PARIS – The United States won a third consecutive men’s Paralympic wheelchair basketball title on Sept 7, while teenage Chinese swimmer Jiang Yuyan collected a remarkable seventh gold of the Paris Games.
The Americans were made to fight at a packed Bercy Arena by a determined Britain side, appearing in the final for the first time since 1996.
But although the Britons cut the deficit to three points with 14 seconds remaining when Terry Bywater scored an audacious three-pointer, the US saw out the final seconds, scored a free throw, and took the glory with a 73-69 win.
Jake Williams top-scored for the Americans with 26 points and the retiring Steve Serio hit 24 points.
“This is what dreams are made of, man,” said the 37-year-old Serio, who has three Paralympic golds, one bronze and five world championship medals.
“The totality of the journey, how much this team has grown up together. We’ve won together, we’ve lost together. To cap off my Team USA career with a win like this, with 12 athletes that I love and a great staff behind me, this is what dreams are made of.”
The US have now won gold at Rio, Tokyo and Paris and will go for four in front of a home crowd in Los Angeles 2028.
Jiang, 19, who lost her right arm and leg in a car accident at the age of four, landed gold No. 7 in the pool by breaking the Paralympic world record in the women’s 100m backstroke S6 to defeat US defending champion Jessica Long.
She was one of a trio of Chinese swimmers who won titles in a frenetic 30-minute period as Paris 2024 said goodbye to La Defense Arena, one of the most atmospheric of the venues for the Olympics and Paralympics.
The Chinese collected a further six medals, including a sweep of the podium in the women’s 200m individual medley SM5, ensuring they finished top of swimming’s medals table for a fourth straight Games.
“It’s really incredible for me,” said Jiang.
“I just finish each small goal, then have a rest and start again. I don’t overthink it, I just do it. (Improving) the world record is a new challenge for me in the future. From now on, my competitor is myself.”
Long, a double leg amputee, won the 18th gold medal of her career, and the 31st overall since her debut at Athens 2004, as she eased to the 100m butterfly S8.
On the claycourts of Roland Garros, Britain’s Alfie Hewett had one hand on the men’s wheelchair tennis singles crown only to have it ripped from his grasp by 18-year-old Japanese player Tokito Oda.
Source link : https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/usa-men-land-paralympic-basketball-three-peat-jiang-yuyan-takes-7th-swim-gold
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Publish date : 2024-09-07 22:50:00
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