Paris, 5 September 2024 – The Azzurri win other medals and do so in an extraordinary afternoon of emotions at the Paris Paralympics 2024. Italian cycling obtains another laurel and it is that of third place with Mirko Testa. Swimming applauds Antonio Fantin who climbs to the top step in the 100 freestyle S6. Bebe Vio Grandis takes home her second bronze at the Games, together with the women’s foil team.
The story of the races and the interviews – Source comitatoparalimpico.it
The afternoon opened with Mirko Testa’s bronze in the H3 cycling road race. The Italian completed the 56.8 km of the course in 1:39.38, finishing behind the two Frenchmen Mathieu Bosredon, gold in 1:34.36, and Johan Quaile, silver in 1:35.57. Testa managed to conquer third place, keeping behind by just 1 second the Spaniard Luis Miguel Garcia Marquina (fourth) and his national teammate Martino Pini (fifth), who reached the finish line with the same time, 1:39.39.
The first medal from swimming bears the signature of Antonio Fantin in the 100 freestyle S6. The Italian swam in 1:03:12, ahead of the Brazilian Tallison Enrique Glock (1:05:27) and the Frenchman Laurent Chardard (1:05:28).
“I’m very happy to have confirmed myself, it’s never easy, especially because three years have passed between Tokyo and Paris and everything has changed for me. But I confirmed myself and for me this was important. It’s a shame I didn’t also set the world record, it would have been nice to repeat the gold and the record, but the important thing is to have the anthem played for the twelfth time in this pool, and let’s hope it’s a good omen”. Antonio Fantin said this after winning gold in the 100m freestyle S6 at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games. “I was ‘lucky’ enough to compete with a French competitor, so the cheering was even more enthusiastic, but my family, my friends, all the people dear to me were there to see me, so it was as if that crowd wasn’t there or was there for me,” added the 23-year-old Italian. “Then once you’re in the water you don’t feel anything anymore, so the important thing is to maintain concentration and stay focused until the starting block, and then do your race because we train every day, and that’s what we theoretically know how to do best.” Now for the blue team there are two more races: “The 400 freestyle tomorrow and the day after tomorrow the 100 backstroke. Let’s hope that the color of the medal in the 400 freestyle changes compared to Tokyo (silver, ed.). It will be a beautiful race, completely different. The important thing – he concluded – however was to confirm ourselves in this one, we worked hard for the 400 so it was not a given that I would be able to be so fast in the 100, and I was! Not with the world record though!”.
From the Defense Arena pools to the lines of archery de Invalides, where the Open Recurve Bow Mixed Team composed of Elizabeth Mijno and Stefano Travisani achieved an extraordinary gold by beating Turkey 6-2 in the final.
For table tennis Jade Red she beat Polish Dorota Buclaw 3-2, after coming back from 2-0 to 2-2, in the singles semi-final WD1-2 and will compete for the gold medal to China’s Liu Jing, who has won the last four Paralympics.
An immense Matteo Parenzan conquered the final for the gold in the men’s MS6 table tennis singles at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. In the semifinal against the American Ian Seidenfeld, the reigning Paralympic champion, there was never any history: the Italian, who was already certain of a medal (it will be his first ever at the Games) closed with a score of 3 sets to 0 (11-7, 11-2, 11-8) without ever allowing the American – who also defeated him in the group stage at Tokyo 2020 – to enter the match. The 21-year-old from Trieste is now awaited by the final for the gold, which will be played tomorrow at 5pm at the South Paris Arena.
“I am very happy and excited because tomorrow I will go in front of 6,000 people, with great cheering like today, to play in a Paralympic final. It is a dream I have had since I was a child, and to be able to get there at 21 years old is something incredible”. Matthew Parenzanin the mixed zone of the South Paris Arena, is over the moon: already confident for two days of his first medal at a Paralympic Games, he has just reached the final for the gold in the men’s singles MS6 table tennis tournament at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, where tomorrow at 5 pm he will face the Thai Rungroj Thainiyom, fresh from his victory in the semi-final against the favourite Peter Rosenmeier, Danish table tennis player and Paralympic champion in Rio.
His semi-final, however, Parenzan won it against Ian Seidenfeldwho had won the gold medal in Tokyo. In Japan, the defending champion had also beaten the Italian, who today returned the ‘favor’ with a clear 3-0. “I knew perfectly well that today the match had to be very strong technically, tactically and mentally – explained the 21-year-old from Trieste – I showed it from the beginning, even if I was a bit tense because a match like that brings great tension and pressure. He always has a very long handle that does not allow him to serve short but I was really good, surgical even in returning serves in important moments and in being mentally strong. What can I say, I’m very happy. I’ve been waiting for this match against Seidenfeld for three years: I had marked it on the calendar, it arrived and I took this opportunity by winning 3-0”.
Parenzan’s career in recent years has been incredible. Since 2021 he has gone from a promise – he was the youngest athlete in the Tokyo expedition and flag bearer in the closing ceremony of his first Paralympics, finished in last place in the singles group and ninth in the team tournament – to a splendid reality. “I reached the final having not lost a single set so far. This shows that I am truly mentally strong and that we have worked very well in these years”, the lucid analysis of the Italian.
At the end of the match, Matteo celebrated by showing his muscles “that I don’t have,” he jokes. His classic celebration, aimed at the stands, where there were family and friends who had come to Paris for him: “It’s a celebration that I often do because, in short, it shows that I won the match with my head and with tactics, and not with my muscles like many of my opponents do, who are perhaps physically much better than me, even if they are amputees.” And this, Parenzan emphasized, “goes to show everyone how much a boy, even a young one, can do very well despite weighing 37 kg.”
Matteo has been affected since birth by nemaline myopathy, a neuromuscular disease characterized by muscle weakness and hypotonia. He picked up his first racket at 8 years old, and tomorrow he will win his first Paralympic medal. Which, moreover, will be made of a ‘heavy’ metal: “This means so much to me, it’s indescribable. The World Championships taught me a lot about being focused match after match and not thinking about what happens if you win or what happens if you lose. Playing, getting to the end and trying to play the best table tennis possible. Getting to this final is truly an honor, I really just want to be able to play and have fun: I will do it with courage, with nothing to lose, to enjoy this experience with all this audience. It’s truly beautiful: I know I’ve had a devastating journey so far and tomorrow I will simply go to conclude an experience. I hope I can do it in the best way, but even if the victory doesn’t come I will still be happy”, concluded the Italian.
Italy of Bebe Vio Grandis, Andreea Mogos, Loredana Trigilia and Rossana Pasquino win bronze medal in women’s team foil at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games. In the third place match, on the central platform of the Grand Palais, encouraged by the great cheering in the stands, including that of the French spectators, the Italians defeated Hong Kong (Chui Yee Yu, Pui Shan Fan, Yuen Ping Chung, Nga Ting Tong) with a final score of 45-33.
Photo Augusto Bizzi from FINP Italian Paralympic Swimming Federation/Facebook
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