THE Paris 2024 Paralympic Games are in progress and Spain You already know what it’s like to taste a metal. He did it at the first opportunity, with the cyclist Ricardo Dix as a protagonist, after winning the bronze medal in the 3,000-meter pursuit. The Valencian offered a great level and won the second Paralympic medal of his career in this discipline after beating the German. Senska Pierre.
Ten has not had an easy time, especially in the series, where he had to face the Chinese power. Li Zhangyu closed his first with a world record and Liang Weicongwho shared space and time with the Spaniard, reached the final with a 1.3 second lead. The Valencian cyclist had one more shot left and he didn’t waste it. He beat the German rider and climbed to third place on the podium.
The Spaniard flew over the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome. He showed no mercy to his rival and dominated the event from start to finish. Without cracks, covering 1,000 meters, the distance was almost two seconds. A stretch that ended up being definitive. At 2,000 m, he maintained the advantage and closed the fight for bronze with more than five seconds of difference. An absolute superiority.
🤩It was Ricardo Ten’s event that earned the Spanish cyclist the bronze medal
🔄 Relive the best moments of Spain’s first medal in #paris2024 #parisrtve29a pic.twitter.com/tviMG5cMna
– Télédeporte (@teledeporte) August 29, 2024
“It’s not the event we were preparing for, but I think we adapted well. We were close to the final for gold, but I’m happy and happy. We knew that not all our rivals are the same, but if there’s something that sport has taught me, it’s that the opportunities are there to take advantage of them at that moment,” Ricardo said ten minutes after winning bronze.
“We knew this test could be good for us. I noticed that I was lacking sensations on the track. This morning I made some mistakes which were due to the lack of training at the velodrome, but we did a great job on the track,” he added.
Hungry for medals
Ricardo Ten was brilliantly created in Paris, but his journey through the French capital is only just beginning. He still has a lot to say, especially in road cycling, his great specialty.
For now, before hitting the road, he will have to compete in the 1 kilometer race and the team speed, events in which he could bring more joy to the Spanish delegation. Where you have more options is in the team event. Will run alongside Alphonse Cabello And Pablo Jaramillo next September 1st with the same format of qualifying and final series.
Once he has moved beyond the indoor track, Ten will look to continue expanding his Paralympic legend with the time trial (his main asset) and the long-distance race (this option will be more complicated when competing with less disabled runners). He already has nine Paralympic medals to his name and will be looking to reach double figures these days.
Ricardo Ten, after winning the bronze medal at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
EFE
“Sport teaches you that you have to be focused all the time. You don’t have to think that you have done everything. There is always the most important thing, that is what we have trained for this whole cycle and I hope that can materialize in a medal as high as possible,” he added.
It would be the reward for an enviable career. 49 years old and almost two decades at the highest level, notably in swimming where he won three gold medals, one silver and three bronze between Atlanta 1996 And London 2012His legacy will forever be etched in the Games, but he still wants to give that final push.
