Tokyo Paralympics off to a record-breaking start
TOKYO: : The Paralympics have started in the same empty National Stadium — during the same pandemic — as the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Japanese Emperor Naruhito got it all going again, this time under the theme “We Have Wings.”
And it was British cyclist Sarah Storey who gave flight to the Games by adding to her glorious golden history, even as wheelchair rugby powerhouses Australia suffered a shock defeat as records were shattered in the swimming pool and on the cycling track on a pulsating first day that saw 24 gold medals awarded.
Paige Greco, an Australian cyclist, had the honour of winning the first gold of the Games, 354 days later than originally envisaged because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Greco was in record-breaking form as she beat China’s Wang Xiaomei in the gold medal race in C1-C3 class 3,000 metre individual pursuit at the Izu Velodrome. She smashed her own world record by nearly eight seconds in the heats and lowered it by another second and a half to 3min 50.815sec in the final.
Storey moved a step closer to becoming Britain’s greatest Paralympian, shattering her own world record in the heats before powering to victory in the C5 3,000 metres individual pursuit final for her 15th Paralympic gold.
Brazilian Daniel Dias, who is competing at his last Paralympics, has the chance to become the most decorated male Paralympic swimmer of all time if he wins three more golds to eclipse Kenny.
Defending gold medallists Australia suffered a setback in their bid to become the first team to top the wheelchair rugby podium at three consecutive Games, edged out 54-53 by Denmark.
Among Indians, table tennis players Bhavinaben Patel and Sonalben Manubhai Patel suffered opening-round defeats on Wednesday. Competing in the women’s Class 3 category, Sonalben was ahead after the first three games, but lost 11-9, 3-11, 17-15, 7-11 4-11 against Li Quan of China, the world no. 4 and Rio Paralympics silver medallist.
Bhavinaben, who was up against world no. 1 Chinese paddler Zhou Ying, lost 3-11, 9-11, 2-11, in the women’s singles Class 4 group A fixture.
Players in the Class 3 category have no trunk control, yet their arms are minimally affected by the impairment, while in Class 4, competitors have fair sitting balance and fully functional arms and hands. Their impairment may be due to a lower spinal-cord lesion or cerebral palsy.
Covid shadow
Organisers on Wednesday reported 16 new Covid-19 cases linked to the Paralympics, including two athletes in the Paralympic Village, whose identities have not been disclosed.
The new cases bring the number of infections linked to the Paralympics to 176, most of them Japan-based staff or contractors.
Japan has recorded around 15,500 deaths from the virus with 40% of the population fully vaccinated.
Olympic and Paralympic organisers have insisted there is no evidence of infection spreading from Games participants to the Japanese public.
Tokyo and 13 areas are already under a virus state of emergency and Japan’s government on Wednesday decided to extend it to eight more regions.
The step comes with summer school holidays ending and top infection experts suggesting delaying the start of classes to reduce contagion risks. Some medical experts say even if there is no direct link, the presence of the Olympics and Paralympics promoted a false sense of security and prompted people to let down their guard, which may have helped spread the virus.
The Paralympics are about athletic prowess. The origin of the word is from “parallel” — an event running alongside the Olympics.