Ismail Barlov, one of the youngest swimmers competing at the 2024 Paralympics, made history on Wednesday by winning Bosnia and Herzegovina’s first-ever swimming medal at the Games.
The 13-year-old claimed silver in the men’s 50 breaststroke SB2, posting a time of 1:02.74 to finish as the runner-up to gold medalist Arnulfo Castorena of Mexico (59.41).
In his bio on the Paralympic website, Barlov’s ambition is listed as “to win a medal at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.”
The silver is Bosnia’s first in the pool at any edition of the Paralympics and their seventh overall, with the six others all coming in men’s sitting volleyball, most recently earning bronze in Tokyo.
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Barlov was the 2024 European champion in the 50 breast SB2, having won gold in a time of 1:01.15 at the World Para Swimming European Open Championships in Portugal in April.
At 13, Barlov is one of the youngest swimmers at the Games—according to Olympics.com, another 13-year-old, Great Britain’s Iona Winnifrith, is the youngest swimmer competing in Paris.
Barlov also competed in the men’s 150 IM SM3, finishing 11th.
Bosnia and Herzegovina has never won a medal at the Olympic Games. Earlier this summer, Lana Pudar finished 12th in the women’s 200 butterfly, marking the country’s highest-ever Olympic finish in swimming.
So good!!
Loved this (even though he finished in front of our very own Aussie icon “Scooter”), bright future, keep up the hard training. 👏👏👏.