Results Paralympics Beijing 15 September 2008

Introduction

When the Olympics and Paralympics come to China, which has the most Internet users in the world, they have earned unprecedented attention and popularity with the help of the Internet.

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Beijing has performed "perfectly" in organizing and hosting the 2008 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, Venezuela's top sports official said. The minister said she was satisfied with the performance by Venezuelan disabled athletes. With one gold medal and two bronze medals, they have bettered the country's record at the Athens Paralympic Games.

The ongoing Beijing Paralympics may well set a new international standard for conduct of the Summer Paralympic Games, said Kirk Bauer, executive director of Disabled Sports USA, here on Sunday. Six world records were set in seven finals during the morning at the "Bird's Nest" National Stadium, with China winning the women's discus and two other golds.

Rebecca Chin was stripped of second place over a classifying issue in the women's discus, leading to a call from British chef de mission Phil Lane for more opportunities to classify athletes outside of major competitions.

China continued its domination of the Paralympics track and field events Monday, notching its 31st gold in athletics ahead of the last night of swimming competition.

Scottish swimmer Jim Anderson ended his Paralympics with a smile - despite failing to win the gold he so desperately craved. The 45-year-old made it four podium visits from a possible four last night in the 50m backstroke but missed out on top spot once again as Russian nemesis Dimitry Kokarev set a new world record to win.

China, claiming two golds on Sunday, made an emphatic assertion of its dominance in the men's individual epee Category A and B, and the women's individual epee Cat. A by pulling down world top players.

David Roberts was today facing a battle to add to his Beijing bounty of four gold medals after Great Britain's men's 4x100 meters medley relay team squeezed through to tonight's Paralympics final at the National Aquatics Center.

The Netherlands' team Korie Homan and Sharon Walraven won their country the second wheelchair tennis gold medal in the Beijing Paralympics after edging out compatriots Ester Vergeer and Jiske Griffioen in the final on Monday.

Oscar Pistorius, the South African runner known as "The Blade Runner," goes for his third gold Tuesday in the 400 meters, having already won the 100 and 200.

Canada's Michelle Stilwell captured her second gold medal of the Beijing Paralympics, racing to victory in the 100 meters Monday. The wheelchair racer from Nanoose Bay, B.C., clocked a Paralympic Games record of 19.97 seconds to win, coming on the heels of her gold medal performance in the 200 meters.

The United States, twice Paralympic champion, looks for gold redemption in the wheelchair rugby final against Australia after outlasting Britain 35-32 in the semifinal on Monday, while the Britons will play Canada for bronze medal.

Great Britain's gold rush came to a halt as throwers Daniel Greaves and Stephen Miller were unsuccessful in the defense of their Paralympic titles in Beijing on Monday.

Wheelchair racer David Weir, who is still to contest the 1,500 meters final and the marathon, remains the only British athlete to triumph, with five silvers and six bronze from competition at the Bird's Nest Stadium.

Canada wrapped up the swimming with two more medals in the Paralympic pool as Valerie Grand'Maison of Montreal won a silver in the women's 50-meter freestyle and Benoit Huot collected his fourth bronze of the Games, in the 400-meter freestyle.

Goalball is a three-a-side version of handball for blind athletes, and makes use of a ball with bells inside so that competitors can judge its position. Much like five-a-side football, players with partial sight are outfitted with blindfolds to ensure an even match.

The South Americans lost 3-1 to France in the final of Class 3 men's team on Monday, grabbing their first ever Paralympic medal of any color in the sport.

Zhang Haidong of China repeated his glory at the Beijing Paralympic Games here on Monday as the world and Paralympic champion claimed the gold of the men's 82.5kg category.

GREAT BRITAIN'S youngest team member Eleanor Simmonds smashed her own world record to win her second Paralympic Games gold medal in Beijing yesterday. The 13-year-old Swansea swimmer, who won the women's S6 100 meters freestyle earlier this week, added the 400m title, lowering her world record by almost seven seconds to five minutes, 41.34 seconds. Simmonds, 13, who has Achondroplasia (dwarfism).

Jeff Skiba of Sammamish won a gold medal with a world-record performance in the high jump at the Paralympics on Sunday in Beijing.

14-year-old Chelsea McClammer of Benton City placed eighth in the women's 800-meter final with a personal-best time of 1 minute, 51.88 seconds. According to the team Web site, she is the youngest athlete on the U.S. Paralympic team.

The Chinese Taipei flag was finally raised in the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing Sunday, with Lin Tzu-hui winning a gold medal in the women's 75 kg category of power-lifting event.

Canadian wheelchair racer Chantal Petitclerc chasing a fifth gold in these Games qualified for the 1,500 meters final in her class as she bids to add to her 100m, 200m and 400m and 800m titles.

Egypt's special athletes are making waves in Beijing, China, where this year's Paralympic Games are being held from September 6 to 17. While Egypt clinched one bronze medal in this year's Beijing Summer Olympics, athletes in the Paralympics are achieving a success like no other. So far the team has won four gold, three silver and four bronze medals.

Swimmer Cameron Leslie won gold in the 150m IM in record time at the Beijing Paralympics yesterday to secure New Zealand's 12th medal. Leslie, who has a quadruple limb deficiency, said he was thrilled to get a world record time along with the win and was buoyed by the support of the New Zealanders looking on.

In Women's 200m individual medley, Chelsey Gotell (Antigonish, NS) won gold with a new world record time of 2:28.15 and 5 medals overall. Kirby Cote (Winnipeg, MB) and Valerie Grand'Maison (Montreal, QC) were second and third. The three won again in the women's 100m butterfly, but in a different order. Grand'Maison won 5 medals overall.

GB swimmer Dave Roberts equals Tanni Grey-Thompson's gold-haul of 11 and teenager Eleanor Simmonds wins her second gold.

Stephanie Dixon (Victoria, BC) with 4 medals, won gold in the women's 100-meter backstroke and her time of 1:9.30 broke her own world record. Her 400m freestyle at 4:39.73 is a new Canadian record. Benoit Huo won 3 medals, and Anne Polinario won a gold.

The New York Times Paralympics blog, Rings, reported that United Spinal's own Laura Schwanger had a dramatic surge in the women's rowing competition to win one of the first ever awarded medals for the sport, which debuted at these Games

Australia's Paralympians have been told to maintain a sense of sportsmanship after an athlete's refusal to shake the hand of her 16-year-old British rival. Triple Paralympian Amanda Fraser had just been awarded bronze in the women's discus but caused a stir at the end of competition when she declined to congratulate silver medal winner Rebecca Chin.

Anne Polinario of Canada finished the night with a winning time of 28.51 in the women's 50 free - S10. Katarzyna Pawlik of Poland took second in 28.92, while Katrina Lewis placed third in 29.13.

Cortney Jordan of the U.S. touched out teammate Erin Popovich, 33.84 to 33.92, as both cleared Popovich's preliminary Paralympic record of 34.22. The win was Jordan's first of the meet, while also giving her four individual medals overall.

Two world records tumbled in the women's 150 IM - SM4 finale. Karina Lauridsen of Denmark set the SM4 standard with a winning 2:47.84. Patricia Valle of Mexico, meanwhile, claimed her second world record of the meet with a 3:29.36 for third overall while swimming as an SM3 entrant. Marayke Jonkers of Australia took second in 3:28.88.

Enhamed Enhamed of Spain shot down one of the longest standing records on the books with a time of 25.82 in the men's 50 free - S11. That swim cleared the 1987 standard of 25.96 set by John Morgan of the U.S. in New York. The win gave Enhamed his fourth individual gold and second world record of the meet. Junichi Kawai finished second in 27.16, while Alexander Chekurov of Russia took third in 27.26.

Florence Gravellier and Arlette Racineux of France defeated the United States' Beth Arnoult of Hawai'i and Kaitlyn Verfuerth, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, to capture the bronze medal in women's wheelchair tennis doubles at the Paralympics in Beijing today.

The United States had another four-gold winner in Jessica Long, who fell short in an effort for a fifth gold Sunday and finished fifth in the 50 freestyle. Long won gold in the 100 butterfly, 100 freestyle, 200 individual medley and 400 free. She also won silver in the 100 backstroke and bronze in the 100 breaststroke.

Pistorius, who runs on carbon-fiber blades, won the 200 meters in 21.67 seconds. He pulled away down the stretch, defeating Jim Bob Bizzell of the United States by nearly a second.