Marcel Hug fulfills his duty in his first appearance at the Paralympics in Paris. The man from Thurgau easily qualifies for the 5000 m final.
The four-time gold medal winner at the Tokyo Games won his preliminary heat in a commanding 10:35.08 minutes, taking almost a whole lap off some of his rivals.
Hug did not have to push himself to the limit in his first outing in the Stade de France and remained a good 80 seconds over his world record. On the way to more gold medals, his strength will have to be well distributed.
In the women's 5000 m, three Swiss wheelchair athletes are in the final with ten other athletes. Catherine Debrunner won her preliminary heat, in which Manuela Schär, like Patricia Eachus, came third in the other heat.
Debrunner made a big impression at the World Championships a year ago, which were also held in Paris. The 29-year-old from Thurgau won gold four times - including in the 5000 m - and took silver once. She has also held the world record in the 5000 m since this February. The 39-year-old Schär, who is competing in her last track races in Paris, won silver over this distance at the Paralympics in Tokyo three years ago.
Blum surprises himself
Fabian Blum finished fifth in the 400 m final and secured himself a Paralympic diploma. Blum experienced a Paralympic premiere in Paris. A premiere which, as luck would have it, he also earned in Paris. Last year at the World Championships, his sprint to silver in the 100 m earned him a quota place for Switzerland.
As in the preliminary heat, he achieved the fifth-best time in the final, exceeding his own expectations. "My goal was to be in the final. The fact that I'm now fifth is almost unbelievable." Blum was even able to improve on the morning. He was just three tenths of a second off fourth place. "I'm over the moon," summed up the wheelchair athlete, who can take many positive feelings with him in view of his performance in the 100 m.
The second Swiss 400 m runner, 52-year-old Beat Bösch, finished second last in his qualifying heat.
The track cyclist Franziska Matile-Dörig finished fifth in the individual pursuit over 3000 m, missing out on bronze by just seven tenths of a second. She gave it her all, said the 32-year-old from Appenzell. Timothy Zemp was allowed to compete again in the 1000 m time trial after breaking his prosthesis at the start, but was unable to finish higher than 18th with his everyday prosthesis.
Badminton player Ilaria Renggli on a high
The badminton duo Cynthia Mathez/Ilaria Renggli suffered their first defeat in the doubles tournament after a marathon match. The only Europeans lost to the Thai pairing 25:23, 21:23, 19:21 after 62 minutes. In the second set, the Swiss even had a match point for their first ever win against this pair, but were unable to capitalize on it. Mathez/Renggli have nevertheless qualified for the semi-finals and therefore have two chances of winning a medal.
Renggli did better in the singles competition, where she won her first two group matches. The 21:9, 21:18 win over Taiwanese player Yang I-Chen was followed by a coup against Pilar Jauregui Cancino. She defeated the Peruvian, the 2022 world champion, 26:24, 19:21, 21:13. "I'm lost for words," said Renggli after what was by far the biggest triumph of her career, thanks to which she qualified early for the knockout phase.
Cynthia Mathez, on the other hand, had no real chance in her second singles match after her victory the day before against Israel's Nina Gorodetzky. The player from Jura lost to China's Yin Meng Lu 9:21, 13:21.
In the men's tournament, Luca Olgiati was clearly beaten in his first singles match, his first ever appearance at the Paralympics. The player from Aargau lost to Takumi Matsumoto from Japan 10:21, 15:21.
Two tenths short of a place in the final
Sport shooter Nicole Häusler narrowly failed to qualify in the standing competition over 10 m with the air rifle, finishing 11th. The athlete from Oberaargau, who has already competed in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, scored 630.6 points, just two tenths short of a place in the final.
Leo McCrea made his debut in the Paralympic swimming pool. The 20-year-old swam to 14th place in the 200 m medley, missing out on a place in the final of the best eight.
