Paris 2024: Top medal moments on Day 10

The action is underway on day 10 of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games with brilliant medal moments across many Para sports.

Soares da Silva smashes long standing record 

Brazilian Rayane Soares da Silva smashed a 29-year-old world record to win the women's 400m T13 Para athletics final.

Soares da Silva ran an incredible time of 53.55 on the Stade de France track, smashing the mark of 54.56 set by USA's Marla Runyan in Los Angeles way back in January 1995.

Soares da Silva said, "It didn't surprise me because I was training for that. My times for 400 and 200 metres were good in training.

“To get this result in a competition, at the Paralympics, that's what has surprised me, due to all the anxiety and fear that I feel.

"I don't like lane eight and, last night, when I found out I was going to be in lane eight, it was very difficult to sleep. I was nervous, my heart was beating fast."

Another world record went in the women's javelin F54 where Uzbekistan's Nurkhon Kurbanova threw 21.12.

Kurbanov said, “After winning silver in Tokyo, I made it my goal to win as many medals as possible in Paris. My goal led to my gold medal and setting the world record.”

Fifth medal for home hero Leaute

French cycling star Alexandre Leaute secured his fifth medal of the Games with bronze in the men's C1-3 road race.

Leaute followed up his two golds and two bronzes across track and road by finishing third behind Great Britain's Finlay Graham and fellow Frenchman Thomas Peyroton-Dartet.

"I felt I did a great race and worked with my colleague Alexandre Leaute. I knew I was probably not going to win the sprint in the end but I'm still very happy with the silver," said Peyroton-Dartet.

"Of course, there was disappointment at the finish line. Especially because Alexandre worked a lot for me. I felt very sad that the Brit was able to take over and that I couldn't win it for the French team today."

Didukh hails spirit of Messi

Ukraine Para table tennis men's singles MS8 winner Viktor Didukh said he felt like superstar footballer Lionel Messi after his shock win over Zhao Shuai.

Didukh triumphed 3-2 in an enthralling battle, and said the Paris crowd helped inspire his performance.

Didukh said, "All France, all the hall were supporting me, they are unbelievable people. Unbelievable feeling. It was like I was Messi in table tennis.

"Nobody expected me to win. I don't know how I beat him, it will take a long time to work out." 

Seventh heaven for George

Belgium's Michele George clinched her second gold medal of Paris 2024 and her seventh overall at the Paralympic Games in the Para equestrian individual freestyle event grade V.

George first won gold, twice, at London 2012, won again at Rio 2016, and then secured another double in Tokyo three years ago.

George said, "I've enjoyed every medal I've taken since I've been riding. When I speak about medals that are really important to me, that's the gold medal in Rio because that was the last time I rode FBW Rainman at the Paralympic Games.

"And here it is the same because this is the last time that I'll ride Best of 8 in a Paralympic Games. She's 14 years old, so for LA (Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games) she will be too old, so that means a lot to me. 

"It was my last time with her at a Paralympics so it was emotional. She did so well. She gave me everything."

Swimming friends clinch gold and silver in Para canoe

Friends Charlotte Henshaw and Hope Gordon sealed a one-two for Great Britain in the women's kayak single 200m KL3.

The pair used to swim alongside each other before Gordon took up the sport, and expressed their delight at being alongside each other on the podium.

Henshaw said, "I knew Hope from when we were swimming together, and I lived in Scotland for a time when I was at university. 

"I remember this young swimmer who was always immensely talented in the pool, so when she dropped me a message and said, 'I've seen your Instagram post, and I think I'm going to come to canoeing', it was so nice to see another swimming face."

Gordon added, "I could feel Charlotte the whole way. I was praying it was the two of us at the top."

Paralympic record lifts d'Andrea to gold

The favourite in the women's up to 73kg final, Brazil's Mariana d'Andrea, set a Paralympic record with a lift of 148kg to defend her Paralympic title. 

Uzbekistan's Ruza Kuzieva was right behind her, lifting 147kg to take silver. 

“I needed to bring this medal home at any cost because my father passed away, and I promised myself that I would bring this medal to Brazil, to our house, to myself and, most of all, to my father," said d'Andrea.

China won two Para powerlifting golds on day 10, with Yan Panpan topping the podium in  the men's up to 88kg final to win his second Paralympic gold and Paralympic debutant Han Miaoyu winning gold in the women's up to 79kg.

Oda becomes youngest ever Paralympic men's singles champion

For the second day in a row, Japan claimed a Paralympic wheelchair tennis singles title, with Tokito Oda beating Great Britain's Alfie Hewett 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 in the men's singles final.  

The 18-year-old, who also won two Grand Slam titles in 2024, is the youngest ever Paralympic wheelchair tennis men's singles champion.

“I did so well in he first set, but I couldn’t play better in the second set. Today, I just kept trying to do better than the first set," said Oda.

“After I saved his match point, I told myself, ‘I should win, I can win’. After that, I started playing really well. I just played my style.”

Argentina’s Gustavo Fernandez convincingly beat Spain’s Martin de la Puente 6-1, 6-2 not just for bronze, but for Argentina and South America’s first Paralympic wheelchair tennis medal.

Brazil dominant on final day of Para judo

Brazil became the most decorated nation in Para judo at Paris 2024 with five medals, including three golds, on the final day of competition at Champs-de-Mars Arena. 

Wilians Silva de Araujo topped the Paralympic podium for the first time with gold in the +90kg J1.

“It still hasn’t sunk in. I really deserved this title. I got very close at Rio 2016 (claiming silver in the men's +100kg). But when I left home to come to Paris, I told my daughter, who is 18 months old, that I would bring this gold medal to her.”

Arthur Cavalcante da Silva won the -90kg J1 gold, with Rebeca de Souza Silva winning her women's +70kg J2 gold medal bout.

USA three-peat in sitting volleyball

The USA and China met in the Paralympic women's sitting volleyball final for the fifth Games in a row, with the American team clinching their third consecutive gold medal with a 3-1 win.

Meanwhile, Canada denied Brazil a third straight women's sitting volleyball bronze. The Canadians won 3-0 to claim their country's first-ever Paralympic medal in the sport, despite having lost to Brazil in a pool match earlier in the competition. 

“I know how hard every athlete and every staff member and all of our family back home have worked for this moment,” said Canada’s Danielle Ellis.

“It’s been years and years and years in the making, our third Paralympic Games, and we knew we wanted to be there.

“We came out and we did exactly what we wanted. And honestly, it feels great.”

Italian mixed relay gold brings Para swimming to a close

The final Para swimming race of Paris 2024 was the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay 34 points, which saw Italy take gold with a new world record of 4:01.54. 

Australia was just 0.36 seconds behind Italy, settling for silver.

Stefano Raimondi and Giulia Terzi swam first. Earlier in the evening, Raimondi won gold in the mens 200m individual medley SM10 and Terzi took bronze in the women's 50m butterfly S7. 

Xenia Francesca Palazzo was third in the pool, with Simone Barlaam finishing it off. 

“It’s a unique emotion. Having my child here in the stands is something unique, something incredible,” said Raimondi. “It’s emotional. To win a medal altogether, but also with his mother (Guilia Terzi) - it’s very special.”

Jessica Long of the USA won her second Paralympic gold in Paris and the 18th of her career in the women's 100m butterfly S8 final, while China swept the women's 200m individual medley SM5 podium.

Storybook ending for France in blind football

France's blind football team had the match of a lifetime at Eiffel Tower Stadium to win gold, their first Paralympic blind football medal since taking silver at London 2012.

Tied 1-1 after two halves, the match went to a penalty shootout, with Frederic Villeroux scoring the game winner for the home team.

In the bronze medal match, Brazil confirmed a spot on the podium with a 1-0 win over Colombia thanks to a goal from Jeferson da Conceicao Goncalves.

“This is a play we train a lot. My teammates protect me and give me the necessary room for me to attack with the ball and take the shot. It was a very happy moment to score and help Brazil claim a medal,” said da Conceicao Goncalves.

“This team never gave up. It was tough to lose in the semifinals, but we showed great determination, and we were able to take the field today with our winning mentality and our determination.”

Final wheelchair fencing medals awarded

Paris 2024 said goodbye to wheelchair fencing at Grand Palais with the women's and men's epee team events, with China finishing on top of the podium in both.

Ukraine took silver in the women's epee team event, while Iraq won silver in the men's. 

“This is very emotional for me. We’ve trained very hard for this moment,” said China's Zou Xufeng. “Before the competition, we discussed (strategy) and said we would do this as a team. If there was any gap to make up on, we would be there for each other.

“We’re a very united team. We cheer each other on whenever someone needs it.”

Thailand's Saysunee Jana and Great Britain's Dimitri Coutya added to their Paris 2024 medal hauls as well, with bronze medals in their respective epee team events.

Third consecutive men's wheelchair basketball gold for USA

USA's men's wheelchair basketball team stormed through to their third consecutive Paralympic gold with a 73-69 win over Great Britain in the gold medal match.

The Americans held the lead at the end of every quarter, and despite being outshot by Great Britain in the fourth quarter 26-20, held on for the milestone victory.

Despite the loss, this was Great Britain's best result since Atlanta 1996. 

Germany beat Canada 75-62 in the bronze medal match for their first men's wheelchair basketball medal since Barcelona 1992.

"It's tough," Tobias Hell said of how his team rebounded after losing in the semifinals. 

"It’s about mentality. I think everyone wants to win a medal. It was a do-or-die game. It was the last game this summer, so everyone had to push, like it’s the last game. And we did that, and we won.”