By Beatriz De La Portilla and Flavia Festa
TOKYO, Japan — Another day of amazing accomplishments and goals falling just short of their aim for Team USA at the Paralympics. Here’s today’s recap of day eight:
In wheelchair basketball, the U.S. men’s team defeated the Turkish team in the quarterfinals 52-45. They spent the first two quarters behind by between 1-4 points, but managed to gain a significant lead by the end of the game, especially due to several consecutive free throws in the final moments of the match.
For today’s athletics medalists, Merrill Trenten managed to win bronze in the men’s long jump T64 with a leap of 7.08 meters.
In the women’s 100m T54, four-time Paralympian Cheri Madsen won bronze with a time of 16.33 seconds, and first-time Paralympian Hannah Dederick followed close behind in fourth place with a time of 16.36.
In the women’s 100m T53 final, Kelsey LeFevour and Yen Hoang came in eighth and ninth respectively, with a time of 17.56 seconds for LeFevour and 18.01 seconds for Hoang.
And as for the heats, Joel Gomez placed 6th with a time of 52.06 in the men’s 400m T13 heat 1, Jaleen Roberts finished second with a time of 13.41 seconds in the women’s 100m T37 heat 2, and David Brown got fourth place in the men’s 100m T11 semi-final 2.
Team USA moves onto semifinals in sitting volleyball after winning 3-0 against the Russian Paralympic Committee. The first and the third set were balanced at first, and towards the end, the U.S. increased their lead point by point.
The second set was entirely dominated by the U.S. team, who won with a 10-point-lead.
In Goalball, the women’s U.S. team moves on into the semi-finals. The U.S. won against ROC 5-3. The first half finished in a tie, and in the second half, the USA was able to score two goals and secure a spot in the medal matches. Team USA will face Brazil on September 2, at 7:30 p.m. Japan standard time.
In shooting, Team USA may have missed the mark. In the R3 Mixed 10 meter Air Rifle Prone, category SH1, Taylor Farmer and Kevin Nguyen placed in 32nd and 36th respectively, and failed to qualify for the final.
In the R5 mixed 10 meter Air Rifle Prone, category SH2, Stetson Bardfield qualified for the final where he finished in the sixth place. On the other hand, Jazmin Almlie and McKenna Geer failed to qualify for the final, and finished in 16th and 34th place respectively.
In swimming, Jessica Long won yet another Paralympic medal. This time it’s a silver in the 100 meter breaststroke SB7, with a time of 1:34.82. In the women’s 200 meter individual medley SM9, Summer Schmit finished in fifth with a time of 2:38.64.
In the 100 meter breaststroke SB13, Team USA won a silver medal in the men’s race with David Henry Abrahams. In the women’s race, for the same classification, Colleen Yong won a bronze medal with the time of 1:15.69.
In the women’s 50 meter freestyle S7, Mallory Weggemann and McKenzie Coan missed the chance for the podium and finished in seventh and eight place respectively.
In road cycling, Team USA won two medals: one gold and one bronze. Oksana Masters won the gold in the women’s H5 while Alicia Dana won bronze in the H1-4 category.
In the men’s H5 category, Alfredo de los Santos finished in fifth place. And in the H4 category, Thomas Davis also finished in fifth place. In the last race at the Fuji international speedway, the men’s H3, Ryan Pinney placed in fourth.
That’s all for now! See you tomorrow and have a great day!
For more photos please check out photos.wheelchairsportsfederation.org
Wheelchair Sports Federation Media 