Paralympics 2020 LIVE updates Australias boccia bronze breakthrough controversial DNS rulings in shot put
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ATHLETICS
From 10.30am
It’s a day for Australia’s sprinters to shine. Sam Carter is Australia’s best chance on the track today in the T54 100m event at 8.24pm, while Angela Ballard (T53 100m) and Eliza Ault-Connell (T54 100m) are also medal chances in their events a little later in the evening.
ROAD CYCLING
From 10.30am
Stuart Tripp gets the first day of road races going in the H5 category, but the bigger medal chances for Australia are expected to come tomorrow.
GOALBALL
From 2.15pm
Australia has a goalball quarter-final against Turkey. The team hadn’t tasted victory at the Paralympics for 25 years but chalked up two wins in two days, including a remarkable result against the world champion Russians.
WHEELCHAIR TENNIS
Time: TBA (fifth match on centre court)
It’s Australia’s Alcott/Davidson combination versus Schroder/Vink of the Netherlands in the fight for men’s quad doubles gold.
SWIMMING
From 6pm
Tiffany Thomas Kane is the favourite in the women’s SB7 100m breaststroke. Blake Cochrane will also compete in the SB7 breaststroke at his fourth Paralympics. Timothy Hodge is a big change of a gold in the SM9 200m individual medley.
Steve Waugh was watching Daniel Michel’s match from Sydney and loved what he saw. On a handful of occasions, the former Test captain has popped down to watch the youngster train at Cronulla library, where there is an adjoining council room that he uses. They live in the same neighbourhood.
READ MORE on the relationship between boccia star Michel and the former Australian cricket captain.
The standing shot-put event at the Tokyo Paralympics was shrouded in controversy after three athletes, including Australia’s Todd Hodgetts, were officially categorised as ‘did not start’ after it was deemed they were late to the athletes’ call room before competition on Tuesday night.
Ukraine, represented by Maksym Koval who eventually won the gold medal, protested the apparent absence of the three athletes when they were called up.
While it was determined the three athletes - Hodgetts, Malaysia’s Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli and Ecuador’s Jordi Patricio Congo Villalba - were not present “in the call room at the relevant time as published in the ... schedule†they were allowed to compete under protest.
In competition, Zolkefli smashed the world record with a throw of 17.94m, but it didn’t count.
World Para Athletics heard a counter-protest issued by the Malaysian contingent, with support from Australia and Ecuador, but dismissed it, deciding the DNS classifications should stand.
“The athletes were allowed to compete under protest while the referee considered all the evidence as to why the athletes were late to the call room,†it said in a statement.
“Having considered the evidence, the referee determined that there was no justifiable reason for the athletes’ failure to report to the call room on time.
“The athletes appealed this decision to the jury of appeal, who gave the teams the opportunity to present all the relevant information before making its final decision. The jury of appeal upheld the referee’s decision and confirmed the athletes’ results as DNS.â€
The dramatic events at the track on Tuesday night did not appear to impact the schedule.
Daniel Michel has done it! He’s picked up Australia’s first medal in boccia since 1996 and first individual boccia medal ever. His team is ecstatic. What a fantastic yarn. Final score 6-1 against Great Britain’s Scott McCowan in the battle for bronze in the men’s individual category (BC3).
Dan Michel uses a robotic arm at home.Credit:Peter Rae
“Heaps excited with it. First medal for Australia in 25 years. First individual medal. It’s a massive achievement. Happy to respond from the adversity yesterday. A tough game. To come through and win in dominant fashion was really important to me,†said Michel.
“From the outset I think I executed the plan really, really well. He’s a quality opponent so I had to play well.
“To get across the line is really awesome. I’m hungry for more but I’m really satisfied with this result. I’m a pretty good front-runner so once I put the foot down I’m pretty hard to chase down.â€
Daniel Michel is on absolute fire at the boccia. Putting on a clinic. He’s now leading 6-0. Edging close to a bronze medal.
Australia secured more para-table tennis medals in Tokyo today, after the women’s team of Lina Lei, Qian Yang and Melissa Tapper this morning defeated Hungary in the semi-final.
A spot in the semis guarantees Australia another medal (win or lose), with the team to play off against China tonight at 8.30pm AEST in a bid to continue through to Friday’s gold medal playoff.
For Lina and Qian they’ll be looking to add another gold medal to their singles titles, but firstly will need to defeat their former Chinese teammates.
Today’s quarter-finals saw the Aussies dominate against Hungary, with Lei and Yang teaming up in the doubles to deliver a straight 3-0 sets win, 11-3, 11-7, 11-3.
After a tight tussle there, Daniel Michel picks up another point to edge ahead 4-0 after two ends. He’s looking the goods so far.
READ MORE about the Australian, who is gunning for a bronze medal today.
Hossain Rasouli, one of the two Paralympians who were evacuated from Afghanistan after the country’s government fell to the Taliban, finished 13th and last in the long jump competition on Tuesday, the culmination of an unlikely journey that took him through Paris and then belatedly to the Games.
Rasouli, 26, celebrated his participation at one point by blowing kisses to a television camera capturing his competition in the T47 event, which involved athletes with arm impairments. The best of his three jumps carried him 4.46 metres, leaving him well behind the 12 other competitors. The 12th-place finisher jumped 1.32 metres farther.
Afghanistan’s Hossain Rasouli.Credit:AP
Rasouli and Zakia Khudadadi, the other Afghan athlete, seemed likely to miss the Paralympics amid the turmoil in their country, but with the help of several organisations across the world, they arrived in Tokyo on Saturday.
The International Paralympic Committee vowed to shield the two athletes from the news media, and Rasouli did not appear in the mixed zone where reporters gather for interviews shortly after an event ends.
Though the stands were largely empty because of coronavirus restrictions, Dallas Wise of the United States, who finished fourth, said he was slightly aware of extra attention focused on Rasouli.
“It kind of seemed like a lot of people taking of pictures of him,†Wise said, referring to the professional photographers stationed near the field.
Rasouli was originally scheduled to compete in the T47 100-metre race, but he arrived too late for Saturday’s heats. The IPC planned to move him into the 400-metre race, but a spokesperson for the committee said that Rasouli was worried about the increase in distance.
“Look, I’m a 100-metres sprinter,†Craig Spence, the spokesperson, quoted Rasouli as saying. “Doing 400 is going to be pretty exhausting.â€
So Rasouli settled on doing the long jump, in which he appeared to have a limited competition history. On the official list of competitors, he was the only one whose personal-best distance did not appear. Spence said that Rasouli had competed in the long jump before, but not in a major event.
Khudadadi, 22, has qualified in taekwondo and is scheduled to compete on Thursday.
The athletes spent most of last week in Paris, training at the National Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance, where they also received mental health counselling.
New York Times
Daniel Michel is up 3-0 after the first end against Great Britain’s Scott McCowan in the battle for bronze in the men’s individual category (BC3).
Was it two? Was it three? The lead referee comes out for a second opinion and agrees the Australian had three of the closest balls. A great start.
It’s the business end for Australia’s Rollers outfit. They play a quarter-final against the host nation - tough opponents! - in one of the final events on Wednesday.
It’s Japan versus Australia from 9.45pm AEST.
Morning all, I’ve wandered down to the boccia this morning where Daniel Michel is looking for Australia first medal in the sport since Atlanta 1996. There’s a blown up kangaroo in the stands and a big Aussie cohort of supporters. After his first bowl, Michel lets out a big “C’mon baby!“. He’s up for this but has a tricky assignment in the BC3 class against Scott McCowan from Great Britain. Looking forward to this. For those unfamiliar with the sport of boccia, here’s a feature I did on Daniel before the Games started.
Daniel Michel will play for bronze tomorrow. Credit:Paralympics Australia
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