Paris 2024 Paralympics day one: Maskill wins first GB gold on big night in pool – live | Paris Paralympic Games 2024

Tully Kearney wins women’s 200m freestyle S5

Here comes Kearney … the Team GB swimmer cuts roughly a second off the lead in the third 50 meters, now trailing by 0.32 seconds.

The women’s 200m freestyle S5 is underway …

Ukraine’s Iryna Poida has a 1.15-second edge over Kearney at the 50m mark.

Italy’s Francesco Bocciardo sets Paralympic record in men’s 200m freestyle S5

Want to meet some of the US Paralympians to watch?

We have that covered …

Italy’s Carlotta Gilli wins the women’s 100m butterfly S13

Women’s 100m butterfly S13 is off …

Italy’s Carlotta Gilli leads at the halfway point. The US swimmers have work to do.

Ihar Boki claims 17th Paralympic gold

Still to come

China’s Chen Yi wins women’s 50m freestyle S10 with world record

Here’s where things get confusing – we’re about to have a women’s 50m freestyle S10 race featuring some S9 swimmers, including new world record-holder Christie Raleigh-Crossley of the USA.

Their time (27.28) was faster than the S10 world record held by Canada’s Aurelie Rivard, who is also in this final.

Australia’s Thomas Gallagher wins men’s 50m freestyle S10

A quick reminder of Paralympic classifications:

In swimming, the numbers 1 through 10 are for physical impairment. The greater the number, the less severe the impairment.

Classes 11 through 13 are for visual impairment – again, the greater the number, the less impaired their vision is.

They’ve just had the medal ceremony for Team GB’s Poppy Maskill, who was literally bouncing for joy during the national anthem. Beautiful moment.

The finals are running behind schedule. Next up: men’s 50m freestyle S10, with Australians Thomas Gallagher and Rowan Crothers contending.

The swimming finals will keep coming up quickly for the next 70 minutes or so, but let’s take a quick peek elsewhere …

Table tennis: Germany’s Thomas Bruechle and Sandra Mikolaschek have swept Team GB’s Thomas Matthews and Megan Shackleton in the XD7 mixed doubles.

Wheelchair rugby: France 53, Denmark 51 final.

Jiang Yuhan sets women’s 50m freestyle S6 Paralympic record

Hello all! Hope you’ve enjoyed the competition so far today.

The USA have not yet won a medal in these Games, but that may be about to change – Ellie Marks is about to enter the pool for the 50m freestyle.

That, then is me. But fear not! Beau Dure is here to coax you through until the day’s end. Peace out.

Takayuki Suzuki of Japan wins gold in the men’s SB3 100m breaststroke

And they’re away!

We’re about to watch the final of the men’s 50m breaststroke SB3 final. “SB3 is for breaststroke swimmers with co-ordination affected to a low degree in the upper-trunk and arms,” says LEXI, “with the rest of the trunk and legs highly affected, and those with a the absence of limbs. These swimmers maintain good body position solely using their arms and upper body. Most will breathe alternately to keep their head low and bring their hips closer to the surface. Swimmers must show intent to move symmetrically even if their arms and legs are not of even length.”

We’re watching a rerun of Poppy Maskill’s world-record swim; lucky us. It really is perfection, the race Lakeisha Patterson and Will Ellard tried to swim, executed. In fairness, Ellard is 18 and Patterson race was four times as long, but still: she measured the distance and what she could do to it, then went out and made it real.

Back to the table tennis, I’ve just remembered my dad telling me that when he was a kid, so around the time of the dinosaurs, he wrote in to World of Sport asking for more of it. Must be in the genes.

Also going on:

Huang Wenjuan and Jin Yuchen of China beat Felicity Pickard and Bly Twomey of GB in the women’s WD14 table tennis semi-final

Also going on, for those of you with doctorates in theoretical physics.

In the time it took for me to type that, China went 6-5 in front, and this is slipping away from Pickard and Twomey.

So far, so good; they lead 4-2. I’ve always wondered why we don’t see more table tennis on telly because it’s game so many of us can play a bit – if we’re old enough to have grown up in the era of youth clubs. And as I type that, I remember Barry Hearn telling me he was trying to do something with it but in the ping-pong sphere, ping-pong being played with harder bats, making the rallies shorter. That was a fair few years ago now, so I guess it didn’t work out, and if Bazza can’t blow up a sport, you have to suspect no one else can either.

We’re down to one channel now, C4 having cut to news. And China have taken over in the table tennis, winning the third set 11-3; can GB reverse the momentum?

Goodness me what a performance that was! Maskill was first to show when they came up after the start and took it on from there. It was obvious from halfway that she was going to do it, and do it faster than anyone had ever done it before; brilliant behaviour.

Poppy Maskill wins gold – Paralympics GB’s first of the Games – in the women’s S14 100m butterfly final in a world-record time!

Maskill takes it out fast and the world record is under threat! Chan comes back at her, but she’s not going to get there!

But now we’ve got the S14 women’s 100m butterfly, with three repping for GB: Louise Fiddes, Olivia Newman-Baronious and Poppy Maskill.

Back to the WD14 table tennis semi, GB won the first set but China have just taken the second. It’s tense.

Ellard tried to take it from the front and he got so, so close – over 90m, he wins that, and I’m sure a minor tactical tweak wins him it over 100m. But not this time; he’ll be back, though, and I’m certain he’ll get a gold before he’s done.

Alexander Hillhouse of Denmark wins gold in the men’s S14 100m butterfly

Hillhouse is going to catch Ellard! He’s got just enough water left!

It’s still Ellard but Bandeira and Hillhouse come back at him!

And we’re off, Ellard away quickly and leading at the turn! Go on Will!

Will Ellard gets himself stripped, and he looks confident; I guess he’s 18.

And here come our competitors while, in the table tennis, GB lead China 10-5.

The S14 classification, germane to our next race, is for athletes with an “intellectual impairment, which typically leads to the athletes having difficulties with regards to pattern recognition, sequencing, and memory, or having a slower reaction time, which impact on sport performance in general.”

Also going on: GB take on China in the semis of the WD14 table tennis. Bly Twomey, who partners Felicity Pickard, is just 14. 14!

We are, though, getting the men’s 100m butterfly S14 final, due off in nine minutes. Going for GB are Cameron Vearnacombe and 18-year-old William Ellard, the European Open champion.

I guess we’re not getting that women’s 100m back S2 final, so let me let you know that Pin Xiu Yip of Singapore took gold, Haidee Aceves Perez of Mexico bronze, and Angela Procida of Italy bronze.

In the men’s wheelchair basketball, France lead Denmark 31-20 with 6.25 left in the third. The atmosphere is lively.

Er, if they show us it – it was due off eight minutes ago.

Next in the pool: the women’s S2 100m backstroke final.

Gabriel dos Santos Araujo of Brazil takes gold in the men’s S2 100m backstroke