Photo: Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine
On the seventh day of competition at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, the Ukrainian national team won 7 medals: 4 gold and 3 silver.
This was reported by the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
Swimming:
Swimmers Yaroslav Denysenko and Maksym Veraksa secured first and second place in the 100-metre freestyle event. This marked the eighth double podium for Ukrainians at the 2024 Paralympics.
Swimmer Andriy Trusov won gold in the 50-metre freestyle, setting a new world record of 26.38 seconds. This gold follows his three previous silver medals.
Among the women, Anna Stetsenko claimed a silver medal in the 100-metre freestyle, her third medal at these Games.
The Ukrainian team also triumphed in the 4×100-metre freestyle mixed relay. This victory was achieved by Marina Piddubnaya, Alexey Virchenko, Yaroslav Denysenko, and Anna Stetsenko.
Athletics:
Shot putter Anastasiia Moskalenko won gold, setting a new world record with a throw of 8.00 metres, updating the record twice in four attempts.
Mariia Shpatkivska, a debutant at the Paris Paralympics, won a silver medal in the shot put with a distance of 12.35 metres, though in a different classification.
Currently, the Ukrainian national team ranks 7th in the medal standings with 52 medals. The team has:
The competition will continue until 8 September.
On the evening of 28 August, the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paralympic Games took place in France. The Games will last until 8 September, and Ukraine is represented by 140 para-athletes.
Swimmer Anton Kohl brought Ukraine its first medal at the 2024 Paralympic Games, winning silver in the 100m backstroke in the S1 class.
Swimmer Iryna Poyda secured the second medal for Ukraine, also silver, in the 200m freestyle event in the S5 class. This is the first Paralympic medal for the 26-year-old from Kherson.
Anna Gontar, another swimmer, claimed a bronze medal in the 50m freestyle in the S6 class.
Oleksandr Komarov added to Ukraine’s medal count by winning bronze in the 200-metre freestyle in the S5 class. The 2024 Paralympics marks the fourth Games in Komarov’s career.
Para-athlete Vladislav Bilyi won another silver medal at the 2024 Paralympics, while Ukrainian Paralympian Artem Kolinko secured a bronze in boccia.
Yulia Shulyar earned another gold medal for Ukraine, becoming the champion in the 400-metre race at the 2024 Paralympics.
Anna Stetsenko also added to her success by winning silver in swimming, marking her third medal at the Games in Paris.
Earlier, Valeriy Sushkevych, a public figure and chairman of the National Assembly of People with Disabilities of Ukraine, as well as president of the National Committee of Sports for the Disabled of Ukraine, discussed the Ukrainian team’s participation and expectations from the Games on Hromadske Radio:
«I am very impressed with the Paralympics opening ceremony. The reaction from the international community has been phenomenal. Our team has been welcomed incredibly well.»
Sushkevych added that other teams paused to congratulate Ukraine’s athletes. Parisians «cheered furiously» to welcome the Ukrainians, and the crowd gave the team a standing ovation at the 2024 Paralympics.
Though Sushkevych refrained from predicting Ukraine’s final results at the Games, citing a common superstition among athletes, he emphasized the team’s commitment to their country and its defenders. He stated that the athletes are fighting for results that should «contribute to victory in the war.»