Despite breaking the T44 long jump world record at the Stade de France, Mpumelelo Mhlongo finished only fifth, a result shaped by the complexities of the Paralympic classification system, Cape {town} Etc reports.
Also read: Mpumelelo Mhlongo claims South Africa’s first gold at 2024 Paralympics
Mhlongo, already the T44 world record holder with a jump of 7.07m, faced stiff competition from T62 and T64 athletes.
Germany’s Markus Rehm, a T64 jumper, soared to 8.13m to claim gold, while Mhlongo raised his world record to 7.12m but still fell short of the podium.
🚨 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐋𝐃 𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐃 🚨
Mpumelelo Mhlongo sets a new World Record in the Men’s T44 Long Jump category 🔥
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Team South Africa added two more bronze medals to their tally at the Paris 2024 Paralympics on Wednesday.
Cyclist Pieter du Preez secured bronze in the men’s H1 individual time trial, while the wheelchair tennis duo of Donald Ramphadi and Lucas Sithole shone in the quad doubles, boosting Team SA’s medal count to four.
ATHLETICS
- Men’s F46 shot put, final: Kerwin Noemda produced a best effort of 15.63m, his first attempt, placing him 5th.
- Men’s T64 long jump, final (World record): Mpumelelo Mhlongo (T44) finished fifth in the final with a best leap of 7.12m. Gold went to the T64 athlete Markus Rehm of Germany with 8.13m.
- Women’s T37 100m, heats: Sheryl James finished 3rd in her heat in 13.69 to qualify for the final
CYCLING
- Men’s H1 Individual Time Trial (Bronze) Pieter du Preez finished third in 36:07.05
EQUESTRIAN
- Individual event, Grade IV: Philippa Johnson-Dwyer finished 14th on Just In Time with 63.889 points
SWIMMING
- Men’s S7 50m freestyle, heats: Christian Sadie finished 4th in his heat in 29.27 and qualified 7th fastest for the evening final.
- Men’s S7 50m freestyle, final: Christian Sadie finished 7th in an African record 28.75
- Women’s SB12 100m freestyle, heats: Alani Ferreira finished 6th in her heat in 1:09.69 and failed to progress to the final.
WHEELCHAIR TENNIS
- Quad doubles (Bronze): Donald Ramphadi and Lucas Sithole beat Pena and Silva (Brazil) 6-2, 4-6, [10-8]
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