Paris 2024: Qarada defends Paralympic gold in thrilling opening day

Jordan's Omar Qarada was crowned the first Paralympic champion at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena as Para Powerlifting action at the Paris 2024  kicked off on Wednesday (4 September) afternoon. 

In a thrilling contest, Qarada once again stamped his dominance in men's up to 49kg - defending his Tokyo 2020 Paralympic gold medal with his best lift of 181kg in the third round.

The 43-year-old Jordanian's effort on the bench was one kilogram above Türkiye's 2022 European champion Abdullah Kayapinar who surprised everyone and stayed in contention until the end - even going for a world record attempt much like Qarada - only to settle for the silver. 

"Thanks to God, I am the gold medal winner. At Tokyo (2020 Paralympic Games) I was the gold medal winner and since then I have participated in many competitions where I have always been the gold medal winner. I have worked hard for it," said Qarada, promising to work harder to break the world record.

"This is my motivation for what I will be doing next."

Meanwhile, this was Kayapinar's best result ever and first Paralympic medal after his fifth place in Tokyo 2020. 

Reigning world champion and world record holder Le van Cong's hopes of regaining the gold since his victorious show at Rio 2016 went up in smoke when he faltered in the second and final rounds. 

But his successful lift of 171kg in the first round was enough to earn him the podium.

Chinese Zhe finally wins gold

In the only other event - women's up to 41kg - of the first session, China's Cui Zhe clinched the gold medal after four silver medals since her Paralympic debut at Beijing 2008. 

The final witnessed a battle between Zhe and Nigeria's Esther Nworgu as couple of Paralympic records were broken at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena.

Zhe, who returned to lower weight category after her Tokyo 2020 silver medal, seemed unperturbed despite the stellar show from Nworgu - she broke the Paralympic record twice at 112kg and 118kg before settling for the silver. 

The 37-year-old Chinese was ready for every challenge and broke every time the new Paralympic record - at 113kg and 119kg - only to take her first ever gold. 

"I have always had faith in myself and believed that I could get the gold. I've been very determined with this target and never given up, always giving my best performance at competitions," said the four-time world champion.

Competition in the day continues with women's -45kg and men's -54kg finals.