PARIS – The Paralympic Games ended Sunday with two world records and a spectacular light show during a closing ceremony dominated by French electronic music
Jean-Michel Jarre got the party underway at the Stade de France, coaxing dance moves from athletes, volunteers and spectators on a day when Morocco’s Fatima Ezzahra El Idrissi smashed the world record in the women’s marathon for runners with visual impairments and Nigeria’s Folashade Oluwafemiayo of Nigeria broke her own world record in women’s para powerlifting.
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El Idrissi ran the 42-kilometer (26.2 mile) course in 2 hours, 48 minutes, 36 seconds, beating the previous record from Japan’s Misato Michishita in Hofu City in December 2020 by nearly six minutes.
“I wasn’t running for a time, only for a medal," the 29-year-old Moroccan said.
Compatriot Meryem En-Nourhi was just over nine minutes behind, followed by Michishita, almost 15 minutes behind the winner.
Elena Congost thought she'd won bronze, but the Spanish runner was later disqualified for releasing the tether to her guide, Mia Carol Bruguera, before the finish.
Michishita only found out she was upgraded to bronze while on her way to doping control.
Tunisia’s Wajdi Boukhili won the men’s T12 marathon in 2 hours, 22 minutes, 5 seconds.
Swiss wheelchair racers Catherine Debrunner and Marcel Hug won the women’s and men’s marathons for the T53/54 catagories.
Tatyana McFadden, the most decorated American wheelchair racer, was seventh in the women's race, just over 12 minutes behind Debrunner. The 35-year-old leaves Paris with a silver medal from the 100 and bronze from the 4x100 universal relay.
British wheelchair racer David Weir announced his Paralympic retirement at age 45 after finishing fifth in the men's race.
Weir won six Paralympic golds, including four at the London Games in 2012, when he won the marathon, but failed to medal in three Games since.
Weir said he will still compete in individual races, including the Berlin Marathon on Sept. 29.
Tribute to slain runner Rebecca Cheptegei
After the marathons, spectators paid tribute to Ugandan Olympic runner Rebecca Cheptegei, who died Thursday after she was set on fire in what police said was an attack by her partner.
Cheptegei ran the marathon at the Paris Olympics last month, and an image of her celebrating was shown on a large screen near the finish line Sunday as the crowd was asked to observe a minute’s applause in her memory. The announcer referred to Cheptegei as a “victim of femicide.”
The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, said Friday that the city wants to honor Cheptegei by naming a sports venue after her.
Dutch women defend gold in wheelchair basketball
The Netherlands’ women’s team defended its gold medal in wheelchair basketball with a 63-49 win over the United States in the final.
Bo Kramer contributed 23 points and Mariska Beijer 22 as the Dutch made their experience count before an appreciative crowd at a packed Bercy Arena.
Trailing 48-37 going into the fourth quarter, the American players clasped hands as they listened to coach Christina Schwab’s team-talk. Ixhelt Gonzalez lifted their hopes with 2 points on a break, but Kramer responded with two frees and then a 3-point shot to underline Dutch control.
"For us as a team, I don’t really feel like we peaked," said Rose Hollermann, who scored 17 for the U.S. “I think we have a lot left in our tank. I never felt like we got into that flow state as a team, so I’m really proud that it finished with the silver medal.”
The 28-year-old Hollermann was already looking forward.
“There’s a lot more left for us, and I think that’s a great feeling for us as a team, that we can take that and go back and get back to work,” she said.
Canada lost to China 65-43 earlier in the bronze-medal match.
“I’d like to go back two hours. I’d like to restart that game,” Canada coach Michele Sung said.
Another world record in powerlifting
Defending champion Oluwafemiayo twice bettered her own world record in women’s para powerlifting by bench-pressing 167 kilograms above her chest for another gold in the final for women over 86kg.
The 39-year-old Oluwafemiayo beat her previous best mark from Tbilisi in Georgia in June by one kilo by lifting 166 in round three. Oluwafemiayo then delighted spectators at La Chapelle Arena by adding another kilo to the record in a powerlift.
Iran’s Ahmad Aminzadeh won the men’s final for athletes over 107kg with a lift of 263. It was the last gold medal from 549 awarded at the Games.
China dominates
China claimed almost twice as many gold medals – 94 to Britain's 49 – as any other country during the Paralympics in Paris.
Altogether, China finished with 220 medals (94 gold, 76 silver, 50 bronze), compared to 124 for next-best Britain, followed by 105 for the U.S. Britain's total included 44 silver and 31 bronze, while the U.S. finished with 36 gold, 42 silver and 27 bronze medals.
Brazilian athletes won 89 medals, but Dutch athletes won more gold – 27 compared to Brazil's 25.
Host nation France finished eighth in the medal table with 19 gold medals among its total of 75.
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This story has been corrected to show that China won the bronze-medal match in women’s wheelchair basketball, not Canada.
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AP Paralympics: https://apnews.com/hub/paralympic-games