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French skier Arthur Bauchet won the downhill title at the Beijing Paralympic Games on Saturday (standing category). He thus offers the first gold medal to the French team. His compatriot Hyacinthe Deleplace won bronze in the downhill in the visually impaired category.
It is the first French gold medal. The skier Arthur Bauchet won, Saturday, March 5, the title of the descent (standing category) at the Paralympic Games in Beijing. Aged 21, this Varois licensed at the ski club of Briançon was ahead of the Austrian Markus Salcher and the Swiss Théo Gmür.
A great confirmation for Arthur Bauchet, already multiple world ski champion and who won four silver medals at the Pyeongchang Paralympics in 2018.
“It’s crazy! To hear the Marseillaise, everyone comes for that”, reacted the young skier. “It was a great fight once more today.”
“I said I was coming there to have fun. The pleasure was 100% on the track. What I missed was the result.”
???????? ARTHUR BAUCHET PARALYMPIC CHAMPION ????
After leaving Pyeongchang with 4 silver medals, King Arthur wins the grail in the Downhill event: the gold medal ????
This is just the beginning ????#AllezLesBleus #Pékin2022 pic.twitter.com/YJgaRZUn9C
— Team France (@EquipeFRA) March 5, 2022
Bronze for Deleplace
The French skier Hyacinthe Deleplace won bronze during the descent (visually impaired category), concretizing a successful reconversion following an early career in athletics.
Associated with his guide Valentin Giraud-Moine, the native of Villeurbanne was preceded by the Austrian Johannes Aigner, gold medalist, and the Canadian Mac Marcoux. “I would have liked to do better. Only, I did not put all the ingredients that I had been able to put two days ago (during training). And it is felt directly”, reacted Hyacinthe Deleplace following the race .
The 32-year-old sportsman had won three gold medals at the world championships in Lillehammer this year. A specialist in athletics for a long time, he notably won two junior world championship titles in the 100 and 400 meters in 2007, before starting a career in skiing in recent years.
“I started this project to live these moments. I’m a little disappointed, but happy all the same,” he said on Saturday.
Ukraine shines amid conflict
With three Olympic titles won on Saturday, the Ukrainians dominated this first day of the Paralympic Games.
Vitalii Lukianenko in the sprint (visually impaired), Grygorii Vovchynskyi (standing) and Oksana Shyshkova (visually impaired) all brought home the first gold medals for the Ukrainian delegation, which arrived in Beijing on Wednesday following a long journey. The country is at the top of the nations ranking with seven medals in total including three titles following this first day.
“The medals are of no importance, compared to what our loved ones are going through and the people who have already suffered from the war” in Ukraine, declared Oksana Shyshkova while Lukianenko wanted to dedicate his medal “to the guys who protect our cities”.
For its part, China, which until today had only one medal, gold in curling in 2018, already has eight medals. It has already done better than in its entire history by placing its biathletes Liu Zixu (seated men’s sprint) and Guo Yujie (standing women’s sprint) at the top on Saturday.
The Winter Paralympics take place March 4-13 in Beijing and the surrounding mountains.
With AFP
