Key events
Women’s road cycling: Katie-George Dunlevy of Ireland leads from Sophie Unwin and Lora Fachie (both GB) on the final lap of the women’s B road race.
Men’s road cycling: The men’s B road race continues: two out of of three leading tandems are from the Dutch team, split by a French pair. They are on the eighth out of nine laps, a 127km race.
Alexandre Lloveras and his pilot Yoann Paillot have dropped back: De Carvalho, Bangma and Ter Schure are the leading trio.
Some more reaction from Sarah Storey below on how she relied on her language skills in order to clinch glory in the C4-5 road race.
“Today I knew we had a great breakaway, we built up a good lead,” Storey said. “Then Heidi Gaugain attacked with a lap and a half to go. Fortunately I speak a bit of French so I understood what she was told. So I was ready to attack with her.”
(Quotes via AP)
Stephen Bate, GB’s sole entrant in the men’s B road race, earlier withdrew from the event because his guide, Chris Latham, is unwell.
Dressage: Georgia Wilson is out there for ParalympicsGB and all seems to be going very smoothly.
“Georgia is very cool in the arena,” says the co-commentator Erin Orford. “She likes having fun with her horse and she’s a very cool competitor. She’s very gutsy and very determined … she looks like she’s really relaxed into this test.”
The weather in Paris looks considerably more pleasant than where I am right now.
Anyway, here are some quotes from ParalympicsGB’s Ben Sandilands as well as his teammate Marcus Perrineau-Daley. He won gold in the men’s T20 1500m at the Stade de France earlier, setting a new world record in the process:
“It’s an amazing feeling. I’ve put in so much hard work,” Sandilands said. “I knew I had the speed in me at the end from my training. The timing has to be perfect and I went for it, and the world record means a lot. It’s incredible.”
Meanwhile, GB’s wheelchair racer Perrineau-Daley won silver in the men’s T52 100m with a time of 17.27sec, 0.57sec behind Belgian Maxime Carabin.
“It is incredible but I can’t help but think I could have won a gold medal,” said the 35-year-old.
“I was so focused on staying in lane, I was staring at the wheel, but it shows, when I put my power down, they won’t be able to catch me. I made three mistakes today and I still won a silver. I am not trying to boast, but when I do get it right, I am destined for gold.”
Thanks Taha and good day, everyone.
I’m going to nip away for a break. Luke McLaughlin will keep you company in the meantime.
Heartbreaking.
Aldeeb travelled to the Games after months of grief, mourning 17 members of his family including his brother and his nephew killed in Gaza. He received news of his brother’s death in December a day after he played in a basketball friendly in Paris, and realised he had missed the last phone call from him during the match.
Road cycling: The women’s B road race is past the 56.8km mark and the GB pair of Sophie Unwin and (pilot) Jenny Holl continue to press for the lead with the Irish partnership of Katie-George Dunlevy and (pilot) Linda Kelly.
Yunier Fernández beats Rob Davies to win MS1 table tennis gold!
It’s a first Paralympics medal for Yunier Fernández, and he makes it a gold one. It’s a dominant victory in the MS1 men’s singles final, as he wins the third game 11-4. Davies, who won gold eight years ago, has to settle for silver this time round.
Table tennis: Rob Davies is now two games down in his MS1 men’s singles gold medal match against Yunier Fernández, the Cuban athlete winning the second game 11-7.
Wheelchair tennis: Wow, quite the contest in the women’s singles gold medal match. Japan’s Yui Kamiji was 4-1 up in the first set … but the Netherlands’ Diede de Groot wins it 6-4! A reminder: De Groot lost to Kamiji in the doubles final yesterday.
Table tennis: “Come on, Robbie boy!” comes the shout from the crowd, and Davies ends up nailing a couple of sharply-spinning lobs, leading 5-4 in the first game. Fernández comes back to lead 9-7 and has two game points, saved by Davies: tie-break time. Fernández wallops a fine return to lead 13-12, and he ends up winning the first game in the men’s singles MS1 final.
Table tennis: OK, time to watch Rob Davies. He won gold in Rio and now he’s gunning for another in the men’s singles MS1 final against Yunier Fernández. The Cuban athlete is guaranteed his first ever Paralympics medal.
“That’s never in doubt!” Enjoyed this from Jonnie Peacock.
Road cycling: The women’s B road race, which takes place with the use of tandem bikes, is underway. GB have three pairs: Sophie Unwin (pilot: Jenny Holl), Lora Fachie (pilot: Corrine Hall) and Elizabeth Jordan (pilot: Dannielle Khan). Unwin and Holl are trying to keep up pace with the Irish pair of Katie-George Dunlevy and Linda Kelly, Dunlevy having won gold three years ago.
Athletics: In the men’s F37 discus, gold belongs to Uzbekistan’s Tolibboy Yuldashev. Pakistan’s Haider Ali, responsible for each of his country’s Paralympics medals, and gold winner in Tokyo, takes bronze.
Athletics: There’s joy for India’s Praveen Kumar in the T64 men’s high jump final. He won silver three years ago with a 2.07m effort … this time he gets to 2.08 to pip USA’s Derek Loccident and win gold. GB’s Jonathan Broom-Edwards, who was No 1 at the Tokyo Games, has to settle for fifth place.
Athletics: And there’s the confirmation: the ParalympicsGB team is through to the final of the 4x100m universal relay, having put together the third best time of the heats. USA win the second heat, having put together a time of 46.39.
Athletics: The GB 4x100m universal relay team speak to Channel 4, and Jonnie Peacock is quizzed about his future … he’s adamant he’ll be racing at LA 2028. They’re all pretty chuffed with their time of 46.61, a European record. Now to the other heat, with Japan, USA and Brazil competing in that. Let’s see if GB’s time will be enough to guarantee a place in the final …
Hello, all! Just a reminder what’s up shortly from a ParalympicsGB persepctive: Robert Davies is in action from 1pm BST in the MS1 men’s singles table tennis final against Cuba’s Yunier Fernández.
And with that, I shall hand over to Taha Hashim for the afternoon stint. All yours, Taha.
Athletics: It’s just GB and China going in the first 4x100m universal relay, which combines four specifications and is always good fun. It’s all about the times, so it doesn’t matter that there’s only two teams going – or that GB came second. Jonny Peacock stormed down the back straight for GB to set up a finish for Sally Kinghorn. China win the heat with a world record, with GB not far behind.
Athletics: And it’s hotting up in the T64 men’s high jump final, with Derek Loccident taking the lead with a 2.06m jump under severe pressure. He was out if he didn’t clear that. India’s Praveen Kumar easily cleared the same distance to maintain his perfect record so far.
Great Britain is currently second to China in the medal table.
Athletics: Isaac Towers of Great Britain has qualified for the T34 800m final, strong work, despite missing out on automatic qualification.
Jonathan Broom-Edwards is still in high jump action.
What a display this was. Bear in mind the previous world record holder was in the field that Ben Sandilands tore asunder. And in his first ever Paralympics. Take a bow, young man.
Table tennis: GB’s Will Bayley is guaranteed a silver at the very least after breezing through his semi-final. The 36-year-old has three Paralympic silvers to his name and one gold, which he won in Rio.
The men’s T34 800m is the next athletics event up on the track. It’s only the heats at this stage, but GB’s Isaac Towers is in action. This is the highest functioning wheelchair race classification.
Some of the headlines you might have missed this morning:
Jonathan Broom-Edwards’ T64 high jump final is under way. It’s safe to say he’s bang up for it, judging from his social media posts.
Some good comments on Storey BTL:
Heading off a teenager aged 46! Amazingly well done Sarah Storey. 19 golds!
Seeing Sarah Storey’s interview just now, she was clearly a lot calmer in that last kilometre than anybody watching will have been. Phenomenal.
I had the privilege of being on the same start line as her in a local fish ‘n’ chipper CX race years ago….I won’t try and say I raced her. To see a rider of that quality is something else. They don’t sit on the bike and the bike is on the ground; the rider is floating half an inch above the bike and the bike is always half an inch off the ground. Grace.
Sarah Storey is interviewed about her 19th Paralympic gold on Channel4:
“I’m glad someone is keeping count [of the medals] cos I wasn’t keeping total count. I was just thinking about winning this bike race. I knew Heidi [Gaugain] would want to attack but I was happy to take it to the line as the fastest sprinter of those four. She’s 19 at the end of the day so I had to reel her in – fortunately I understand French so I knew when she was going to attack! I knew I would still have a kick to go for the finish.”
She’s coy on the final question … which is whether she will compete at LA in 2028. She would be 50 then.
Athletics: The men’s T52 100m final is next. Maxime Carabin of Belgium was the major favourite for this beforehand and he does indeed storm home to take the gold by a distance. Marcus Perrineau-Daley picks up a fine silver medal for GB.
Back to athletics next and the big one will be GB’s Jonathan Broom-Edwards in the T64 high jump as he tries to retain his title from Tokyo. He also won a silver in the T44 high jump in Rio de Janeiro.
Channel4 are just replaying Sandilands’ run in the 1500n, which he won by an absolute mile – obliterating the competition on the home straight and claiming a stunning world record.
It’s hard to believe that Dame Sarah Storey won a gold medal in swimming at the 1992 Paralympics in Barcelona. Her longevity, adaptability and pure bloody-mindedness to win and keep winning is simply remarkable. This pretty much sums her up:
Wow wow just watching Sarah Storey in Paralympics in C4.5 road race….what an amazing Paralympian cyclist, mother and woman empowering. Go Dame Sarah loving you kicking butt. ALL the more gold medals to you. Hang tuff 💪👏👏
— Tessa Sanderson CBE (@tessasanderson) September 6, 2024
Sarah Storey wins gold in women’s C4-5 road race
It is gold for Sarah Storey – a 19th Paralympics gold medal for her, as she holds off the challenge of Gaugain at the death. She raises her first to the crowd and takes the deserved adulation. What an athlete she is.
Gaugain is edged out into silver, while Colombia’s Paula Andrea Ossa Veloza gets the bronze.
Gaugain powers away at the front and Storey is fighting like hell to try and stick with her. This is brutal stuff in the final kilometre. But Storey has closed the gap!
All eyes now are on the women’s C4-5 road race. Sarah Storey is in a group of three at the front, as we approach the final couple of kilometres. There’s some tight corners so the riders are taking it easy, before the inevitable sprint finish. French para-cycling favourite Heidi Gaugain is right there with her.
Gold for Ben Ben Sandilands of GB! What a display in the men’s 1500m T20.
Preamble
We’re approaching the final couple of days of what’s been a superb Paralympics. The crowds in Paris have been excellent and the action has been thoroughly enjoyable. Today should be no different: right now ParalympicsGB superstar Sarah Storey is going for road race gold; then we’ve got athletics, canoeing and plenty more beside; lots of judo, table tennis, swimming – it doesn’t stop.
This blog will keep on rolling throughout the day, so don’t go anywhere else! I’ll be keeping the chair warm until Taha Hashim comes in around midday. Feel free to drop me an email and flick on the kettle.
