Paralympics 2021: auspicious day for France, gold for Foulon … what to remember from the third day – Franceinfo

Six medals including one gold for Dorian Foulon: the France team had its most fruitful day on Friday since the start of the Tokyo Paralympic Games. The French delegation now has ten medals, two of which are gold. The second Paralympic title was obtained again by a rider after the coronation of Alexandre Léauté the day before.

This time, it was Dorian Foulon who won in the final of the individual pursuit (category C5). The French contingent also brought back two silver medals (Sandrine Martinet in judo and Alexandre Léauté on the kilometer) and three bronze medals (Alex Portal in the 400m freestyle, Mandy François-Elie in the 200m, Ronan Paillier in the long jump ).

Dorian Foulon brings France a second title

Already reigning world champion in the specialty, Dorian Foulon, 23-year-old cyclist, in passing, signed a new world record in qualifying (4’18 “274), before bringing his second gold medal to France.

“It’s the dream of my little life. The podium, the Marseillaise, it’s something huge “, confided the Breton, born with a club foot on the left side, who exulted in a howl while crossing the line. “The screaming might have been excessive but that’s what I had in my heart. It all comes out: the years of hard work, the hard work, the ups and downs.”

The day before, at the Izu velodrome, he had finished sixth of the kilometer. Before switching to road races, he will compete in team speed on Saturday alongside Kevin Le Cunff (4th in the C5 pursuit) and Alexandre Léauté, the French delegation’s first gold medalist.

New podium for Léauté, Martinet bows out in silver

After his Paralympic title the day before in pursuit (category C2), Alexandre Léauté won the silver on the kilometer (category C1-3). With a gold and a silver medal, the Frenchman more than fulfilled his contract in Tokyo. Marie Patouillet, bronze in the pursuit Wednesday, she failed at the foot of the podium in the 500m standing start.

Another silver medal, and another flavor for Sandrine Martinet, beaten in the final of the judo tournament of less than 48 kg in the legendary hall of Nippon Budokan, who had so much success for the Olympic delegation returned with a record of medals (8) .

This is the fourth medal in five Paralympic Games for the visually impaired judoka, 38, 2016 Paralympic champion under 52 kg. “I did the job by bringing back a medal. I gave everything and even if it is not the gold”, she reacted, believing that “it didn’t play out”. “Now I will resume my role as standard bearer and support the whole delegation”, she projects.

Bronzed, Portal, Paillier and François-Elie continue the harvest

Finally, two days after missing the podium for a hundredth Wednesday in the 100m butterfly, the Frenchman Alex Portal took the bronze medal in the 400m freestyle (category S13). Suffering from ocular albinism since his birth and therefore visually impaired, the 19-year-old swimmer, for his first Games, holds his first podium in the competition.

Sprinter Mandy François-Elie, who is used to it, won the bronze medal in the 200 m (category T37) after gold and silver in 100 m in 2012 and 2016. Suffered from hemiplegia on the right side , the Martiniquaise missed the second place for a hundredth Friday.

The long jumper Ronan Pallier signed at the age of 50 the feat of winning the first medal of his career in an individual event, his jump to 6.15 meters giving him bronze in the T11 category, dedicated to visually impaired athletes. The French wheelchair rugby team, on the other hand, was eliminated due to a too narrow success against Denmark (52-50).