Young adult, aged 18, secures initial Paralympic victory for Germany
Maurice Wetekam, a 18-year-old swimmer, was stunned when he saw the scoreboard displaying 'bronze' - his first-ever medal in an international competition. This achievement was made on the second day of the Paris Paralympics, making him the first German athlete to secure a medal. The spirit of medal-winning performances by German athletes is already becoming evident in the initial stages of the Games.
Competing in the SB9 category for the 100m breaststroke, Wetekam broke his own personal best time of 1:07.04 minutes, but finished third, 1.76 seconds behind the winner, Stefano Raimondi from Italy. "This is my first medal and also the first for our team. It's a fantastic feeling. I've never had such support before," said an overjoyed Wetekam. This accomplishment was significant for him as he competes with a left-hand dysmelia and had previously won silver at the 2022 and 2023 World Championships.
The table tennis duo of Valentin Baus and Thomas Schmidberger aim for gold. They defeated Turkey's Abdullah Öztürk and Nesim Turan in the MD8 category, by a narrow 3-2 margin, in a thrilling semifinal at Arena Sud 4 in Paris. This victory ensures their spot in the final on Saturday at 2 PM. "It was yet another closely contested game," said Schmidberger. Unfortunately, Sandra Mikolaschek and Thomas Bruechle lost in the mixed doubles quarterfinals, failing to live up to their favorite status.
Struggles for other athletes
Before Wetekam's medal, Tanja Scholz faced difficulties due to the low water temperature. "The wait at the starting block was too long, then the spasticity returned immediately, which was quite frustrating," shared the 40-year-old athlete. She eventually finished sixth in S5 category, narrowly missing out on a medal by just five seconds. Verena Schott felt the impact of her six-week illness during the 200m individual medley and finished seventh.
Boris Nicolai, Anita Raguwaran, and the badminton doubles team of Rick Cornell Hellmann and Thomas Wandschneider were eliminated following the preliminary rounds. The German wheelchair rugby team's prospects of qualifying for the knockout rounds are uncertain after their 47:54 loss against Canada. The women's wheelchair basketball team suffered a heavy defeat in their opening game against USA, losing with a score of 73:44.
In the only German final in the athletics opening event held at Stade de France, sprinter Isabelle Foerder finished eighth in the T35 100m, missing the medal by more than two seconds. On the other hand, the women's four featuring two-time Olympian Kathrin Marchand, and the men's pair of Jan Helmich and Hermine Krumbein, progressed to the finals in their respective rowing events at Vaires-sur-Marne water sports stadium, to be held on Sunday.
Wetekam's bronze medal in the Paralympics isn't the only achievement by German athletes; the table tennis duo of Valentin Baus and Thomas Schmidberger are aiming for gold in their category and have advanced to the final.
Despite facing challenges, some German athletes like Tanja Scholz and Verena Schott have managed to compete, with Scholz finishing sixth in the S5 category, just missing out on a medal by five seconds.
