 world record in the velodrome! He completed his run in a record time of 1:04:825 which puts him in the gold medal position. Three cyclists still to go…
Jaco van Gass is looking to add to his medal haul this afternoon in the men’s C1-3 1,000m time trial final. The 38-year-old won gold in the men’s C3 3,000m individual pursuit just yesterday, but he faces a huge challenge today having qualified in fourth.
David Smith recorded a 4-1 win against Daniel Perez of the Netherlands this morning in his second boccia pool match. Having also won his first, Smith now progresses to the quarter-finals which are scheduled for Sunday morning.
Jodie Grinham is looking to make history at the Paralympic Games this afternoon. The 31-year-old has already become the first pregnant athlete to compete at the Paralympics, but now she wants to go one better and become the first to win a medal. Grinham is completing while seven months pregnant but insists she is still determined to go for gold.
The archer said: “I’m pregnant, so what? If I worked in an office they’d be fine for me working there until I’m 39 weeks. So, what’s the difference for me competing at the Paralympics? I want to be a mother and an athlete. I’m not willing to sacrifice either of them. At home I am mummy but if I’m in athlete mode that is my mindset and total focus.”
So far today in Paris… Paralympics GB duo Paul Karabardak and Billy Shilton took bronze in the men’s double MD14 table tennis after losing to Thailand in the semi-finals.
Great Britain suffered a 54-63 defeat to Canada in the women’s wheelchair basketball group stages.
And in the men’s wheelchair basketball, GB are leading Canada 50-33 in the second quarter.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to day three of the 2024 Paralympic Games. There are plenty of medals up for grabs this afternoon – 97 today in all – in the archery, athletics, cycling, table tennis, taekwondo and shooting.
Those are just some of the events set to keep us entertained. I’ll be with you all afternoon – join me!
