- Hairless individuals and wall-excavators secure Paralympic accolades
Triathlete Max Gelhaar Secures Silver at Paralympics, While Thomas Wandschneider Baggs Bronze in Badminton
Germany's Gelhaar, 26, with a left-side spastic paralysis, was leading the pack following the swim in the Seine. After completing the 20km biking course, he maintained his lead until the running leg, where Spain's Daniel Molina managed to catch up and surpassed Gelhaar, ultimately finishing the historic race at the Pont Alexandre III bridge in Paris in 1:08:43 hours.
Nico van der Burgt from the Netherlands claimed the third spot.
The race was delayed to the following day due to poor water quality in the Seine, which saw Germany's Martin Schulz, the gold favorite, starting at 12:20 PM.
Historic First Paralympics Medal for a German Badminton Player
The 60-year-old Wandschneider achieved his long-standing goal of winning a medal in badminton. Following a narrow win in the first game (26:24), he dominated the second set (21:11) against South Korea's Jaegun Jeong in the Arena Porte de la Chapelle.
National coach Christopher Skrzeba remarked, "Thomas has an uncanny ability to persevere. With the tailwind in the second set, things pretty much fell into place for him." This marked the first time a German athlete took home a Paralympics medal in the sport of badminton.
Despite his success in badminton, Max Gelhaar expresses his interest in exploring other sports, hoping to represent Germany at an international level someday. meanwhile, the German Paralympic committee is actively promoting other sports, such as wheelchair basketball and powerlifting, to encourage a wider range of athletes to participate.
