PARIS: The US won their first two track and field titles of the Paris Paralympics on Saturday but China piled on the medals to stretch their lead in the table.

On the same track at the Stade de France where his compatriot Noah Lyles won the Olympic gold nearly four weeks ago, Jaydin Blackwell charged to the men’s T38 100m final in a world record time of 10.64sec.

Blackwell, who has cerebral palsy, donned a pair of sunglasses to celebrate his victory.

“I had to bring something over here to put a little pizzazz into things,” the 20-year-old said.

“It was the perfect race, but I was just focused on what I had to do and get to the line as fast as possible.”

There was more USA success as wheelchair racer Daniel Romanchuk upstaged reigning champion Marcel Hug of Switzerland in an exciting men’s 5000m T54 final.

Romanchuk, a 26-year-old who was born with spina bifida, burst past five-time gold medallist Hug in the home straight, leaving the Swiss in silver medal position while Faisal Alrajehi took a rare Paralympic medal for Kuwait in third.

British veteran David Weir, a multiple Paralympic medallist, faded and finished eighth.

Romanchuk has impressive range having taken gold at 400m at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics and has also won the Chicago, New York and Boston marathon wheelchair races.

China’s added an early gold medal on Saturday thanks to javelin thrower Yuping Zhao, who set a world record of 47.06 meters in the F12 category for athletes with a moderate visual impairment.

The Chinese team had moved up to 20 golds by the end of Saturday’s action, showing that the nation that has topped the medals table at every Paralympics since Athens in 2004 is well on the way to repeating that feat.

In the pool, Brazilian swimmer Gabriel dos Santos Araujo, known as Gabrielzinho, won his second title of the Paris Games by taking the 50m backstroke gold in the S2 category.

Gabrielzinho has stumps where his arms should be and his legs are atrophied, although he can walk.

Britain remained in second place in the medal standings with 11 golds as Alice Tai won her first individual Paralympic title, taking the S8 100m backstroke gold and Stephen Clegg and William Ellard both set world records to triumph in their events.

The USA finished the day with five golds and fifth in the table.

In other sports, the USA men’s wheelchair basketball team thrashed the Netherlands 60-34 with Brian Bell top-scoring on 18 points. The Americans have two wins out of two as they bid to retain their title.

The country expected to give them a run for their money, Great Britain, were convincing 88-58 winners over Canada.

In men’s sitting volleyball, gold medal hopefuls Bosnia booked their place in the semifinals, while Egypt kept their hopes of reaching the last four alive by beating hosts France.

Reigning champions Iran return to action on Sunday.

In track cycling, home favorite Dorian Foulon sent the Paris velodrome into raptures by defending his C5 4000m individual pursuit title in emphatic fashion by beating Ukraine’s Yehor Dementyev.

He said the contrast with the gold he won three years ago in Tokyo, where Covid restrictions meant there were no spectators, was huge.

“The big difference is the crowd, it’s crazy. People had t-shirts with my name on. What is this madness?” a tearful Foulon joked after the medal ceremony.

There was a setback for the organizers as the final training session for Sunday’s triathlon events was canceled due to concerns about the water quality of the River Seine.

The training session had been due to take place on Saturday morning but was scrapped “as a precaution” after heavy rain in the French capital which can stir up pollution.

The issue of the water quality of the Seine also dogged the Olympics, although the triathlons and marathon swimming events did eventually go ahead.
 

LAGOS, Nigeria: A former Miss South Africa contestant hounded over a nationality row was crowned Miss Universe Nigeria on Saturday, capping a difficult few weeks for the beauty queen.
Born to a Nigerian father in South Africa, 23-year-old Chidimma Adetshina withdrew from the country’s competition “for the safety and wellbeing of my family and I” after a backlash that exposed anti-foreigner sentiment in South Africa.
“This journey has been a tough journey for me and I am so proud of myself and I’m really grateful for the love and the support,” Adetshina told AFP minutes after being crowned in Nigeria’s commercial capital of Lagos.
“This is something that I’ve always wanted, and I’m really glad that I have a second shot as well at achieving it,” Adetshina said.
Her Nigerian heritage attracted vicious xenophobic attacks and sparked controversy when she was announced as a Miss South Africa finalist in July, while the government said it was investigating a claim that her mother may have stolen the identity of a South African woman.
Despite not being in the country in 20 years, organizers of the Nigerian contest invited her to join their final, saying it was a chance for her to “represent your father’s native land on an international stage.”
“We all need to stop with the xenophobia... with the tribalism,” first runner-up Paula Ezendu told AFP.
“We’re all one family. We’re all human beings,” she added.
The nationality controversy notwithstanding, Adetshina insisted she loved South Arica and was grateful for the support from the country.
She will represent Nigeria at the international Miss Universe competition in November.
“I know we are going to win,” she told reporters.