On behalf of the Government of Canada and all Canadians, I congratulate Ross Wilson (Sherwood Park, Alberta), on winning Canada’s first medal at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.
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Silver medalist Omar Qarada from Jordan finished far behind, with a lift of only 177kg.
Dias, who was born with a partially formed left hand, a right arm that ends at the elbow and a right leg that stops at the knee, started swimming when he was 16 and took to the water easily.
There were 30 gold medals up for grabs across a wide range of sports and included the host nation’s first Paralympic champion and a British athlete making history.
Storey is now Britain’s most decorated female Paralympian after once again demonstrating her prowess in the velodrome to secure victory in the C5 3000 metre individual pursuit final.
Costa de Oliveira, whose sister Silvania will compete in the women’s T11 long jump in Rio, said: “To win this gold medal at home is a big source of pride for me”. Then she said, “Well done, Mummy”.
Jessica Long of Baltimore opened her fourth Paralympic Games with a silver medal in the women’s S8 400-meter freestyle – the 18th Paralympic medal of her career. This is her first Paralympics after falling short of qualifying for London 2012.
“My coaches always tell me it’s not who touches first at the 50, it’s about who touches first once the race is over”.
“To go quicker than London after having my daughter Louisa is the icing on the cake”.
“Jumping onto the block in Beijing, I was a new kid, getting away with a gold medal there”.
China’s Lu Dong took the silver after finishing 22 hundredths of a second behind her compatriot Song while Oksana Khrul of Ukraine claimed the bronze medal with a time of 1:26.82.
Hungary’s Nandor Tunkel won the bronze medal with 155 kg.
Unlike in the Olympics, Russia was last month issued with a wholesale ban from the Paralympics for state-sponsored doping – a decision which was supported by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Political statements are not permitted by the IPC and president Sir Philip Craven has staunchly defended the organization’s decision.
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Officials managed to remove the flag within 20 minutes, but do not plan on taking disciplinary action against any of Belarus’ athletes.
