As in Tokyo, shooter Natascha Hiltrop will have a gold medal in her luggage on the way home. The wheelchair basketball players can also dream of something historic.
The last attempt is the shot at gold. Sports shooter Natascha Hiltrop has taken first place at the Paralympics. It is the third gold medal for the German team at the Games in France. With the small-bore rifle, the 32-year-old from Bonn narrowly beat Slovakian Veronika Vadovicova. “I’m tired and exhausted, but still incredibly happy and relieved,” said Hiltrop.
The shooter won gold at the Tokyo Games three years ago, but with the air rifle. At the Châteauroux shooting range, she was in sixth place after qualifying. She was in the lead for a long time in the final, but then fell behind Vadovicova. Then her competitor made a mistake and Hiltrop managed to push past the Slovakian with her last attempt. “What happened here today is just amazing,” enthused national coach Rudi Krenn.
Oldest German para-athlete just misses the podium
The oldest German para-athlete, Heidemarie Dresing, narrowly missed out on a medal at the start of the dressage competitions. The 69-year-old opened the competition and finished fourth in starting class II with Dooloop. She was 0.311 percentage points away from bronze.
“I’m a little sad, a little disappointed. But on the other hand, I’m also proud that I managed to do it,” said Dresing. “It was very loud in the stands and my horse didn’t like it in the warm-up area. He was always distracted, very tense and nervous.”
Basketball players convincingly reach the semifinals
The wheelchair basketball players are aiming for their first medal since 1992. Coach Michael Engel’s team beat Spain 57:49 (26:19) and will advance to the semifinals on Thursday. Thomas Böhme impressed with 26 points and 15 rebounds. “World class. Defensively, we did incredibly well against one of the best offensive lines in the world. We really wore them down,” enthused Coach Engel.
Table tennis player Thomas Schmidberger is already one step ahead and has already secured the next medal. With a 3-0 win over Frenchman Florian Merrien, the paraplegic player from Borussia Düsseldorf is not only in the semi-finals, but can also look forward to at least bronze. “It continues on Thursday. I think I’m hard to beat,” said the 32-year-old. Schmidberger already won silver in the doubles with Valentin Baus.
Sitting volleyball players face Bosnia in the semifinals
The German sitting volleyball players lost the final group match against gold contender Iran with the 2.46 meter tall Morteza Mehrzadselakjani in three straight sets with 0:3. “Iran is simply in a different league. Morteza is just a small piece of the puzzle,” said national coach Christoph Herzog.
Their opponent in the semi-finals on Thursday is Bosnia and Herzegovina. “This will be the most important game in recent years. We know we can beat them,” announced Herzog. “All in against Bosnia.”
Source: Stern
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