Paris 2024: Best Para rowing moments

The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games were packed with memorable moments, including athletic feats and historic firsts, that took place at stunning venues in front of a vocal crowd.

We will share three moments from each sport that made the Games very special.

Top moment

First gold in a new event delivered favourites Jed Altschwager and Nikki Ayers of Australia one of Paris 2024's five Para rowing gold medals on the final day of racing. 

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

“A little inside secret is when we took off, I looked down about 100 meters into the race and realized 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.  

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

The new event - the PR3 mixed double sculls class - comes in addition to the other PR3 mixed event, the coxed four.  

“The hope is that we’ll get more countries and more Para athletes involved in the sport,” said Ayers.

“That’s one of the reasons why the introduction of the PR3 double in the Paralympics is so awesome. Hopefully it’s going to take off in the future."

Biggest surprise

Norway’s Birgit Lovise Roekkum Skarstein and Moran Samuel of Israel provided a surprise and exciting sprint finish leading to a reverse one-two of their Tokyo 2020 finish.  

Samuel had a strong lead throughout the race, with Skarstein picking up in the final straight. Samuel claimed gold smoothly, with Skarstein taking second place. 

“Me and Moran, we’ve been competing together for 13 years and we’ve been going back-forth, back-forth, back-forth. She’s been teaching me to be a better version of myself and I try to push her as much as I can," said Skarstein. 

Skarstein came into Paris 2024 as a fan favourite, after shooting to fame through Norway's Dancing with the Stars, and as the reigning champion in the women's single sculls PR1 after securing the podium place at Tokyo 2020, where Samuel took silver. 

In a swap, Samuel claimed the title at Paris 2024, securing Israel’s first ever Para rowing gold medal. 

Home hero

All of France’s rowing crews made it through to the Para rowing medal races, making the hosts the only nation with representatives in all five finals. The hosts secured bronze in two events with Nathalie Benoit taking one medal, and the mixed coxed four PR3 team taking the other. 

Benoit clinched her bronze with a quick finish behind Samuel and Skarstein in the women’s singles sculls PR1. With such a tightly contested race, it was hard to tell who was ahead. 

“I’m also really happy about Nathalie Benoit doing the bronze medal at home court in Paris, which is amazing being a French athlete and she’s such a great human being," said Skarstein, who was initially unsure of her position. 

“I didn’t see Nathalie there… so I didn’t know if I got silver or bronze, so I’m really happy with silver,” she explained. 

Benoit was just as in the dark with her final race position. 

"When I crossed the line and realised I was third, it was an explosion of happiness," said Benoit.