GB win six golds to continue bountiful Games

Great Britain won six gold medals on day five as ParalympicsGB continued their bountiful Games at Paris 2024.

Triathletes David Ellis and Megan Richter won early golds for Great Britain, with swimmers Ellie Challis and Louise Fiddes also triumphant across 15 scintillating minutes in the pool.

Stephen McGuire became a Paralympic champion in boccia, while Para-archers Nathan Macqueen and Jodie Grinham – the latter competing while seven months pregnant – won gold in mixed team compound open final.

Elsewhere on Monday, Briton Claire Cashmore took silver and fellow triathletes Hannah Moore and Lauren Steadman won bronzes.

Dan Bethell and Krysten Coombs won silvers in badminton, while there was heartbreak for sprinter Jonnie Peacock who finished fifth in the men’s T64 100m final.

Monday’s results take GB’s Paris gold tally to 29 and their overall medal count to 54 – second only to China (87 medals, including 43 golds), who have topped the table at the past five Games.

British Para-archer Jodie Grinham is a Paralympic champion – and she is also seven months pregnant.

The 31-year-old, who beat team-mate Phoebe Paterson Pine to women’s individual compound bronze on Sunday, took gold alongside Nathan Macqueen by beating Iran 155-151 in the mixed team compound final on Monday.

Grinham – already a mum to toddler son Christian – has attracted worldwide media attention.

Before yesterday’s medal, Paris 2024 has been far from straightforward for the Welsh archer.

After a scare last week she had to attend a Parisian hospital for a check-up before being released and cleared to compete.

After Grinham’s success she told BBC Wales: “All I wanted to do was jump up and down and cry and scream and shout.

“But being heavily pregnant, realistically the best thing to do was crouch down and take a second and then I could give hugs and things.”

It is incredible Great Britain’s Stephen McGuire is even competing at Paris 2024, let alone winning a boccia gold medal.

The 40-year-old was a late addition to the British squad for Paris 2024, having had to recover from a broken leg and knee sustained in a fall at his home in 2022.

He also only learned of his selection on 1 July, months after the rest of his British team-mates.

But the Scotsman put in a dominant performance in the BC4 men’s individual final to beat Colombia’s Edilson Chica 8-5 and secure his first Paralympic medal at his fourth Games, having previously finished fourth in three competitions at the event.

McGuire said “lots of hard work and lots of soul-searching” helped him recover from his setbacks to win gold.

“If she can do it, I can do it.”

Those were the words of Fiddes as she won gold for Great Britain in the S14m 100m breaststroke final, just 15 minutes after she watched her friend Challis dominate the women’s S3 50m backstroke final.

The two Britons are room-mates in Paris and both improved on the silver medals they won three years ago in Tokyo.

Fiddes told Channel 4 before her race she was “on the edge of her seat” watching Challis, who she labelled a “queen”.

Challis, 20, swam a lifetime best of 53.56 seconds, almost five seconds clear of second-placed, while Fiddes, 23, held off Brazilian favourites Debora and Beatriz Carneiro to add to her bronze she won in the S14 200m freestyle on day three.

GB’s first gold of the day was won by Ellis and guide Luke Pollard in the men’s PTVI triathlon event.

The pair’s victory more than made up for their DNF in Tokyo when they had to abandon with a mechanical failure on the bike leg.

Paralympic debutant Richter added to GB’s medal tally with victory in the women’s PTS4 competition, with fellow Briton Moore third.

In the women’s PTS5 event Cashmore and Steadman won silver and bronze respectively.

The pair have elaborate Paralympic histories.

It has been a tough few years for Tokyo 2020 champion Steadman, who has suffered with long Covid and returned to triathlon after a spell in winter sports.

Cashmore’s medal haul now stands at 10, with a podium place at every Games since Athens 2004.

Great Britain won 12 golds on day four in a record-breaking super Sunday, but to even match half that tally made day five a magic Monday.

That said, there were still some moments of heartbreak for British athletes.

Para-badminton player Bethell said he was “devastated” after a heartbreaking loss to India’s Kumar Nitesh in the men’s SL3 singles final in Paris.

The Briton, who also took silver when the sport made its debut in Tokyo in 2021, had match point at 21-20 ahead in the decider, but lost 14-21 21-18 23-21.

His team-mate Coombs lost his SH6 singles final later on Monday 21-19 21-13 to Frenchman Charles Noakes as Britain’s wait for a first Paralympic badminton gold continued.

Two-time Paralympic champion Jonnie Peacock finished fifth in the men’s T64 100m final.

The 31-year-old told Channel 4 he needs to find “2017 Jonnie” to compete against the best.

There was also disappointment for David Weir, who finished sixth in his heat and failed to qualify for the men’s T54 1500m final, while GB’s men’s wheelchair rugby team lost their bronze-medal match 50-48 to Australia.