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E-mail Xinhua, September 1, 2024
Gold medalist Chen Minyi (C) of China, silver medalist Sarka Pultar Musilova (L) of the Czech Republic and bronze medalist Tereza Brandtlova of the Czech Republic pose during the awarding ceremony for the women's individual W1 event of para archery at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, France, Aug. 31, 2024. (Xinhua/Hou Jun)
Chinese Chen Minyi defended her archery title despite of a scare in the semifinal at the Paralympic Games on Saturday, while Idrissa Keita missed Senegal's first ever Paralympic medal but his life has been changed dramatically because of taekwondo.
Chen, 33, led the women's individual W1 archery final against Sarka Musilova from the Czech Republic since the first round and won the repeat of the Tokyo Games final 136-129.
But the semifinal against 64-year-old South Korean Kim Ok-geum earlier did scare Chen.
"I knew our scores during the course and I knew we tied before the last arrow," said Chen. "For a moment, I did think I might lose but I kept telling myself 'don't give up'."
"I tried to adjust my breath and tell myself to keep calm,"said Chen who shot a score of 9 with her last arrow while Kim failed to hit the target at last.
Chen appreciated archery for bringing her to many different places in the world and boosting her confidence. While for the 21-year-old Keita, taekwondo was life changing.
Although Keita was defeated by American Evan Medell in the repechage of men's K44 +80kg 13-1 and lost the chance to fight for the bronze medal, he should feel proud for himself.
Keita was forced to leave school at the age of 16 from his hometown to provide for his family after his father passed away. There were days when he had to beg on the streets of Dakar for food.
Then he met a coach of the Senegalese para taekwondo team, who invited him off the streets to practise para taekwondo. After 18 months, he showed up in Paris as a Paralympian.
In swimming, Britain was the biggest winner as their athletes bagged home three golds, one silver and one bronze on Saturday.
China's Ma Jia defended her title in the women's 50m freestyle S11 event and renewed her own world record to 28.96 seconds.
Elsewhere, Thomas Wandschneider of Germany won the longest badminton match in Paralympic Games history as the 60-year-old needed 103 minutes to beat Chinese Yang Tong 2-1 in the men's WH1 group stage to reach the semifinals for the first time.
Slovakia's Jan Riapos added another Paralympic gold to his collection by winning the men's doubles MD4 final with Paralympic debutant Peter Lovas.
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