GB win three golds in rowing in Paris

Great Britain celebrated three golds and a silver in Para-rowing after the triathlon was postponed on Sunday morning at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

Lauren Rowles went into the history books as the first British rower to win three Paralympic golds in the PR2 mixed double sculls.

Rowles celebrated the stunning victory alongside Gregg Stevenson, a former Royal Engineer commando, at the Vaires-sur-Marne Stadium.

Benjamim Pritchard led the charge with victory in the men’s PR1 single sculls followed by gold for the PR3 mixed double sculls and silver for the PR3 mixed coxed four.

There will be more medal chances later in the pool and athletics after GB athletes got through the qualifiers.

Alice Tai will be going for her second gold in the women’s SM8 200m individual medley, along with Brock Whiston. Bruce Dee, Callie-Ann Warrington and Faye Rogers will also be hoping to win a medal after securing final places at La Defense Arena.

And at the Stade de France, all eyes will be on Hannah Cockcroft, who will be hoping to make it four Paralympic golds in a row in the women’s T34 100m. She will be joined by team-mates Kare Adenegan and Fabienne Andre.

Jonnie Peacock’s campaign for a third Paralympic gold medal will also get underway in the men's T64 100m.

But there was disappointment for GB’s 11 Para-triathletes when all the Para-triathlon races were postponed by 24-hours due to the poor water quality in the River Seine.

And finally, the morning began with the happy news that US Para-archer Tracy Otto has become engaged to her partner Jason Tabansky.

ParalympicsGB had a near-perfect morning with three golds and a silver from four straight races at the Vaires-sur-Marne Stadium.

Rowles, 26, looked elated after claiming that historic third Paralympic gold in the PR2 mixed doubles with former Royal Engineer commando Stevenson after a thrilling final.

It was stunning victory. The Brits had been more than a boat length behind China’s Shang Liu and Jijian Jian but moved up the gears in the last 300m to beat them on the line.

The pair had been the overwhelming favourites going into the final having set a new world record in the qualifying heats.

Rowles also won the race at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 with former partner Laurence Whitely.

On their narrow victory, Rowles said: “It’s the Paralympic Games, you either show up or you show out and I said that in the first race that it was going to come down to the line.

“The level of competition is high and I said to Gregg, when I say go you go and he did that today and we just went for it. [We] stayed in our lane, did our own thing and came through as champions.”

Benjamin Pritchard had led the medal charge with gold in the men’s PR1 single sculls ahead of Italy’s Giacomo Perini, after also setting a Paralympic record in qualifying.

Great Britain’s PR3 mixed coxed four crew continued the golden run. Frankie Allen, Giedre Rakauskaite, Josh O’Brien and Ed Fuller, coxed by Erin Kennedy, retained the title they won in Tokyo.

And to finish off the morning, GB’s Annabel Caddick and Samuel Murray secured silver in the PR3 mixed double sculls after holding off the threat of German duo Jan Helmich and Hermine Krumbein. Australia’s Nikki Ayers and Jed Altschwager claimed the gold.

Maisie Summers-Newton will be hoping to complete a double-double by defending her 100m SB6 breaststroke Paralympic title later on Sunday (16:37).

The 22-year-old has already successfully retained her 200m SM6 individual medley gold in Paris.

Alice Tai, who won the women’s S8 100m backstroke, will be going for a second title after qualifying in impressive style in the SM7 200m individual medley. She will be joined by team-mate Brock Whiston in the final (17:06).

Bruce Dee will also be hoping to get on the podium in the men’s SB6 men’s 100m breaststroke (16:30). And team-mate Callie-Ann Warrington also qualified for the women’s S10 100m freestyle final (16:51).

Hannah Cockcroft will be hoping to make it four Paralympic golds in a row in the women’s T34 100m at the Stade de France.

She overpowered the field in her heat that included compatriot Fabienne Andre, who came through in second in 19.03, just under two seconds behind Cockroft’s time of 17.12.

Jonnie Peacock’s campaign for a third Paralympic gold medal will also get underway in the men's T64 100m.

Also with a podium place in their sights are Samantha Kinghorn in the women's T53 800m final and Sabrina Fortune in the F20 women's shot put.

The Para-triathlon events at the Paris 2024 Paralympics have been postponed by 24 hours because of poor water quality in the River Seine.

GB had 11 triathletes competing in the races, which had been due to take place on Sunday, but heavy rain in Paris has caused water quality in the Seine to drop, World Triathlon said in a statement.

And finally, US Para-archer Tracy Otto announced her engagement to her partner Jason Tabansky on Sunday.

The 28-year-old athlete, who was left paralysed from the chest down after she was attacked by an ex-partner, wrote on Instagram: “I may not have won a medal today but I am going home with something shiny”

Otto took up Para-archery after the attack in 2019 and has had a meteoric rise in the sport. She won gold in the W1 individual at the 2023 Parapan American Games.