Paralympians creating legacies at Tokyo 2020 Games

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Day 9:New World Records created in Aquatics at Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games

By Mousumi Mazumdar

Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games will be remembered for the Paralympians making an outstanding debut and the ‘WOW’ moments they gave the audience.

S14 athletes competed in the last races of their tournament to grab the remaining six medals. With the S14 events ending today, the medal tally is dominated by the Paralympic debutants. Reece Dunn from GBR was the most decorated swimmer with 3 Gold, 1 Silver, and 2 Bronze. He also broke 3 World records. Meanwhile, Valeriia Shabalina is taking 3 Gold and 1 Silver home and 1 new World record.

In Men’s 100m Backstroke Final, all eyes were on Reece Dunn (GBR) to see whether he can take another Gold and add it to his medal tally. However, world champion Benjamin Hance (AUS) swam to a new Paralympic record with 57.73sec, to take the Gold for Australia. It added the remaining Golden color to the fresher’s Paralympic medal collection as he already won one silver and One Bronze earlier during the event.

With the difference of only 1.32sec, Russian swimmer Emeliantsev Viacheslav won the Silver and Reece Dunn settled for Bronze with 59.97sec.

“I’ve loved it, every single second of it. I swam really well so that is just a bonus. It’s been great being here and I have really enjoyed myself.” Reece said at the OIS MC.

In Women’s race, it was a nail-biting fight between Valeriia Shabalina (RPC) and Bethany Firth (GBR). Bethany successfully defended her World Championship title and made it to the top of the Podium with 1:05.92sec while Shabalina Valeriia finished second just after 0.93sec.

“I am over the moon. This is my favorite event, the one I’ve been waiting for a whole week.” said Bethany (OIS MC)

“Winning it in London and Rio, I wanted to come here again and smash this one too. I spoke to my psychologist before about grounding myself and remembering why I am here and why I swim, looking at my cross tattoo.

“I just wanted to come out here and make everyone proud. It has been such an up and down season and without my support system, my family, and my church, I would not be here today” said Bethany (OIS MC)

Jessica-Jane Applegate (GBR) added to Great Britain’s spectacular swim medal tally at these Games, placing third with 1:07.93sec. She shares her tough journey to get to Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

“It was my last race, so I wanted to leave everything I had in the pool, and to come away with a bronze medal, it’s really good,” said Jessica-Jane at OIS MC

“I applied no pressure to myself, I just wanted to go out and have some fun tonight. It has been really tough, really tough. Training has been something else (laughs).”

“I took up cycling to try and keep my fitness up. I swam in my garden, in a swim spa… I only actually got in a swimming pool in April and I didn’t train long course until June, so I’ve only trained for four months. It has been really tough. I had to see a therapist for my mental health just to get me here because it has been really difficult.” says Jessica (OIS mc).

The swimmer had two car accidents this year leaving her with a neck injury. “There is nothing I can do other than come here and try and do my best. To come away with two individual bronzes and help the relay team achieve a gold medal is amazing.” She told OIS mc.

As the Virtus coverage of the S14 swimming also coming to a close, it is a testament to the resilience and strength of all the amazing Paralympians at Tokyo 2020, who inspire us all.

Stay tuned and follow Virtus on the final few days of the Games.

 

PRESS STATEMENT: Athlete support and well-being is paramount.

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September 02, 2021.

When three F20 Shot Put athletes were marked as DNS – Did Not Start, it put a global spotlight on athletes with an intellectual impairment and their disability needs.

Ecuador’s Jordi Patricio Congo Villalba, Australian Todd Hodgetts, and Rio 2016 champion, Malaysian Muhammad Zolkefli – were disqualified from the event on 31 August, due to their late arrival at the call room. Officials allowed the three athletes to compete under protest allowing the competition to proceed and for the appeal processes to follow. The appeals were lodged, and the original decision was upheld.

This is difficult for those individuals disqualified and it may be difficult for those whose final standing were changed as well. We support all the athletes and call on all those involved to support the athletes as they process what happened. All athlete’s well-being should be monitored and attended to.

Virtus respects the competition rules and the position of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and World Para Athletics (WPA) in this disappointing situation. We are open to being part of any post Games review and to share input into any process, procedure or training that could better support athletes with intellectual impairment.

Ms Robyn Smith, Virtus Vice-President said, “We are disappointed with what happened, we cannot change what happened, but we can do our best to advocate and ensure it does not happen again.”

“Understanding the individual needs of athletes with intellectual impairment is essential as they are performing in a high-pressure situation, in an unfamiliar environment, and may need additional help and guidance to be in the right place at the right time, including ensuring they are at the call room of every event.”

Virtus recognises that three out of six competing countries did have their athletes to the call room at the required time. We congratulate all the F20 shot put athletes on an outstanding competition. A competition that resulted in multiple world record throws. The awarded Gold Medallist, Maksym Koval set a world record of 17.34m, the Silver medallist Oleksandr Yarovyi (UKR) with a personal best, and Greece’s champion Efstratios Nikolaidis taking home the Bronze. Let’s not forget that these highly trained and skilled athletes performed admirably.

Virtus supports everyone’s right to ensure that the rules were followed correctly. This includes the countries that protested, the countries that appealed, the officials and decision-making bodies with responsibility to issue a final ruling. Protest is inherent in sport, and we must not condemn or vilify those exercising their rights under the rules.

Ms Smith also condemned some of the comments that had been made on social media about the incident. “This was a very difficult situation for the three athletes and their teams, and natural that people wanted to convey their frustration, however it is important that comments made on social media are respectful of the individuals, nations and organisations involved.”

Virtus calls on everyone to similarly respect these rights and to not feed into social media attacks – especially against athletes and against nations exercising their rights under the rules. The athletes disqualified and those who ended up on the podium deserve our respect and admiration.

Marc Truffaut, Virtus President who is attending the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games as a part of the French Athletics team, said that in a competition setting, more can be done to ensure the athlete, any athlete, feels supported.

“Athletes should be supported to do what they are expected to do, outside of performing their best to win,” Mr Truffaut said.

“There are so many distractions, so many instructions, and most of all, noise and nervousness for athletes as they set their mind to focus on one thing – competing to win.”

“We need to ensure that all people at the Games and future international competitions, including coaches, officials and volunteers are provided training on the unique cognitive and communication characteristics, specific to athletes with intellectual impairment.”

For Virtus, the person-first approach has underpinned events such as the Global Games 2019 (GG2019) in Brisbane, Australia. Cognitive awareness training and communications strategies were provided to staff, officials, and volunteers of GG2019. Virtus has the expertise to provide this training to organisations globally.

Truffaut explained, “These athletes have so much to share with the world, and with the right approach they can do so and will inspire others to take up sport, but we all need to be aware of their individual support needs.”

There is a lot more work to be done. This year’s Paralympics campaign is just the beginning of a decade of action. In the theme of #StrongerTogether and with a highlight on #WeThe15, there is no better time to call on partners of influence, including the International Paralympic Committee and International Federations, to generate awareness for the Invisibility of an Intellectual Impairment.

–END–

Media Contact: Nithi Suppiah, Advisor Marketing & Communications nithi.suppiah@virtus.sport

About Virtus World Intellectual Impairment Sport
Virtus is the brand name of the International Federation for athletes with intellectual impairments and a member of the International Paralympic Committee. The organisation was formed in 1986 and has grown to a membership of more than 80 nations across the world. These cover Europe, Africa, Asia, South America, North America and Oceania.

Virtus is on a mission to drive the development of elite sport worldwide for athletes with an intellectual impairment, helping more than 500,000 of the world’s best athletes, from over 80 nations, compete in winter and summer sports, from Athletics to Alpine Skiing, Cycling, Equestrian, Swimming, Table Tennis, Tennis and Rowing amongst them.

We promote the inclusion of people with intellectual impairments in society. We work with our member nations and the International Federations for each sport, on educating our members on eligibility and classification so that they can develop their athlete pool, helping create high-performance sport for athletes with an intellectual impairment.

Breanna Clark USA breaks world record at T20 400 meter at Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

Singing and dancing celebrations for Gold Medallists

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Day-7: Another hot, humid and wet evening at Tokyo did not affect multiple World records.

By Mousumi Mazumdar

Valeriia Shabalina (RPC) and Reece Dunn (GBR) claimed their third Gold.

Shabalina claims her third gold medal from Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games in the women’s 200m Individual Medley. She clocked a time of 2:20.99sec, to beat the former champion Bethany Firth (GBR).

It was a close fight between the two rivals as Bethany finished just 0.03.80sec after Shabalina. Louise Fiddes from GBR claimed her second Paralympic Medal by finishing third with a timing of 2:29.21sec.

“I get more energy from winning” says Shabalina (OIS MC).

In Men’s event, another exhilarating performance, as the leading three swimmers went neck to neck, and in the end, Reece Dunn (GBR) stayed undefeated as he claimed his third Gold from the competition and sets a new World Record with 2:08.02sec.

“Quite excited. I didn’t expect to get a gold in that one, I just wanted to get a medal,” said Dunn

“Obviously, it was a good race. I don’t know how I did that. First 150m was strong, and it was just about hanging on. I knew they would catch me on the breaststroke, I just had to try and pull away in the free and get the job done. I try my best, because the breaststroke is my weak event.”

“I’ve got dodgy knees, can’t kick really well, just got to try and get through the water and give myself the best chance I can at the 150m and see where I am on the freestyle” he told OIS News.

Dunn suffered with posterior shoulder impingement after the 4x100m mixed relays and was heavily fatigued but expressed he was mentally on top notch and was confident going into the races and was not nervous at all.

“I believe no one can beat me and even in my worse events I go into that believing I’m the best,” says Dunn (OIS MC).

Gabriel Bandeira (2:09.56sec) added another Silver to his tally, making a total 4 medals from the tournament. Ukrainian swimmer Vasyl Krainyk won his first medal as he finished third with a timing of 2:09.92sec. It was also his first Paralympic medal.

France's Charles-Antoine Kouakoa crosses the finish line to win Gold at the 400 meter

France’s Charles-Antoine Kouakoa crosses the finish line to win Gold.
Photo: OIS Photos

The Men’s 400m finals was another thrilling race as all three winners finished almost at the same time with just micro seconds apart. Charles-Antoine Kouakou (FRA) was extremely happy to win his first medal (47.63sec).

“I am really happy. I did better than my previous performance,” said Kouakou.

He told Virtus, he will celebrate by singing and he is also going to prepare for the Global Games 2023 in Vichy, France, straight after the Tokyo games are over.

Rodriguez Bolivar (ESP) finished second (47.71sec) Columba Blango (GBR) settled for Bronze with 47.81sec and seemed quite happy with his results.

“It was my first Paralympic games and I plan to participate in more games in future. It was a great experience and I am going to use that for the next games in the future,” said Blango.

His dad was an Olympian and it was his dream to compete at this level. He believes running was his natural gift and he just took it up and trained hard.

 

In Women’s 400m finals, defending Paralympian Breanna Clark (USA) created a new World record (55.18sec) and was seen dancing on the tracks for quite some time after the race. Yuliia Shuliar (UKR) claimed the Silver whilst setting a new personal best of 56.18sec.

“I am glad to win the silver and actually I am not bothered about the positions, I am just happy that I am improving my timing,” said Yuliia.

Brazilian runner Jardenia Felix Barbosa da Silva opened her medal tally for the Paralympic Games with a Bronze.

In F20 Men’s Shot put, three athletes Congo Villalba from Ecuador, Hodgetts from Australia and Zolkefli from Malaysia were performing under protest. More information will come from the officials. Maksym Koval (UKR) created a new World record by covering a distance of 17.34m. followed by Yarovyi Oleksandr who set his personal best of 17.30 and Nikolaidis Efstratios from Greece.

Day 6: Games debutants light up the track

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By Mousumi Mazumdar & Rebekah Thornton

It was an intense day on the Tracks for the T20 Men and Women 400m Heats. While the world was focused on the defending champion, Daniel Martins (BRA), the newcomers swooped in and amazed everyone with their spectacular performance in Heat-1.

Dieng Ndiaga (ITA), Anderson Alexander Colorado Mina (ECU), and Charles-Antoine Kouakou (FRA) ran their first-ever Paralympic Games race at Tokyo 2020. Qualifying first was Rodriguez Ramirez from Spain and clocked his personal best of 48.57sec. He was placed fifth at Rio 2016.

The defending champion had a hard time due to the global pandemic, speaking to Virtus, Daniel says “I suffered from COVID three months back and was almost taken to the hospital, one of my lungs was affected and I lost a lot of practice time.”

Heat-2, Correia Baessa (POR), Blango Columba (GBR), Luis Felipe Rodriguez Bolivar (VEN) made a remarkable first entrance into the Game and qualified for the finals.

In the Women’s 400m, only minutes after Yuliia Shuliar (UKR) broke the Paralympic Record in Heat 1, the Gold medalist from Rio 2016, Breanna Clark (USA) set a new Paralympic Record with 56.07sec.
“I have been doing three things, training hard, running hard, and working hard,” said Breanna.
“During the lockdown, we turned our home into a gym when the gyms closed and we also worked out on the beaches. My aim is to break these world records and set personal bests for everyone, not just for me.”

Siti Noor Iasah Mohamad Ariffin (MAS), the only female representing Malaysia in athletics at the Games, sprinted into the final of the Women’s T20 400m today. From Johor Bahru, the 31-year-old athlete said she was running for her son. She was so overcome with emotion post-race that she did not realize she had secured herself a spot in the final.
“I promised my son that Mumma would run as fast as I could. That race was for my son,” she said post-race.

Coming from a talented athletic family, her husband, Muhammad Hafiz Abu Bakar, represented Malaysia in the F37 Shot Put at the 2014 Asian Para Games in Korea. This will be her last competitive meet before her retirement, making her one to watch in the T20 400m final tomorrow night.

Tomorrow there will be several medal events taking place- F20 Men’s Shot put, T20 Men’s and Women’s 400m Finals and the 200m Individual Medley at the Aquatics.

Keep following Virtus to stay updated.

Sisters, competitors, Gold and Bronze medallists

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Day-5 (Part 2): Ecuadorian sisters dominate Women’s F20 Shot Put at Tokyo 2020 Paralympics

By Mousumi Mazumdar

The inaugural event in Athletics for athletes with an Intellectual Impairment was pushed off today. It was a very exciting day at the Olympic Stadium where
Ecuadorian sisters dominated the F20 Shot Put field.

Poleth Isamar Mendez Sanchez (ECU) set a new World Record to take GOLD at Tokyo 2020, by covering a distance of 14.39m in her second Paralympic Games. She had finished fifth in Rio 2016.

“I am very happy to win this Gold,” Poleth said.

Anais Mendez ECU competing in the Women’s Athletics Shot Put – F20 at the Olympic Stadium. Photo: OIS/Thomas Lovelock.

“I was very excited to compete alongside my sister, in the event she was my competitor and not my sister but in between the event I was also giving her advice on how to win.”

The Gold medal winner was doubly happy because her sister, Anais Mendez, in her debut to Paralympic Games, was competing in the same event. The newbie, Anais, won the Bronze with 14.06m distance.

Anais Mandez stated, she was very happy and very proud because she didn’t think she was going to win this medal. Having each other during the event, was a warm and supportive feeling for the Anais amidst the pandemic. Both women were seen engaging in short conversations between their events.

“We both are going to dance and celebrate our achievement tonight.” said Anais

Meanwhile, Ukrainian athlete Anastasiia Mysnyk made a hattrick with the Paralympic Silver medal. Anastasiia had won Silver in Rio 2016 and London 2012. She covered a distance of 14.16m. Speaking to Virtus, the athlete expressed how hard it has been to train during the Covid-19.

“I am very happy with the Silver. Me and my coach were working together on this and both are pleased with the result,” said Anastasiia.

“It was really difficult to train during the lockdown due to Covid-19.”

“I was training at home. Sometimes we had to go to the field or forest to train.”

The athletes have positive messages to share with young athletes with intellectual impairment.

The Ecuadorian duo, sisters Poleth, and Anais, says “Never give up, you need to keep fighting and never give up.”

Anastasiia’s message is “In this (COVID) situation, don’t be afraid. Try to get out of home and practice but don’t hurt yourself. Everything will be fine.”

That wraps up day 5. Tomorrow we see more athletics action from Tokyo Olympic Stadium. Follow Virtus on Socials to stay up to date.

Peter Palos now a three time Paralympic Gold Medallist

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Day – 5 (Part 1): Peter Palos (HUN) claims third Gold and fourth Paralympic Medal in the Men’s Table Tennis Final

By Rebekah Thornton

Peter Palos (HUN) embraces Sam von Einem (AUS) after winning the gold match.

The final of the Men’s Class-11 category took place today in the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. Peter Palos (HUN) went up against Samuel von Einem (AUS) in a nail-biting final. Both no strangers to Paralympic finals, Palos claimed victory in the final set, with a score of 3-2.

With a Gold in Athens (2004) and London (2012), his medal from Tokyo2020 makes him a three-time Paralympic Gold medallist in an international career spanning two decades.

“I’m still not sure how I managed to win but here I am as a Paralympic champion yet again,” he said after the match.

Peter’s coach, Zsolt Vigh, called the match a “tactical war”, complimenting Samuel von Einem on his fast hand. The silver medallist from Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, Samuel von Einem was excited to receive silver again.

“I was happy that I was able to medal and play on the big stage in the final again… Silver is fantastic”. von Einem said.  “It’s been a fantastic week for me. I might take a little break but then I’ll be looking forward to trying to go that one more in Paris 2024,” said von Einem.

Lucas Creange (FRA) and Florian van Acker (BEL) both took home bronze medals in the MS11 event.

Photos from 100m Breaststroke Men’s & Women’s FINALS (Credit: OISPhotos) | Table Tennis Men’s Singles Finals (Photo Credit: ITTF)

It was also a big day in the pool for the SB14 swimmers, with heats and finals for both the Men and Women’s 100m Breaststroke. Michelle Alonso Morales, Flag Bearer for Spain in the opening ceremony of Tokyo2020, successfully defended her 100m Breaststroke title for the third consecutive time, winning in World
Record time. Michelle Alonso Morales (ESP), nicknamed the ‘Little Mermaid’, won Gold at both the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. Her win today solidifies her as a champion of para-swimming in the SB14 category, having set a new world record of 1:12.02 (beating her own World Record from 2016) in the process.

Louise Fiddes (GBR) touched the wall in a time of 1:15.93 to earn silver, while Beatriz Borges Carneiro (BRA) won bronze with a time of 1:17.61, just 0.2 ahead of her twin sister, Debora Borges Carneiro (BRA) who placed fourth. Naohide Yamaguchi, the 20-year-old from Japan won his first medal of Tokyo2020 with another World Record time.

The anticipation was high for the Men’s 100m Breaststroke, with many big names in the final. After placing fourth in both the Men’s 100m Butterfly and the Mixed 4x100m Freestyle Relay, Yamaguchi left nothing in the pool in today’s 100m Breaststroke final. He won Gold with a time of 1:03.77, beating his own World Record by .23 seconds. This is the second major international win in the event for Yamaguchi, having placed first at the 2019 World Championships in London. Australian SB14 swimmer Jake Michel won Silver with a time of 1:04.28, exceeding his original ambition of just competing at Tokyo2020. Scott Quin (GBR) touched the wall in third with a time of 1:05.91. His Bronze from today becoming his second Paralympic medal in two Games, having won
Silver at the Rio 2016 Paralympics.

Elena Prokofeva shows she is GOLDEN!

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Day – 4 (Part 2): Elena Prokofeva (RPC), at the age of 50, claims the GOLD medal in the Women’s Table Tennis.

By Mousumi Mazumdar

The Semi-finals and Final in the Women’s Class-11 category made their way into the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium today.

Elena Prokofeva (RPC) Table Tennis (WS11) Gold Medallist at Tokyo 2020. Photo:OISPhotos

Finalists, Elena Prokofeva (RPC) and Lea Ferney (FRA) made their debut into the Paralympic Games this time at Tokyo 2020. Current ITTF World Rank number 1 Prokofeva stayed undefeated by the young French player, Lea, with a score of 3-1. Prokofeva took up the sport at the age of 9 and never giving up for 41 years, training hard for her debut into the Paralympic Games.

Lea Ferney wins Silver at Tokyo 2020

Lea Ferney wins silver in Women’s table Tennis (WS11) at Tokyo 2020. Photo: OISPhotos

“I waited a lot for this day and I just did what I needed to do,” she told Olympic Information Services (OIS) after the match.

On the other hand, 17-year old Lea Ferney, is overjoyed and expressed her happiness on winning the Silver medal, at her debut.

“I was surprised even to get selected for the Paralympics because you have to come first amongst everyone in France.” said Ferney.

“I came here to win. I am not disappointed with the Silver because I am bringing a medal home. I am only 17 years old so it’s only the starting. I am not thinking about anything now, I will just celebrate.” she said.

 

Maki Ito from Japan and Ting Ting Wong from Hong Kong secured Bronze.

“I am very happy with the Bronze medal because it is my first Paralympic Games,” said T.T. Wong. She plans to learn from this Paralympic Games and prepare for the next one.

The last event for the day (for Intellectual Impairment class events) was held late evening at the Tokyo Aquatic Centre.

The crowd was thrilled to witness the most exciting race to date in the S14 swimmers, the Mixed 4x100m Freestyle Relay.

The anticipation was already high, with teams strategically planning their relay order, and all eyes were focused on the battle of the strokes between Reece Dunn (GBR) and Gabriel Bandeira (BRA). The audiences worldwide were not disappointed with both men racing the fastest times.

The result, Great Britain adds to their medal tally of Gold for the Mixed 4x100m Freestyle with a new World Record of 3:40.63sec in the event. Swimmers Reece Dunn, Bethany Firth, Jessica-Jane Applegate and Jordan Catchpole were ecstatic with the team result, and Bethany and Jessica- Jane adding to their total medal counts as well.

The Australian team of Ricky Betar, Benjamin Hance, Ruby Storm and Madeleine McTernan claimed second place with 3:46.38sec. Their strategy of having Ricky and Ben – take the first 2 spots with the girls bringing it home, certainly made the race open to a first-place win during the middle, but team GBR were faster!

The Brazilians settled for the third place with 3:51.23sec. The team consisted of Debora Carneiro, Gabriel Bandeira, Oliveira Soares and Felipe Vila Real.

Table Tennis is on its last event tomorrow with the Men’s Singles Table Tennis Finals, the Medal event for 100m Breaststroke will also be taking place across town, at the same time in the evening, and the day finishes off in Athletics at the Gold Medal event in Women’s Shot Put Finals.

A busy day to look forward to with medal events in II-class events across all three sports – Athletics, Table Tennis and Swimming.

Keep following us on Virtus Socials.

Humidity affects the game for van Acker

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Day-4: Former Paralympic champion, Florian van Acker, blames humidity for losing Table Tennis semi-final match.

By Mousumi Mazumdar

Florian van Acker was disappointed with the humid weather here at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, which he claims cost him the chance of progressing to the Finals. Florian competed against Australia’s Samuel von Einem who won 3-2.

“I was playing fine until the second match, but then I started feeling the humidity which affected my grip as I was sweating a lot and started to get under pressure.” said van Acker.

“I would have played better but the weather got to me today. My friends from Belgium did warn me about this but I did not think it will be a problem, but I believe them today.”

The player may have settled for Bronze today but he has already made up his mind for Gold in Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

On the other hand, French player, Lucas Creange was excited to win his first medal at the Paralympic games. “I am very happy that I won the Bronze medal it is very important for me because I lost in the quarterfinals in Rio 2016.” Creange said.

My objective now is to participate in the World Championships and prepare for the upcoming Virtus 2023 Global Games, Vichy and Paris 2024.” He also adds for the young aspiring athletes to “just get into the sport, keep practicing and participating.”

In the Final match for Class-11 category, Sam von Einem will play against Peter Palos (HUN) tomorrow afternoon.

Stay updated by following Virtus sport on social media.

Medallist 200m Freestyle Women

Swimmers Reece Dunn and Valeriia Shabalina doubled their Gold tally

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Day-3: Swimmers Reece Dunn and Valeriia Shabalina doubled their Gold tally

By Mousumi Mazumdar

Another busy and exciting day at the Tokyo Aquatics and Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium with finals and quarterfinal events taking place at the respective venues.

In Swimming, the Paralympic debut maker- Reece Dunn from Great Britain is becoming quite a sensation at the pool in S14 category.

Reece Dunn GBR GOLD

Gold Medallist Reece Dunn GBR. Photo: OIS/Thomas Lovelock.

Dunn not only won his second Gold medal at Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, he also set a new World Record in 200m Freestyle 1:52.40sec in a neck to neck race with – Gabriel Bandeira Silver (1:52.74sec) from Brazil. Viacheslav Emeliantsev from RPC settled for Bronze by timing 1:55.58sec.

In Women’s category, Valeriia Shabalina (PRC) claimed her second Gold at pool winning the title for S14 200m Freestyle by clocking 2:03.71sec, beating the former Paralympic champion from Great Britain- Bethany Firth who settled for Silver with a timing of 2:03.99sec. Team GBR also took home the Bronze with swimmer and Virtus ambassador, Jessica-Jane Applegate finishing with a time of 2:09.53sec.

In Table Tennis, an extremely thrilling match was seen between Hungarian player Peter Palos and host nation’s ‘Wild Horse’ Asano Takashi. Long rallies of aggressive smashes were delivered by the Japanese player across the table, which were returned gently by the Hungarian. After a nerve wrecking fight Peter secured his place in the semi-finals with 3-2 game. “I feel very tired, the match was very exhausting and I feel so good after winning the match” says the bronze medallist from Rio 2016, Peter Palos.

Asano disappointed after losing to Palos in Qtr Finals

Asano disappointed after losing to Palos in Qtr Finals. Photo: Kyodo News

Japan’s Asano says he is very sorry to all the people who supported him. “My target was to win a Gold medal this time but could not do so. The opponent (Palos) is like a king in the world of Para Table-Tennis, he won Gold in London, Bronze in Rio so he is very strong and has a very good mental strength. I promise to win a Gold in Paris 2024” says Asano.

On another table, Cuesta Martinez from Spain was seen putting pressure on Sam von Einem from Australia in the initial rounds but the Aussie had a smooth win eventually and moved into quarterfinals with a score of 3-1.

In the third match, Lucas Creange (FRA) stayed undefeated by Takashi Takemori (JPN) and qualified into the semi-finals with a flat win with 3-0 points.

The defending Champion from Rio, Florian vanAcker (BEL)  faced some difficult moves from the Chang Gi Kim, from Korea in the first and third match. However, with the score of 3-1, the Belgian player moved also moves into the Semi-finals.

The Semi-Final matches for both Women’s and Men’s Category will be played tomorrow. Remember to follow Virtus on Social media for regular updates.

Rio 2016

Table Tennis heats up Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium

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Day-2: Rio 2016 Paralympic Table Tennis medallists, begin defence of title in Tokyo.

By Mousumi Mazumdar

In the second day of competition at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, 7th ranked player Takashi Takemori of Japan, gave a tough fight to the Rio 2016 Gold medallist, Florian Von Acker (Belgium). Both players entertained the crowd with powerful smashes, before Florian went on to win the match 3-2.

Meanwhile the Rio 2016 Bronze medallist, Peter Palos from Hungary, is in his best form of his career and stands at No. 1 in the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) ranking going into Tokyo.

Interestingly, while majority of the athletes expressed the hardship they faced during the Covid-19 lockdown, Palos expressed different emotions. “Fortunately, I did not miss out on my practice during the lockdown like others, as my club was open. There were league going on and I was able to compete. I think this is a big advantage for me” says Palos.

He was also relieved with live spectators not being present to cheer the host nations players. “I miss the crowd when I am playing with competitors from other countries but today, when I was playing against Koya Kato from Japan, I did not miss the crowd because obviously the home crowd would have supported him which would have put pressure on me” says Palos. He considers Florian and Takashi to be his strongest competitors.

On the other hand, Australian player, Sam Von Einem was excited to win today’s match and stay on top of his group. “I have been working as hard as possible. There were no international tournaments but I did what I could and it is great to be here.”

The last round of Qualifications continue on Day 3, then it’s straight onto the Men’s Quarter Finals in the night. Who will be the final eight? 

Keep checking Virtus website for updates.