PARIS, SEPT 3: Brazilian swimmer Gabrielzinho won a remarkable third swimming gold at the Paris Paralympics on Monday while Italian sprinter Valentina Petrillo became the first openly transgender athlete to compete in the Games.
Sherman Guity of Costa Rica left the world's fastest amputee sprinters in his wake as he won the eagerly awaited men's T64 100m, while 19-year-old Californian sprinter-jumper Ezra Frech claimed the first of what promises to be many track and field golds.
All eyes were on the pool at La Defense Arena to see 22-year-old Gabrielzinho complete a golden treble with victory in the 200 metres freestyle S2 final.
Gabrielzinho, who has no arms or hands and whose legs are atrophied, clocked 3min 58.92sec ahead of neutral athlete Vladimir Danilenko.
The third gold for the Brazilian, whose full name is Gabriel Geraldo dos Santos Araujo, follows his successes in the 100m backstroke and 50m backstroke.
"It's a feeling of a mission accomplished, a duty accomplished. Because I came to Paris to get the three golds," said Gabrielzinho, who has become one of the faces of these Games.
In another outstanding swimming feat, Belarusian Ihar Boki won the 20th Paralympic gold of his career by winning the 50m freestyle for the visually impaired.
On the track at the Stade de France, transgender sprinter Petrillo, 50, finished second in her heat of the T12 400 metres for the visually impaired, qualifying for the semi-finals.
But that proved a step too far and the Italian was eliminated despite running a personal best 57.58sec as she placed third and outside the places for the final.
Petrillo suffers from Stargardt disease, a genetic retinal condition which leads to progressive loss of vision. —AFP
