Russian Paralympic champion Valeria Shabalina has said she may have finished her career before the 2024 Games in Paris. On Saturday, Shabalina, who competes in the S14 class, won the 200-meter freestyle swimming event. Earlier at the Paralympics, the athlete won bronze in the 100-meter butterfly.
“I was stopped by the head coach and Tatiana Vyacheslavovna (Novikova – personal trainer of the athlete). I was tired of swimming and these thoughts appeared. Now there is a new charge of emotions. When I went out to the distance on the first day, I just recharged myself, I received so much energy from the public. I have not seen so many fans, I have not seen so many people in the stands.” – reported valeria “TV Match” channel.
Governor of the Chelyabinsk region Alexey Teksler I congratulated my compatriot on his brilliant result:
“Once again you found yourself on the podium, becoming a four-time Paralympic champion. At Tokyo 2021 you demonstrated the utmost class and took home three gold medals. And now, already in Paris, you confirmed your well-deserved status as one of the strongest swimmers in the world, having already won a second medal.”
She also thanked Shabalina’s mentors for such a gift not only to the region, but to the entire country, as well as for the worthy example for athletes who are still on the way to high awards.
In turn, yesterday, August 31, our athlete won a gold medal at the Paralympic Games. Alexey Churkin (club throwing). The Russian competes in the F32 class, where athletes with ataxia, athetosis and hypertonicity compete.
Alexey threw a sports projectile at a distance of 40.33 m. The thrower from Greece took second place. Atanasios Konstantinidis (38.65 meters). The top three was completed by the representative Algeria Ahmed Mehideb (38.61 meters).
We congratulate the athlete for winning the gold. Alexandra Yaremchuk Winner of the 1500-meter race. The Russian covered the distance in 3:50.24. The Australian finished second in the race. Michael Rogers (3.51,19). Bronze Antonio Pro from France (3:51.37).
Yaremchuk is a unique athlete. He first took part in the Paralympic Games in Sochi 2014 (cross-country skiing and biathlon). He took his first steps on the path to big sports at the ski school in the village of Shangaly (Arkhangelsk region), reports Sport24.
Since birth, Sasha’s left arm was shorter than his right, and this did not bother him in any way. But at the age of five, his parents decided that their son needed surgery:
“We went to the Arkhangelsk regional hospital, where I was fitted with an Ilizarov device. At first everything was fine, my arm was straight. But when they removed the device, the doctors discovered a tumor on the bone. They said it was benign and there was no threat to the arm. They removed the tumor, and after a while it came back. And so on several times.”
As a result, the doctors said that it was necessary to amputate his arm. And the boy agreed to the operation. It took me a long time to get used to the new life:
“Basically, for a long time I was ashamed of not having an arm. I always swam in a T-shirt and hid my hand under the table when I ate. This lasted until I was 14. Then I joined the country’s Paralympic team and saw the same guys there. I realized that I was the same person, life just worked out like that. From that moment on there were no more restrictions.”
At the Tokyo Paralympics, the Russian won the 1,500-meter race and finished fourth in the marathon.
And now – Paris, and again “a year and a half”:
“The race was difficult because I felt a bit bad the last few days. But I’m glad everything went well and I managed to win. And the end is the end. You either have it or you don’t.
There were no worries. I know all the opponents. I was specifically tuning in to the final stretch. The main thing was to be very close and then grab all the money.”
It turns out that on the evening of August 31, neutral Paralympic athletes (ANP) turned out to be four golds (on the swimmer’s triumph andrew kalina EADaily already counted), eight silver medals and seven bronze medals.
and if wanted to The prizes of the athletes from Russia were taken into account in the unofficial team competition, then our wanted to placed in eighth place.
Meanwhile, the organisers of the 2024 Paralympic Games have decided to postpone the triathlon competition from 1 to 2 September, according to a representative of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC):
“The latest tests show a decrease in the quality of the river water following the rains of the last two days. As a result, the water quality at the event site on 1 September is not suitable for swimming and exceeds the threshold set by World Triathlon. It has been decided to postpone the 11 paratriathlon competitions until 2 September. The holding of the races is subject to further water tests that meet the swimming thresholds set by World Triathlon.”
It is not for nothing that they say: everything flows, but not everything changes. Just as the Seine was a sewer, so it remains so…
