Day-10 (Part-1): Barbara Bieganowska- Zajac from wins her 4th Paralympic Gold medal in 1500m

By Mousumi Mazumdar

It was another rainy and damp day at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium and this did not stop the athletes’ splendid performances. Experienced Paralympians returned to the podium which has been dominated by first-timers.

Polish runner, Barbara Bieganowska, at the age of 40 years is one of the most decorated athletes Virtus has seen. This four-time Paralympian, and mother of two daughters, is known as the ‘Golden Basia’, she is the current World and Paralympic Record holder and clocked her season-best (SB) today with 4:27.84sec.

“I had to prepare for five years for this race, I have put in a lot of hard work and I feel very to be able to defend my Gold medal,” said Barbara.

On asking about how she manages between her practice and duties of a mother, she said “I love my daughters very much and they know it. I try to spend as much time with them as I can but recently I was away doing my preparations for the games.”

“They know that mummy is doing what she loves so they are very happy. It is my passion and also my profession because it helps me earn money too. It’s been 26 years that I am running and participating in competitions so they know what I do and support me a lot.”

Rio 2016 Bronze medalist- Liudmyla Danylina, from Ukrain finished second with 4:32.82sec and was very happy with her achievement. “I feel very happy. It is the only emotion I can feel right now. I would like to dedicate this medal to my country-Ukraine and my family” said Liudmyla.

Finishing third was a new face from Great Britain- Hannah Tounton with a timing of 4:35.34sec. “During the race I was really thinking to myself right, I’m going to out at my 1500/200m pace, and then on the last lap I’m going to really storm it,” she said

“That’s what I’ve really been doing cause I’ve been practicing lots of my sharp sprints especially when the bell goes. And that bell actually really helped. It actually did, when I crossed the finish line I was like oh my goodness, I’m going to get a bronze medal.”

“I feel amazing and I can’t wait to show all of my family and all my friends when I go home on Sunday. I’m going to celebrate my big belated 35th birthday which was in May and I’m going to have another party celebrating my track Tokyo celebration.”

In Men’s 1500m, Owen Miller (GBR) ran an unforgettable first Paralympic race as he clinched the Gold by clocking 3:54.57sec.

“It’s my first Paralympic Games and it’s been quite an experience. It was really hard, especially the last 18 months. I was training on the grass when the tracks were closed. My coach and my family helped me a lot during my training. This medal means the world to me,” Owen said.

“To be number 1 in the world is a great feeling, I have never done anything like this in my life so it’s very special.”

2019 World Champion Rabotnitskii Alexandr from Russia and Dieng Ndiaga from Italy, both on debut, won their first Paralympic Games medals as they finish second with 3:55.78sec and third with 3:57.24sec respectively.

“I am very happy, I trained a lot for this competition and expected a lot but not a Bronze medal. My best event is 800m but I feel good in participating in 400m and 1500m too. I will train a lot and prepare for the Paris2024 and Vichy 2023.”

Both Dieng and Barbara shared with Virtus their special message for the young athletes:

“My loved ones – do what you love and never push yourself into doing something you don’t like, but once you find your passion, set your goals and do as much as you can to achieve them.” – Barbara Bieganowsk (UKR), 4th Paralympic Gold Women’s 1500M

“If you want to achieve results, you have to work hard” – Dieng Ndiaga (ITA), first Paralympic Games, Bronze Medallist Men’s 1500M

The F20 Women’s Long Jump will be the closing event for the Day-10 Keep following Virtus for more updates.

September 02, 2021.

When three F20 Shot Put athletes were marked as DNS – Did Not Start, it put a global spotlight on athletes with an intellectual impairment and their disability needs.

Ecuador’s Jordi Patricio Congo Villalba, Australian Todd Hodgetts, and Rio 2016 champion, Malaysian Muhammad Zolkefli – were disqualified from the event on 31 August, due to their late arrival at the call room. Officials allowed the three athletes to compete under protest allowing the competition to proceed and for the appeal processes to follow. The appeals were lodged, and the original decision was upheld.

This is difficult for those individuals disqualified and it may be difficult for those whose final standing were changed as well. We support all the athletes and call on all those involved to support the athletes as they process what happened. All athlete’s well-being should be monitored and attended to.

Virtus respects the competition rules and the position of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and World Para Athletics (WPA) in this disappointing situation. We are open to being part of any post Games review and to share input into any process, procedure or training that could better support athletes with intellectual impairment.

Ms Robyn Smith, Virtus Vice-President said, “We are disappointed with what happened, we cannot change what happened, but we can do our best to advocate and ensure it does not happen again.”

“Understanding the individual needs of athletes with intellectual impairment is essential as they are performing in a high-pressure situation, in an unfamiliar environment, and may need additional help and guidance to be in the right place at the right time, including ensuring they are at the call room of every event.”

Virtus recognises that three out of six competing countries did have their athletes to the call room at the required time. We congratulate all the F20 shot put athletes on an outstanding competition. A competition that resulted in multiple world record throws. The awarded Gold Medallist, Maksym Koval set a world record of 17.34m, the Silver medallist Oleksandr Yarovyi (UKR) with a personal best, and Greece’s champion Efstratios Nikolaidis taking home the Bronze. Let’s not forget that these highly trained and skilled athletes performed admirably.

Virtus supports everyone’s right to ensure that the rules were followed correctly. This includes the countries that protested, the countries that appealed, the officials and decision-making bodies with responsibility to issue a final ruling. Protest is inherent in sport, and we must not condemn or vilify those exercising their rights under the rules.

Ms Smith also condemned some of the comments that had been made on social media about the incident. “This was a very difficult situation for the three athletes and their teams, and natural that people wanted to convey their frustration, however it is important that comments made on social media are respectful of the individuals, nations and organisations involved.”

Virtus calls on everyone to similarly respect these rights and to not feed into social media attacks – especially against athletes and against nations exercising their rights under the rules. The athletes disqualified and those who ended up on the podium deserve our respect and admiration.

Marc Truffaut, Virtus President who is attending the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games as a part of the French Athletics team, said that in a competition setting, more can be done to ensure the athlete, any athlete, feels supported.

“Athletes should be supported to do what they are expected to do, outside of performing their best to win,” Mr Truffaut said.

“There are so many distractions, so many instructions, and most of all, noise and nervousness for athletes as they set their mind to focus on one thing – competing to win.”

“We need to ensure that all people at the Games and future international competitions, including coaches, officials and volunteers are provided training on the unique cognitive and communication characteristics, specific to athletes with intellectual impairment.”

For Virtus, the person-first approach has underpinned events such as the Global Games 2019 (GG2019) in Brisbane, Australia. Cognitive awareness training and communications strategies were provided to staff, officials, and volunteers of GG2019. Virtus has the expertise to provide this training to organisations globally.

Truffaut explained, “These athletes have so much to share with the world, and with the right approach they can do so and will inspire others to take up sport, but we all need to be aware of their individual support needs.”

There is a lot more work to be done. This year’s Paralympics campaign is just the beginning of a decade of action. In the theme of #StrongerTogether and with a highlight on #WeThe15, there is no better time to call on partners of influence, including the International Paralympic Committee and International Federations, to generate awareness for the Invisibility of an Intellectual Impairment.

–END–

Media Contact: Nithi Suppiah, Advisor Marketing & Communications [email protected]

About Virtus World Intellectual Impairment Sport
Virtus is the brand name of the International Federation for athletes with intellectual impairments and a member of the International Paralympic Committee. The organisation was formed in 1986 and has grown to a membership of more than 80 nations across the world. These cover Europe, Africa, Asia, South America, North America and Oceania.

Virtus is on a mission to drive the development of elite sport worldwide for athletes with an intellectual impairment, helping more than 500,000 of the world’s best athletes, from over 80 nations, compete in winter and summer sports, from Athletics to Alpine Skiing, Cycling, Equestrian, Swimming, Table Tennis, Tennis and Rowing amongst them.

We promote the inclusion of people with intellectual impairments in society. We work with our member nations and the International Federations for each sport, on educating our members on eligibility and classification so that they can develop their athlete pool, helping create high-performance sport for athletes with an intellectual impairment.

By Mousumi Mazumdar & Rebekah Thornton

It was an intense day on the Tracks for the T20 Men and Women 400m Heats. While the world was focused on the defending champion, Daniel Martins (BRA), the newcomers swooped in and amazed everyone with their spectacular performance in Heat-1.

Dieng Ndiaga (ITA), Anderson Alexander Colorado Mina (ECU), and Charles-Antoine Kouakou (FRA) ran their first-ever Paralympic Games race at Tokyo 2020. Qualifying first was Rodriguez Ramirez from Spain and clocked his personal best of 48.57sec. He was placed fifth at Rio 2016.

The defending champion had a hard time due to the global pandemic, speaking to Virtus, Daniel says “I suffered from COVID three months back and was almost taken to the hospital, one of my lungs was affected and I lost a lot of practice time.”

Heat-2, Correia Baessa (POR), Blango Columba (GBR), Luis Felipe Rodriguez Bolivar (VEN) made a remarkable first entrance into the Game and qualified for the finals.

In the Women’s 400m, only minutes after Yuliia Shuliar (UKR) broke the Paralympic Record in Heat 1, the Gold medalist from Rio 2016, Breanna Clark (USA) set a new Paralympic Record with 56.07sec.
“I have been doing three things, training hard, running hard, and working hard,” said Breanna.
“During the lockdown, we turned our home into a gym when the gyms closed and we also worked out on the beaches. My aim is to break these world records and set personal bests for everyone, not just for me.”

Siti Noor Iasah Mohamad Ariffin (MAS), the only female representing Malaysia in athletics at the Games, sprinted into the final of the Women’s T20 400m today. From Johor Bahru, the 31-year-old athlete said she was running for her son. She was so overcome with emotion post-race that she did not realize she had secured herself a spot in the final.
“I promised my son that Mumma would run as fast as I could. That race was for my son,” she said post-race.

Coming from a talented athletic family, her husband, Muhammad Hafiz Abu Bakar, represented Malaysia in the F37 Shot Put at the 2014 Asian Para Games in Korea. This will be her last competitive meet before her retirement, making her one to watch in the T20 400m final tomorrow night.

Tomorrow there will be several medal events taking place- F20 Men’s Shot put, T20 Men’s and Women’s 400m Finals and the 200m Individual Medley at the Aquatics.

Keep following Virtus to stay updated.

Day – 5 (Part 1): Peter Palos (HUN) claims third Gold and fourth Paralympic Medal in the Men’s Table Tennis Final

By Rebekah Thornton

Peter Palos (HUN) embraces Sam von Einem (AUS) after winning the gold match.

The final of the Men’s Class-11 category took place today in the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. Peter Palos (HUN) went up against Samuel von Einem (AUS) in a nail-biting final. Both no strangers to Paralympic finals, Palos claimed victory in the final set, with a score of 3-2.

With a Gold in Athens (2004) and London (2012), his medal from Tokyo2020 makes him a three-time Paralympic Gold medallist in an international career spanning two decades.

“I’m still not sure how I managed to win but here I am as a Paralympic champion yet again,” he said after the match.

Peter’s coach, Zsolt Vigh, called the match a “tactical war”, complimenting Samuel von Einem on his fast hand. The silver medallist from Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, Samuel von Einem was excited to receive silver again.

“I was happy that I was able to medal and play on the big stage in the final again… Silver is fantastic”. von Einem said.  “It’s been a fantastic week for me. I might take a little break but then I’ll be looking forward to trying to go that one more in Paris 2024,” said von Einem.

Lucas Creange (FRA) and Florian van Acker (BEL) both took home bronze medals in the MS11 event.

Photos from 100m Breaststroke Men’s & Women’s FINALS (Credit: OISPhotos) | Table Tennis Men’s Singles Finals (Photo Credit: ITTF)

It was also a big day in the pool for the SB14 swimmers, with heats and finals for both the Men and Women’s 100m Breaststroke. Michelle Alonso Morales, Flag Bearer for Spain in the opening ceremony of Tokyo2020, successfully defended her 100m Breaststroke title for the third consecutive time, winning in World
Record time. Michelle Alonso Morales (ESP), nicknamed the ‘Little Mermaid’, won Gold at both the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. Her win today solidifies her as a champion of para-swimming in the SB14 category, having set a new world record of 1:12.02 (beating her own World Record from 2016) in the process.

Louise Fiddes (GBR) touched the wall in a time of 1:15.93 to earn silver, while Beatriz Borges Carneiro (BRA) won bronze with a time of 1:17.61, just 0.2 ahead of her twin sister, Debora Borges Carneiro (BRA) who placed fourth. Naohide Yamaguchi, the 20-year-old from Japan won his first medal of Tokyo2020 with another World Record time.

The anticipation was high for the Men’s 100m Breaststroke, with many big names in the final. After placing fourth in both the Men’s 100m Butterfly and the Mixed 4x100m Freestyle Relay, Yamaguchi left nothing in the pool in today’s 100m Breaststroke final. He won Gold with a time of 1:03.77, beating his own World Record by .23 seconds. This is the second major international win in the event for Yamaguchi, having placed first at the 2019 World Championships in London. Australian SB14 swimmer Jake Michel won Silver with a time of 1:04.28, exceeding his original ambition of just competing at Tokyo2020. Scott Quin (GBR) touched the wall in third with a time of 1:05.91. His Bronze from today becoming his second Paralympic medal in two Games, having won
Silver at the Rio 2016 Paralympics.