Team South Africa’s Sheryl James and Liezel Gouws finished fourth and fifth as they missed out on the medals in the women’s 400m - T37 final at the Paris Paralympics on Tuesday.
James, the bronze medal winner from the Tokyo games started well, but couldn’t keep up with the front three.
Ukraine’s Natalia Kobzar claimed the gold medal, while Tokyo champion Fenfen Jiang of China could only win the silver this time. Viktoriia Slanova, racing under the Neutral Paralympic flag, rounded up the top three.
Liezel Gouws crossed the line in 5th place in the T37 400m final with a time of 1:08.33! Well done Liezel💪#TeamSA #ForMyCountry #Paralympics2024 pic.twitter.com/kXfMgBi47f
— Team South Africa (@OfficialTeamRSA) September 3, 2024
In the pool, Nathan Hendricks swam an African record time of 2:17.15 as he finished seventh in the men’s 200m individual medley - SM13 final.
The highlight of the final was Ihar Boki of Belarus, swimming under the Neutral Paralympic Athlete flag, winning he race in a world record time of 2:02.03 to become the most successful male paralympic athlete of all time.
Hendricks reached the final after placing second in heat 2 earlier on Tuesday.
Sheryl James clocked in at 1:06.88, securing 4th place in the T37 400m final! 🌟 Though just shy of the podium, her incredible effort and determination continue to inspire us all. We're Proud of you, Sheryl! 🇿![CDATA[]]>🇦#TeamSA #ForMyCountry #Paralympics2024 pic.twitter.com/pe5bhlcBlP
— Team South Africa (@OfficialTeamRSA) September 3, 2024
South Africa’s Christian Sadie missed out on a medal when he finished fifth in the men’s 100m backstroke S7 final in a time of 1:13.03.
Earlier on Tuesday, Sadie had qualified for the final by placing third in heat 1.
Kat Swanepoel was eliminated in the heats of her women’s 50m backstroke S5 after finishing in sixth place.
Swanepoel can however be proud of her time of 49.63, which as confirmed to be the new African record for the event.
👏 Christian Sadie finished 5th in the Men's 100m Backstroke S7 final with a time of 1:13.03! Well done, Christian! 🇿![CDATA[]]>🇦#TeamSA #ForMyCountry #Paralympics pic.twitter.com/WQWL12B1iE
— Team South Africa (@OfficialTeamRSA) September 3, 2024
On the track, Tezna Abrahams did not advance to the next round of the women’s 200m T64 after placing fifth in heat two. Abrahams elimination came after she had clocked a personal best time of 31.17.
In the preliminary round Pool D of the Boccia mixed pairs BC3, the South African duo of Karabo Morapedi and and Elanza Jordaan were beaten by 7-0 by Brazil’s Evelyn Oliveira and Mateus Carvalho.
Morapedi and Jordaan then followed that up with another heavy loss in their second contest, going down 10-0 to the Greek pair of Grigorios Polychronidis and Anna Ntenta.
IOL Sport