Paris 2024

Paralympic Games

28 August - 8 September

Top 24 moments from the Paris 2024 Paralympics (13-24)

Let’s look back at the incredible sporting moments from the Paris 2024 Paralympics! Today we will share our top 13-24 moments 16 Dec 2024
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A sitting volleyball player raises his arms in celebration while on the volleyball court
Iran won their third consecutive sitting volleyball gold medal at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
By IPC

As the end of the year approaches, now is the perfect time to go back and relive the 10 days of incredible competition at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

Join us as we share our top moments from the Games. What is your favourite moment? Let's start the countdown.

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24. Keiko Sugiura extends record as Japan’s oldest champion

Keiko Sugiura, right, won her third Paralympic gold medal by winning the women's C1-3 road race in Paris. @Michael Steele/Getty Images

 

Keiko Sugiura defended her title in the Para cycling women’s C1-3 road race, extending her record as Japan’s oldest Paralympic gold medalist. The 53-year-old athlete clocked 1:38:48 in the 56.8-kilometre race that started and finished in Clichy-Sous-Bois.

Flurina Rigling of Switzerland took silver and Clara Brown of the United States took bronze.

Sugiura, who won two golds on her Paralympic debut at Tokyo 2020, competed in four events at Paris 2024.

 

23. Supermum Nicolina Pernheim Goodrich claims maiden medal

Nicolina Pernheim Goodrich won her maiden Para judo medal in Paris. @David Ramos/Getty Images

 

Just eight months after giving birth, Sweden’s Para judo athlete Nicolina Pernheim Goodrich claimed her maiden Paralympic medal, a bronze in the women’s -70kg J1 tournament. Competing at her fifth Games, she beat Turkiye’s Merve Uslu Hajabipour by an ippon after successfully pulling off an uchi-mata throw.

“I don’t know (how I did it), you will have to ask my coach,” said Perheim Goodrich, who lost her two previous bronze medal matches at the Games. “My daughter is here (in Paris), but she is in the hotel because it is noisy here. My family has been great at helping me.

“I wanted this (medal) so much. It just says that I shouldn’t give up. I didn’t give up and here I am with a medal.”

 

22. Jed Altschwager and Nikki Ayers win first gold in new Para rowing event

Ayers and Altschwager won Australia's first-ever gold medal in Para rowing. @Naomi Baker/Getty Images

 

Jed Altschwager and Nikki Ayers of Australia collected the first gold in a new Para rowing event at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium. The new event – the PR3 mixed double sculls class – was one of the five medal events in Para rowing at the Paris 2024 Paralympics.

For Altschwager, Paris 2024 was his Paralympic debut, and the new event allowed him to shoot straight to the top with partner Ayers, who competed at Tokyo 2020.

“A little inside secret is when we took off, I looked down about 100 meters into the race and realised my stroke coach was off. So, I was like, Nikki, my stroke coach is off, so you're going to have to give me some more calls,” Altschwager said.

“That threw a bit of a spanner in the works, but we stayed, we relaxed. We won.”

 

21. Bonnie Bunyau Gustin lifts 232 kilograms

Malaysia's Bonnie Bunyau Gustin lifted more than three times his body weight in Para powerlifting's men's up to 72 kg division. @Naomi Baker/Getty Images

 

Malaysian Para powerlifter Bonnie Bunyau Gustin lifted 232 kilograms, which is more than three times his body weight, in his third and final lift in the men’s up to 72 kilograms. With the lift, he extended his own world record and captured his second straight Paralympic gold.

"I'm very happy to be a two-time Paralympic champion and also to break the world record. I didn't expect it. I just wanted to make it in the first and second (lift) to win the gold medal," Gustin said.

Eight world records tumbled in Para powerlifting at the Porte de la Chapelle Arena in Paris.

 

20. Bruna Alexandre makes history for Brazil

Bruna Alexandre wants to see Para sports grow more in Brazil. @Alexandre Schneider/CPB

 

Bruna Alexandre became the first Brazilian athlete to compete at both the Olympics and the Paralympics in the same year. Roughly a month after the Olympic Games, she returned to the French capital to compete in three Para table tennis events.

“Now I finally conquered this dream,” Alexandre said in Paris. “It was important for me to be here for the Olympics, not only as an athlete, but also as a person with a disability. I think it’s important to show that people can be included in any environment.”

At the Paralympics, she picked up bronze medals in the women’s singles WS10 and the women’s doubles WD20. The four-time Paralympian said she wants to see Para sport grow even more in her country, which hosted the Games eight years ago.

“People are paying more attention to the Paralympics and the visibility is growing. But we are not at the same level of football, the most famous sport in Brazil. But we are growing step by step and I think that one day, the Paralympics in Brazil will be as big as football.”

 

19. Tanguy De La Forest tops podium after a 20-year wait

Tanguy De La Forest won his first gold medal at Paris 2024, 20 years after he made his Paralympic debut. @Andy Lyons/Getty Images

At the Chateauroux Shooting Centre, Tanguy De La Forest ended his personal medal drought that dated back to Athens 2004.

Competing at his sixth Games, the French athlete took silver in the R4 mixed 10m air rifle standing SH2 event before winning gold in the R5 mixed 10m air rifle prone SH2 event.

The crowd chanted “Tanguy, Tanguy, Tanguy” and waved French flags as De La Forest took to the shooting range.

“It is better than a dream. It is perfect,” De La Forest said.

 

18. Lauren Parker’s Paralympic dreams come true in Paris

Lauren Parker won her maiden Para triathlon gold medal at Paris 2024.  @Aitor Alcalde/Getty Images for IPC

 

Three years after finishing with a silver medal at Tokyo 2020, Australia’s Lauren Parker went one better in Paris.

In Tokyo, the USA’s Kendall Gretsch pipped her for the gold medal in the women's PTWC event by a second in a thrilling sprint finish. But in Paris, Parker finished more than a minute ahead of Gretsch.

“I can’t believe I was able to do it today. It’s been a long journey for me to get here, and I couldn’t be more proud and more happy to get the gold medal,” said Parker, who also won two medals in Para cycling.

“It’s so special. After getting second at Tokyo by less than a second, that’s been a big driving force over the last three years, every single day, through every single training session. I’ve worked so hard to accomplish what I’ve done today.”

 

17. Morteza Mehrzad leads Iran to sitting volleyball hat-trick

Morteza Mehrzad was Iran's top scorer in the final against rivals Bosnia and Herzegovina. @Michael Reaves/Getty Images

 

Iran’s Morteza Mehrzad needs no introduction to sitting volleyball fans. At 2.46 metres, he was the tallest athlete in Paris and the star of the Iranian men’s team that captured their third straight gold at the Games.

He was Iran’s top point scorer in the 3-1 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina in the final. Mehrzad also led Iran to gold at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.

 

16. The Netherlands continue unstoppable wheelchair basketball run

The Netherlands defeated the United States in the women's wheelchair basketball final. @Adam Pretty/Getty Images

 

The Netherlands became back-to-back Paralympic women's wheelchair basketball champions with a 63-49 win over the United States in the final, becoming the first women's team to win two consecutive titles in 16 years.

The Dutch team went undefeated at Paris 2024, winning all three preliminary round games against the USA, Germany and Japan before defeating Spain in the quarterfinals and beating Canada in the semifinals.

"Very heavy on the neck, but it's a good weight," Mariska Beijer said of the gold medal.

"We had a lot of pressure on our team. We were nervous at the beginning, but we played through and we did it: two full cycles, and we win every single title. Now, I can truly say that we are legendary."

 

15. Palesha Goverdhan returns to hero’s welcome with historical medal

Palesha Goverdha made history for Nepal at the Paris 2024 Paralympics. @Elsa/Getty Images

 

When Para taekwondo athlete Palesha Goverdhan returned to Nepal after collecting the country’s first ever Paralympic medal, she had a huge crowd waiting for her at the airport.

She won her first medal after beating Serbia’s Marija Micev in the bronze medal match of the women’s K44 –57kg division at the Grand Palais, and then she celebrated the special moment on the mat with her coaches.

In Paris, Goverdhan was one of the three athletes from Nepal, which made its Nepal made its Paralympic debut at Athens 2004.

 

14. Japan win gold as five female players reach wheelchair rugby podium

Yukinobu Ike, left, was Japan's captain in Paris. @Alex Davidson/Getty Images

 

Three years after finishing with a “disappointing” bronze at Tokyo 2020, Japan won their first wheelchair rugby gold medal. The team beat the USA 48-41 in the gold medal match, coming from behind at the Champ-de-Mars Arena.

With Australia taking bronze, there were five female athletes on the wheelchair rugby podium. It was the first time at the Paralympics that all three teams on the podium had female athletes, and also the most female athletes on the podium.

Japan’s Kae Kurahashi, the only female player on the Japanese team, said, "I had so much fun playing today. I was able to have so much fun even without telling myself to have fun. It was amazing how we were able to show everything we’ve worked on."

Ella Sabljak, right, and Shae Graham celebrated after Australia's 50-48 win over Great Britain in the bronze medal match. @Alex Davidson/Getty Images

In Paris, Sarah Adam became the first-ever female wheelchair rugby player to compete for the USA at a Paralympics. Ella Sabljak, Emilie Miller and Shae Graham represented Australia.

“After the match, Sarah (Adam) came to congratulate me. I was only able to say ‘thank you’ but it was nice. In Japan we still don’t have so many female players, so I hope (by winning gold here) more people will get to know about the sport and think they want to try it out,” Kurahashi said.

 

13. Sevda Altunoluk cements her status as the GOAT of goalball

Sevda Altunoluk, fourth from left, helped Turkiye win their third straight goalball gold medal. @Naomi Baker/Getty Images

 

If you are in search of the GOAT of goalball, Sevda Altunoluk is impossible to ignore. She led Turkiye to their third straight gold medal in the women’s tournament, scoring four of the team’s eight goals in the final against Israel.

She is the only athlete on the team to compete at all three Games – Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024, leading the team to the top of the podium each time.

“Three finals, three championships, three gold medals,” Altunoluk said. “I can’t explain my feelings because I am so happy and the feeling is so deep.”

“I actually knew we were going to become champions yesterday (after beating Brazil in the semifinals). Even when the tournament started, we all knew we had the chance to become the champions.” 

 

The top 12 moments will be announced on the International Paralympic Committee website on 17 December