Tokyo 2021: seven new French medals, an already honorable mid-term record

Published on : 08/29/2021 – 15:50

Building on its start to the weekend, the France team garnered seven new medals, including six bronze, at the Tokyo Paralympics on Sunday, August 29, bringing its total to 26 on the table. This Sunday was the day when the most medals were distributed.

Halfway through these Games, the French are already approaching their results in 2016 in Rio, where they had a total of 28 podiums.

Matéo Bohéas in silver

Table tennis player Matéo Bohéas, finalist on Sunday (Class 11), lost in three sets against the Polish Patryk Hojnowski but, with the silver, won his first medal at the Paralympic Games.

“I absolutely wanted to bring home a medal, reacts the 24-year-old. Because it had been difficult in Rio to come back with nothing after fourth place in teams.”

The Staps student, born with a club foot on the left side which led to the blocking of his ankle after operations, can even dream of a second medal, in doubles with the experienced Gilles de La Bourdonnaye, 48 years old and seven medals on the clock. since the Barcelona Games in 1992.

“We have a second medal to go for, especially with Gilles who stops afterwards”, projects the youngest half of the pair who will be classified seed number two.

Among the volley of bronze medals won on Sunday, rowing is the most represented discipline with two podiums, including that, in single scull, of Nathalie Benoit, suffering from multiple sclerosis and already medalist in 2012 in London, where she was vice-champion Paralympic. The other third place was obtained by the crew of the French mixed four-bar consisting of Margot Boulet, Erika Sauzeau, Antoine Jesel, Rémy Taranto and Robin Le Barreau (helmsman).

The Makunda surprise

The surprise of the day came from the athletics track, with the bronze medal in 400 meters (category T11) of Trésor Makunda, passed in the final in extremis after a repechage on time and for the benefit of the disqualification in the series the day before. on the other Frenchman, Timothée Adolphe, for having lost the link attaching him to his guide.

“We told ourselves that we could not leave here empty-handed”, books Trésor Makunda, 37 years old. This is the fifth medal for the visually impaired runner, but the first with his new guide Lucas Mathonat, who has been accompanying him for two years.

Fifth medal also for Souhad Ghazouani at 39 in para-weightlifting under 73 kg. Lille, suffering from spina bifida, a malformation that affects the spine, pushed a bench press of 132 kg to climb on the podium.

For his first Games in his case, Hélios Latchoumanaya confirmed that the hall of Nippon Budokan succeeded in tricolor judo by gleaning a bronze medal in the under 90 kg. The record is indeed more than honorable for visually impaired French judokas in Tokyo: Sandrine Martinet took the silver on Saturday and Nathan Petit lost in the bronze final on Saturday.

In wheelchair fencing, Romain Noble, Damien Tokatlian and Maxime Valet completed the weekend’s bronze collection by taking the team foil podium.

On the other hand, the French blind football team, for its entry into the running, lost 4-0 against the Japanese hosts.

With AFP