Paralympics: Afghanistan veteran takes canoe gold

After he powered to victory in the KL2 canoe sprint to retain the gold medal he won in Rio, Chris McGrath’s mind turned to Afghanistan and the plight of its people.

"It's a tragic situation. My heart goes out to the people of Afghanistan," he told news agency AFP after finishing ahead of silver medallist Mykola Siniuk of Ukraine and Italy's Federico Mancarella on Friday. "I'm really grateful that their athletes got the opportunity to represent Afghanistan," he added.

McGrath admitted that the Taliban’s return to power had been a distraction leading up to his event after he lost his legs when he stepped on an improvised explosive device (IED) in Afghanistan nine years ago.  

"I was searching for improvised explosive devices, clearing the way for school buses, people going to work or whatever and I'm pretty content with my contribution to the country," he said, adding that he was pleased to see that at least some "athletes got the opportunity to represent Afghanistan.´"

McGrath has the chance of a second gold in the men's VL3 category on Saturday  

"Yeah, another day tomorrow and hopefully the same results," he said after winning his medal in difficult, rainy conditions.

Elsewhere in the men’s canoeing, Hungarian teenager Peter Kiss justified his billing as the favorite when he took the men's KL1 gold for his first Paralympic title.

"It's a wonderful feeling to be here. It's a dream come true," said the youngest man in the competition, who was not old enough to compete in Rio 2016.

Germany news

Sports shooter Natascha Hiltrop added a second medal to her Tokyo haul, following gold in the air rifle with silver in the 50-meter three-position event.

Elsewhere, Verena Schott finished third in the 100-meter backstroke S6 category, despite posting a time just fractionally over the previous world record. That made it three bronzes during the Games for the 33-year-old, and five swimming medals for Germany in total.

Gold medals

Taekwondo fighter Espinoza Carranza claimed gold in the 49-kilogram K44 event, meaning Peru became the 84th country to win gold at the Tokyo Paralympics, breaking the record set in Rio.

Later Turkey beat the USA to claim a second consecutive gold in the women’s goalball, one of the few Paralympic sports without an Olympic equivalent, while France pipped Great Britain to claim gold in the men’s wheelchair tennis doubles. In swimming, Ukrainian Maksym Krypak made it a fifth gold in Tokyo and 10th overall with victory in the men’s 200m Individual Medley SM10.

In road cycling, Vincent Ter Schure of the Netherlands and his pilot Timo Fransen won the blind road race, posting a time of 2:59:13 to cover the 118.8-kilometer course. Ter Schure and Fransen share a single, specially adapted bike in the event. 

News from Tokyo

Paris 2024 CEO Etienne Thobois described the hosting of the Olympics and Paralympics in Tokyo under trying circumstances as "remarkable," adding that France had taken note.

"My first reaction (about holding the Games during the pandemic) is that we need to thank our Japanese friends, to be able to pull that off in this particular situation is kind of amazing, it's a remarkable achievement," he told news agency Reuters.

"They had to cope with it, and they did a fantastic job. Obviously we hope that in three years from now, this will be behind us, or not at the same level of worry. But definitely we learned from that," he said.

mp/pfd (AFP, Reuters)