Paralympics: Swiss claim gold medals in swimming and athletics
Swiss athletes claimed three gold medals on Sunday at the Paris Paralympics in 100m breaststroke and 800m athletic events.
Leo McCrea won the 100m breaststroke to claim gold. The dual national has been racing for Switzerland for five years, but lives and studies in England. The 100m breaststroke is McCrea’s favourite distance, but he was not the race favourite. He beat his personal record by two seconds to finish in 1’27 and added an Olympic medal to his list of achievements, which includes bronze at the 2024 European Championships and silver at the 2023 World Championships.
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Switzerland also sparkled in the 800m athletics events. Manuela Schär won the T54 800 m retaining her Olympic title from Tokyo 2021. The Lucerne native made the difference in the final straight, overtaking two rivals. It was also her ninth medal in the sixth Paralympics of her career. There may still be more to come: she will now be focusing all her efforts on the marathon, which will be her next competition in Paris.
Catherine Debrunner won a second gold medal at the Paris Paralympics. The Thurgau native won the T53 800m final. In front of a packed Stade de France, the Swiss athlete led the race from start to finish after a fantastic start. In Tokyo in 2021, she came third. Debrunner will have other opportunities to fill her trophy cabinet. She will be lining up in four other distances.
Adapted from French by DeepL/ac
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