Sprinter Anna Grimaldi has finally delivered the NZ Paralympics Team their first gold medal in Paris.
Grimaldi, NZ Paralympian No 195, claimed the third gold of her stellar career with an electrifying victory in the women's 200m T47 event at Stade de France on Saturday (Sunday NZ Time).
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Stunning onlookers with her total dominance, Grimaldi dismantled the Oceania record for the second time of the day, powering home in 24.72 seconds to secure her second medal at Paris 2024, following her bronze in the women’s 100m T47.
The performance came the day after the disappointment of the Dunedin-based athlete finished 1cm shy of the podium in the defence of her women’s long jump T47 title and she entered the 200m with few expectations and with a pre-event personal-best of 25.87 seconds.
However, she laid down a huge marker in the heats by obliterating her previous PB by 0.78 to set an Oceania record in 25.09 to lead the qualifiers into the medal race.
Competing in one of the final track events on the athletics programme at Paris 2024, Grimaldi made a great start from lane seven, although probably trailed the quick-starting American Brittni Mason for the first 50m or so.
However, she entered the home straight with a clear advantage and from there the 27-year-old was simply majestic extending her lead and crossing the line for a dominant victory from Mason in silver (25.18).
Grimaldi joined Eve Rimmer and Sophie Pascoe as the only other New Zealand women Paralympians to win gold medals at three successive Paralympics.
“Part of me was nervous for this (the 200m) because I haven’t done many, I didn’t know how to run one. We only spoke about tactics five minutes before call room. After the heat I knew if I could hold it together, I could run a really good time but I didn’t know that good.
"Everyone thinks there would be a huge amount of disappointment after the long jump but I think the journey I’ve been on from Rio to Tokyo, where I struggled, happy to be here, happy and healthy, that really showed up just to be here today and yesterday. It has been really freeing and I ran freely today.”
Meanwhile, para canoeist Peter Cowan completed the NZ Paralympic Team campaign in Paris by claiming a brilliant bronze in a gripping A final of the men’s 200m VL3.
In his Paralympic debut, the 29-year-old from Hastings produced the paddle of his life to claim some major scalps and climb the podium in a time of 48.28 seconds.
Drawn in lane two in a wide-open A final – having advanced second from his semi-final earlier in the day – he was not without podium aspirations especially given he claimed a silver medal in this event at the Para Canoe World Championships in Szeged earlier this year.
Cowan made a rapid start and was always in medal contention throughout. In a frantic dash for the line, he just held off the defending champion Curtis McGrath of Australia, who appeared to encounter steering issues, finishing 0.06 sec clear.
“To win a bronze medal at a Paralympics is something big and special. The preparation building up to this was the hardest I’ve had on and off the water.
"It was challenging along the way. Since world champs, I’ve had a number of family events happen. I’ve lost three whanau members, and I had to take time off for that. But when it came to training, I was able to turn up and do my thing.
“To do it (win bronze) in a giant field of quality paddlers was just unreal and I take my hat off to all the guys in our division they are all strong paddlers, but I had full belief that the right result would come if I just focused on my own performance.”
Cowan sustained a serious accident when he was clipped by a car while training on his bike for the IronMāori triathlon as a 15-year-old. Making the difficult decision to amputate his injured leg in his final year at high school, he discovered paddle sports.
Fellow para canoe paddler Scott Martlew also concluded his bid in the men's 200m VL3 on the waters of Vaires-sur-Marne, placing fourth in the B final on Sunday (Monday NZT).
The Cantabrian, who the previous day had finished fifth in the A final of the men’s 200m KL2, his specialist event, finished fifth – behind Cowan – in the second semifinal of the men’s 200m VL3 to advance to the B final.
In the B Final, he sat third for much of the race before appearing to encounter steering issues towards the end of the race, posting a time of 56.86 seconds.
Cowan's bronze medal ensured the final medal count for the NZ Paralympic Team stood at nine medals, with one gold, four silver and four bronze.
The 24-strong NZ Paralympic Team - which included 10 debutants, and five athletes aged 20 and under - impressed by setting one Paralympic record, four Oceania records, 11 national records and 12 personal-bests, as well as countless season-best performances.
On Saturday (Sunday NZT), the dream of swimmer Cameron Leslie to pick up a medal eight years after last climbing the podium at the Paralympics fell agonisingly short as he finished fourth in the final of the men’s 50m backstroke S4.
Having qualified second-quickest from the morning heats in a time of 43.05 seconds, expectations were high that the 34-year-old para sport legend could claim a medal in his fourth and final event at Paris 2024.
However, he could not quite repeat that performance in the final and will be disappointed he could not quite execute the race he desired, recording a time of 44.20.
With races over one length of the pool often requiring everything to run smoothly he was always just shy of medal contention and although he was closing in on Arnost Petracek he ran out of water and the athlete from Czechia held on to take bronze in a time of 43.96.
Leslie, the three-time Paralympic champion, performed with distinction at Paris 2024, making four finals and placing fourth in two events (he was also fourth in the men’s freestyle 50m S4).
Will Stedman capped a memorable Paris campaign in style by posting a national record time of 12.35 to place sixth in the men’s 100m T36 final.
The Cantabrian, who earlier in the programme smashed his New Zealand record to claim men’s 400m T36 silver and who also placed fourth in the men’s long jump T36, trailed in the early stage but drawing upon his renowned strength he finished strongly to trim 0.05 from his New Zealand record mark which was set in Switzerland last year.
Stedman said of his performance: “It felt a lot better than last night, although it was only a bit faster. It is nice to get a PB which was cool, I felt the start was better. Maybe from 30m to 50m wasn’t quite good but I came home strong. It has been a bit week too. I’m tired, so I can’t complain with a PB in my final race.”
Mitch Joynt enjoyed an excellent outing to place sixth in the men's 200m T64 final, recording a time of 23.16, within 0.01 of his lifetime-best.
The double Para World Athletics Championships bronze medallist in this event comfortably qualified third from his morning heat in a handy 23.20 and in a high-class final, the 29-year-old Aucklander acquitted himself with pride.
With the back end of the race his traditional strength, he entered the home straight some way down on the lead contenders but finished with a typical late surge to place sixth can take satisfaction from his debut appearance.
Meanwhile, Gabriella Smith signed off her competitive programme at Paris 2024 by placing eighth in the final of the women’s 200m individual medley SM10, clocking a time of 2:41.19.
The 18-year-old Cantabrian, the youngest member of the NZ Paralympic Team, produced her best performance of the Games in her heat swim, slashing 0.86 from her lifetime-best. recording 2:38.82 to place fourth and advance seventh-fastest for the final.
The teen could not quite repeat that performance in the final but caught the eye in this event to suggest the future is very bright for the Rangi Ruru Girls’ School student.