Swimmers Poppy Maskill and Tully Kearney delivered Great Britain’s first Paralympic gold medals at the Paris 2024 Games.
Maskill, 19, set a new world record of 1:03.00 to win the women’s 100m butterfly S14 title, while Kearney upgraded her Tokyo 2020 silver to gold in the S5 200m freestyle with a time of 2:46.50.
Maskill’s success at La Defense Arena followed a silver medal for fellow British teenager William Ellard in the men’s equivalent event. Ellard touched the line in 54.86 seconds, narrowly missing out on gold to Danish athlete Alexander Hillside.
“It feels so weird to be the first gold medallist for ParalympicsGB,” Maskill expressed, still processing her record-breaking performance. Olivia Newman-Baronius, the previous joint world record holder, finished fourth behind Maskill, China’s Yui Lam Chan, and Russian Valeriia Shabalina.
Kearney, who was born with cerebral palsy and developed generalized dystonia as a teenager, held off challenges from Ukraine’s Iryna Poida and Italy’s Monica Boggioni to win the final race of the opening day. The 27-year-old, who is the reigning S5 100m freestyle champion, secured her second career Paralympic gold.
“I really wanted redemption for Tokyo,” Kearney said, referring to her silver medal in the 2020 Games. “It’s been really hard with the concussion and then the last three, four months, really hard with mental health issues. Even a few weeks ago, we weren’t sure whether I was going to come out and compete or how many events I’d be able to do. I’m just absolutely ecstatic. A bit speechless.”
IT’S GOLD FOR POPPY MASKILL
A new World Record and a massive PB! Our first gold medal of these games in the 100m butterfly S14.
Yes, Poppy!#ParalympicsGB🥇 pic.twitter.com/IhA2gKKROb
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The two gold medals mark a strong start for ParalympicsGB in Paris, with Maskill and Kearney setting the tone for what promises to be an exciting and successful Paralympic Games for the British team.
GOLD FOR TULLY KEARNEY
The perfect race. The perfect upgrade from Tokyo.
YIIIIIIRRRRRRRS!#ParalympicsGB 🥇 pic.twitter.com/rnXWZxeaTq
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