2024 Paralympics: Great Britain Gains Medal Table Lead With 3 Golds, 2 World Records On Day 3

2024 SUMMER PARALYMPIC GAMES

• August 28 – September 8, 2024
  • Swimming: August 29 – September 7, 2024
• La Défense Arena – Paris, France
• LCM (50 meters)
• Meet Central
• Full Schedule
• How To Watch
• Finals Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3

After the third day of swimming at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, Great Britain has officially taken the lead in the medal table, with the country adding 3 golds to its total.

Stephen Clegg got the country off to a great start, opening the night with a new world record in the Men’s S12 100m backstroke (59.02) en route to securing his first Paralympic gold medal. With his swim, Clegg erased the longstanding World and Paralympic Record of 59.35 set by Aleksandr Nevolin-Svetov back at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London.

Will Ellard broke the world record in the Men’s S14 200m freestyle event, claiming another gold medal for Great Britain with a 1:51.30. Ellard took down the previous record of 1:52.40 by over a second.

The final gold of the night for Great Britain came in dramatic fashion as Alice Tai won her first Paralympic gold medal in the Women’s S8 100m backstroke. Tai, who missed the Tokyo Games due to an elbow injury, also had her leg amputated below the knee recently, marking a incredible comeback. With her time of 1:09.06, Tai also set a new Paralympic Record in the event.

The other World Record of the day came from China’s Ma Jia, who broke the S11 World Record in the Women’s 50m freestyle,  dropping a time of 28.96. With that time, she knocked .2 off of her own World Record of 29.20, becoming the first S11 swimmer to go under 29 seconds.

Other Paralympic Records:

• In the Men’s S13 400m freesstyle, Kylian Portal of France set a new S12 Paralympic Record in route to a bronze medal, swimming a time of 4:05.99 to nearly best the S12 World Record of 4:05.95 as well.
• A similar story played out in the Women’s S13 400m freestyle as Anna Stetsenko from Ukraine also broke the S12 record in the event, dropping a 4:36.17 en route to a bronze medal finish.
• American Mallory Weggemann posted a Paralympic Record of 2:53.29 in the Women’s SM7 200 IM, repeating her Olympic gold medal performance from Tokyo. Weggemann also holds the World Record in the event with a 2:48.43.

Contiental Records:

• In the Men’s SM7 200 IM, Christian Sadie set a new African Record with a final time of 2:35.02 to place 5th overall.
• Carolina Maria Gomes Santiago of Brazil posted a new Americas Record en route to winning gold in the Women’s S12 100 backstroke, swimming a time of 1:08.23.
• Australian Jack Ireland won bronze in the men’s S14 200 freestyle with a time of 1:53.77 to set a  new Oceania Record in the event.
• China’s Zheng Tingting dropped a new Asian Record in the women’s S8 100 backstroke with a time of 1:18.96 to place just off the podium in 4th.
• Alani Ferreira of South Africa swam to a new African Record in the Women’s S12 400m freestyle with a 4:55.95 to place 8th in the S13 classification of the event.
• Brazilian Gabrielo dos Santos Araujo won the Men’s S2 50m backstroke by 7 seconds, posting an Americas Record of 50.93.
• Great Britain’s Iona Winnifrith finished 4th in the women’s SM7 200 IM, swimming a new European Record of 3:03.25.

Day 3 Medal Table: