Paris 2024: Ugo Didier electrifies Para swimming arena with Paralympic gold

An electrifying atmosphere emerged at the Paris La Defense Arena as Ugo Didier swam to winning the hosts' first gold medal in the first Para swimming final of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games on Thursday (29 August).

Didier made it an evening to remember for the Parisian fans, thrilling the deafening crowd with his performance, swimming the men’s 400m freestyle S9 final in 4:12.55 and ending ahead of Simone Barlaam of Italy and world record holder Brenden Hall of Australia.

This was also the 22-year-old's first Paralympic gold medal after finishing with a silver and bronze at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. And he could not have chosen a better venue to win his first Paralympic gold than his home Games.

"It was unbelievable, the cheering for me helped me a lot. I don't think I could have done it without the crowd. I think I will never swim with that type of crowd again." 

"It was a tactical battle. He (silver medallist Barlaam) beat me three years ago, two years ago, one year ago, and today it was my turn. Second place was done for me.” 

Maskill's dream debut

Later Great Britain and Italy won two gold medals each. For Great Britain, one of the gold medals was a world record effort by debutant Poppy Maskill (1:03.00) in the women's 100m butterfly S14 final. 

“Unreal. Weird. I was just hoping that I swam as hard as I could, and see what happens. It gives me more confidence, but we’ll see what happens.”

“Just trying really hard in training. Listening to what everyone tells me to do, and stuff like that,” said Maskill. 

China too picked up two gold medals on the opening day at the pools. 

Minutes after Yuyan Jiang claimed the women's 50m freestyle S6 gold medal, Chen Yi clinched the women’s 50m freestyle S10 gold clocking a world record timing of 27.10. This was Yi's second gold since Rio 2016 Paralympics.

“I’m unmoved. I didn’t expect this at all. I didn’t even think I would win gold. But I’m also a very calm person to begin with," a humbled Yi said. 

"To break the world record, of course, I’m happy about that, but I’m also not thinking more. My performance in the heats was already my best yet, so I thought I’d just go for it in the final, try to get on the podium."

Meanwhile, Singaporean star Pin Xiu Yip swam up to her status winning the women's 100m backstroke S2 and showed the fans what they can expect from the World Championships host next year in her home country.

Brazilian Gabriel Araujo did what he likes doing the most - enjoying every bit of his minute in the pool and winning another Paralympic gold, his third overall after two victories in Tokyo. He finished the men's 100m backstroke S2 final with a new Americas record of 1:53.67.

Hungary, Poland, Denmark, Japan and Australia were the other countries to top the podium on day one. 

“Unreal. Weird. I was just hoping that I swam as hard as I could, and see what happens. It gives me more confidence, but we’ll see what happens. My mum, my dad, my sisters, and my nan are here to watch me.”

- 🥇 Poppy Maskill 🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/La4qodHOMK

— Para Swimming (@Para_swimming) August 29, 2024

Para swimming Day 1 medallists

Men's 400m Freestyle S9 Final
Gold: Ugo Didier (France)
Silver: Simone Barlaam (Italy)
Bronze: Brenden Hall (Australia)

Women's 400m Freestyle S9 Final
Gold: Zsofia Konkoly (Hungary)
Silver: Lakeisha Patterson (Australia)
Bronze: Vittoria Bianco (Italy)

Men's 100 Backstroke S1 Final
Gold: Kamil Otowski (Poland)
Silver: Anton Kol (Ukraine)
Bronze: Francesco Bettella (Italy)

Men's 100m Backstroke S2 Final
Gold: Gabriel Araujo (Brazil)
Silver: Vladimir Danilenko (NPA)
Bronze: Alberto Abarza (Chile)

Women's 100m Backstroke S2 Final
Gold: YIP Pin Xiu (Singapore)
Silver: Haidee Aceves Perez (Mexico)
Bronze: Angela Procida (Italy)

Men's 100m Butterfly S14 Final
Gold: Alexander Hillhouse (Denmark)
Silver: William Ellard (Great Britain)
Bronze: Gabriel Bandeira (Brazil)

Women's 100m Butterfly S14 Final
Gold: Poppy Maskill (Great Britain)
Silver: Yui Lam Chan (Hong Kong)
Bronze: Valeriia Shabalina (NPA)

Men's 50m Breaststroke SB3 Final
Gold: Takayuki Suzuki (Japan)
Silver: Efrem Morelli (Italy)
Bronze: Miguel Luque (Spain)

Women's 50m Freestyle S6 Final
Gold: Yuyan Jiang (China)
Silver: Ellie Marks (USA)
Bronze: Anna Honter (Ukraine)

Men's 50m Freestyle S10 Final
Gold: Thomas Gallagher (Australia)
Silver: Phelipe Rodrigues (Brazil)
Bronze: Rowan Crothers (Australia)

Women's 50m Freestyle S10 Final
Gold: Yi Chen (China)
Silver: Christie Raleigh-Crossley (USA)
Bronze: Aurelie Rivard (Canada)

Men's 100m Butterfly S13 Final
Gold: Ihar Boki (NPA)
Silver: Alex Portal (France)
Bronze: Enrique Alhambra Mollar (Spain)

Women's 100m Butterfly S13 Final
Gold: Carlotta Gilli (Italy)
Silver: Grace Nuhfer (USA)
Bronze: Muslima Odilova (Uzbekistan)

Men's 200m Freestyle S5 Final
Gold: Francesco Bocciardo (Italy)
Silver: Kirill Pulver (NPA)
Bronze: Oleksandr Komarov (Ukraine)

Women's 200m Freestyle S5 Final
Gold: Tully Kearney (Great Britain)
Silver: Iryna Poida (Ukraine)
Bronze: Monica Boggioni (Italy)