Paris 2024: Fortune wins first Paralympic gold in style on Sunday

British thrower Sabrina Fortune claimed her maiden Paralympic gold on Sunday evening at Stade de Frace improving her own world record in the women’s shot put F20.

Great Britain also picked another gold on day three with wheelchair racer Hannah Cockroft taking her four consecutive gold in the women’s 100m T34.

“I still cannot believe it, especially on the first throw. I was expecting about 14m, just a simple throw. Then I hit the world record,” said Fortune, a bronze medallist in Rio who finished fifth at Tokyo 2020. “I just wanted to jump up and down and celebrate right then, but then I remembered I had five more throws after that.”

Her more experienced compatriot Cockroft was also ecstatic with the result in another crowded evening in Paris. 

“Listen to that noise - that’s what we do it for. That support is amazing. I still can’t wipe (the smile) off my face. My wheels were vibrating from the noise. That’s what we’ve worked for 12 years for (since her debut at London 2012). I’m so glad that we did.”

Italy’s Rigivan Ganeshamoorthy set the other world record of the evening in Paris en route to gold in the men’s discus F52 (27.06m).

Switzerland also topped the podium twice on Sunday with Catherine Debrunner and Manuela Schaer in the women’s 800m T53 and T54, respectively.

Venezuela took the first Paris 2024 gold when Enderson Santos Gonzalez beat local favourite Adolphe Timothee in the men’s 400m T11. Guillaume Atangana grabbed the bronze, the second-ever medal of the Refuge Paralympic Team.

"I'm very happy to have this medal. This medal shows that the Paralympic movement for refugees galvanises people," Atangana said.

The Sunday evening session wrapped up in romantic style with Italy's 100m T63 runner Alessandro Ossola proposing to his girlfriend Arianna Mandaradoni in front of a packed Stade de France.

Imagen

Here are the results of the Para athletics events at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games on 1 September during the evening session:

Women's Shot Put - F20 Final
Gold: Sabrina Fortune (Great Britain)
Silver: Gloria Agblemagnon (France)
Bronze: Poleth Isamar Mendes Sanchez (Ecuador)

Women's 800m - T53 Final
Gold: Catherine Debrunner (Switzerland)
Silver: Samantha Kinghorn (Great Britain)
Bronze: Zhou Hongzhuan (China)

Men's High Jump - T47 Final
Gold: Roderick Townsend (USA)
Silver: Nishad Kumar (India)
Bronze: Georgii Margiev (NPA)

Women's 800m - T54 Final
Gold: Manuela Schaer (Switzerland)
Silver: Zhou Zhaoqian (China)
Bronze: Susannah Scaroni (USA)

Men's Discus Throw - F52 Final
Gold: Rigivan Ganeshamoorthy (Italy)
Silver: Aigars Apinis (Latvia)
Bronze: Andre Rocha (Brazil)

Women's 100m - T34 Final
Gold: Hannah Cockroft (Great Britain)
Silver: Kare Adenegan (Great Britain)
Bronze: Lan Hanyu (China)

Women's Javelin Throw - F34 Final
Gold: Lijuan Zou (China)
Silver: Caiyun Zuo (China)
Bronze: Dayna Crees (Australia)

Men's 100m - T44 Final
Gold: Mpumelelo Mhlongo (South Africa)
Silver: Yamel Luis Vives Suares (Cuba)
Bronze: Eddy Bernard (Malaysia)

Men's 100m - T13 Final
Gold: Skander Djamil Athmani (Algeria)
Silver: Salum Ageze Kashafali (Norway)
Bronze: Shuta Kawakami (Japan)

Women's 200m - T35 Final
Gold: Xia Zhou (China)
Silver: Qianqian Guo (China)
Bronze: Preethi Pal (India)

Men's 400m - T53 Final
Gold: Pongsakorn Paeyo (Thailand)
Silver: Brent Lakatos (Canada)
Bronze: Brian Siemann (USA)

Men's 400m - T54 Final
Gold: Yunqiang Dai (China)
Silver: Athiwat Paeng-Nuea (Thailand)
Bronze: Daniel Romanchuk (USA)

Women's Long Jump - T37 Final
Gold: Xiaoyan Wen (China)
Silver: Jaleen Roberts (USA)
Bronze: Manon Genest (France)

Men's 400m - T11 Final
Gold: Enderson German Santos Gonzalez (Venezuela)
Silver: Timothee Adolphe (France)
Bronze: Guillaume Junior Atangana (RPT)