Paris Paralympics: Day 5 Highlights

On the fifth day of the Paris Paralympics, medals will be handed out in eight sports on Monday.

Valentina Petrillo will be 1st transgender woman to compete

One of the athletes competing on a packed day of track and field at Stade de France will be 50-year-old Italian Valentina Petrillo, a transgender woman who was raised as a boy.

She is set to become the first transgender woman to compete at the Paralympics when she runs the 400 meters in the T12 classification for visually impaired athletes.

World Athletics last year banned transgender women from competing in the female category at international events if they transitioned after puberty. But its para counterpart, World Para Athletics, has not followed suit.

First up for Petrillo is the 400 heats, where she looks to improve on her personal best of 58.01 seconds. The semifinals are scheduled for the evening at the national stadium.

Feeling sensational?

When the Paris Olympics finished on Aug. 11, the president of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, said at the closing ceremony that they had been Seine-sational.

It was a play on words on the river that snakes through Paris, and it drew only muted laughter from the crowd.

Maybe because the river itself has been far from amusing for triathletes.

The Olympic triathlon was plagued by concerns about the river’s water quality and doubts soon resurfaced at the Paralympics.

After being postponed on Sunday, following rainstorms in the French capital leading to a rise in bacteria levels, organizers rescheduled the 11 para triathlon events for Monday.

But it will only go ahead if upcoming water testing allows, and a decision could come in the very early hours of Monday.

Gold on their minds

Miles Krajewski and Jayci Simon are hoping to clinch the first ever para badminton medal for the United States in the SH6 mixed doubles event for players of short stature.

The two 19-year-olds met in 2016, and they have played together since 2022.

They share the common goal of helping to grow para badminton back home with a Paralympic medal. While both have been eliminated in singles competition, they defeated an Indian team in the semifinals.

With a coveted gold medal on offer, the duo face Lin Naili and Li Fengmei of China at La Chappelle Arena.

Will the Samba beat go on?

Brazil has long been a powerhouse in soccer, winning five World Cups. Prolific scorer Pelé and dribbling wizard Garrincha redefined aspects of the game with their intricate skills and daring attacks.

And Brazil’s Paralympic team has honored that tradition of excellence in blind soccer. Brazil has not lost a match in Paralympic competition since its introduction to the Games in 2004, winning five straight gold medals.

Brazil opened its quest for No. 6 by beating Turkey 3-0 on Sunday and faces host France on Monday night at Eiffel Tower stadium.

Where better to topple a giant? But France has its work cut out.

Spearheading Brazil’s team is Jefferson Goncalves Mizael Oliveira — known as Jefinho. The speedy 34-year-old is gunning for his fifth consecutive gold medal.

Women eye medals in wheelchair rugby

Three Australian women could leave the Paralympics with a medal as wheelchair rugby concludes at Champ de Mars Arena, next to the Eiffel Tower.

Australia has an unprecedented three women on its 12-player team and is contesting the bronze-medal match against Great Britain.

There could be a female gold medalist, too, with 33-year-old Kae Kurahashi representing finalist Japan.

She suffered a cervical spinal cord injury in a trampoline accident when she was a university student, and was introduced to wheelchair rugby during her rehabilitation.