Paris 2024: Wheelchair fencing and Para equestrian start on Day 6

With the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games at its midway point, the sporting action just keeps getting better and better! Two sports – wheelchair fencing and Para equestrian – start on day six, while 50 gold medals will be up for grabs in seven sports.  

Wheelchair fencing will open with four medal events, one day before Italian wheelchair fencing icon Bebe Vio takes to the beautiful Grand Palais. Para athletics will see superstars like Omara Durand of Cuba and Marcel Hug of Switzerland aiming to win their first golds in Paris. Para equestrian will showcase the beauty of the sport and the strong relationship between rider and horse. 

Here is everything you need to know about day six. 

Wheelchair fencing gets underway at Grand Palais 

Following the conclusion of Para taekwondo, wheelchair fencers from around the world are ready to compete at the Grand Palais. There will be four medal events on the first day, with Maxime Valet, Clemence Delavoipiere, Cecile Demaude, Ludovic Lemoine and Brianna Vide carrying the hopes of the host country. 

Refugee Paralympic Team athlete Amelio Castro will make his Paralympic debut, competing in the men's sabre category B event. The largest-ever RPT has so far captured two bronze medals. 

Italian superstar Bebe Vio will compete on 4 September, as she launches her campaign to win her third straight gold in the women’s foil category B tournament. 

Full wheelchair fencing programme

Para equestrian royalty to be crowned  

Para equestrian royalty will be crowned as competition gets underway at the beautiful Chateau de Versailles. Three events – individual event Grade I, II, and III – will take place at the stunning garden.  

The sport, which was introduced to the Paralympics at Atlanta 1996, promises to excite spectators when athletes and horses perform in complete harmony at the Chateau de Versailles, a historic symbol of French royalty. 

Returning Paralympic medallists include USA’s Roxanne Trunnell, Latvia’s Rihards Snikus, and Austria’s Pepo Puch. Laurentia Tan of Singapore, who became the first Para equestrian rider from Asia to win a Paralympic medal, is aiming for her fifth medal with her horse Hickstead. 

Full Para equestrian programme

Star-studded lineup at the Stade de France 

Omara Durand will return to the purple track on day six for the women’s 400m T12 final. Competing at her fifth Games, the Cuban sprint queen is on a quest to win all three of her events (100m, 200m and 400m), a feat she accomplished at both Tokyo 2020 and Rio 2016. 

After missing out on a gold medal in his first final in Paris, Swiss wheelchair racer Marcel Hug is still looking for his first gold at these Games. He will take the spotlight in the evening, in the men’s 1500m T54 final.  

Known as the Silver Bullet after his trademark silver helmet, Hug is a six-time Paralympic champion aiming to continue his legacy in Paris. 

And you can’t miss the USA’s Ezra Frech in the men’s high jump T63 final. The teenage talent won the event at the World Championships last year, and he has been posting videos counting down the days until this event on his Instagram. 

Another athlete you can’t miss is France’s Arnaud Assoumani, who will have the support of the crowd when he competes in the men’s long jump T47 event. He is competing at his sixth Paralympic Games, 20 years after making his debut at Athens 2004.  

Full Para athletics programme

Full schedule and results