Day one in Paris did not disappoint.
The Scots were in action in Para swimming, boccia, wheelchair basketball, Para cycling (track), Para table tennis and Para archery.
First up was Toni Shaw who swam a great heat to secure her spot in the final of the women’s 400m freestyle S9 with a time of 4:53.38. It was a highly competitive race where the swimmer from Aberdeen found herself in a five-way battle for bronze.
Turning seventh at the 250m mark, Toni put in one of the fastest last 50m splits in the field, touching home with a time of 4:48.44 for fifth place. Despite being off the medals, her performance was faster than her bronze medal winning swim at last year’s World Championships.
Robyn Love and Jodie Waite got their Paralympic campaign off to a terrific start with a convincing win in the women’s wheelchair basketball Preliminary Round against Spain, winning 69-34.
Robyn – who’s competing at her third Paralympic Games in Paris – said: “In these group stages, you can’t get too high or too low but I’m so proud of the squad and how we performed”.
Compared to the last Paralympics where no spectators were allowed, Paris is proving to be quite special for Robyn, with her young daughter in the crowd.
“She’s like a little good luck charm and emotional support baby for the squad and she’s definitely part of the team. The first thing I did when I came out was look for her. Whenever I see her face it makes me relaxed because I know that whatever I do, she doesn’t care about the result she’s here to watch her mummies and see her mummies and I went and had a little cuddle with her afterwards”, said Robyn.
Winning ways continued in the boccia with Patrick Wilson (BC3) and Stephen McGuire (BC4 v Abdul Razzaq Abdul Rahman, MAS) taking their opening pool matches in the individual events, 5-3 and 8-0 respectively.
Following his win against fellow ParalympicsGB teammate, William Arnott, Patrick said: “It was a difficult match but I got through it. It was important to get through it. It’s always a bit awkward to play against a teammate but we did it in the right way. I’m excited to get out there and try to get my second win. I’ve got to be good to do that.”
It wasn’t to be for Kayleigh Haggo though, who suffered a defeat to the number three seed Soyeong Jeong (KOR). She lost 3-1 in the women’s individual BC2.
In the men’s B 4000m individual Pursuit (track cycling), Neil Fachie and pilot Matthew Rotherham finished in 13th, clocking a time of 5:33.212 in the qualification round. They’ll next be in action on Sunday 1st, in the men’s B 1000m Time Trial qualification.
Meanwhile in the Para table tennis, debutant Martin Perry coupled with Will Bayley in the men’s doubles MD14, advance to the next round after a 3-0 win over Germany’s Thomas Rau and Bjoern Schnake.
Martin valued having such an experienced partner to play alongside, saying after the match: “To have Will next to me, filling me with that confidence and knowing that he believes in me, meant that after that I felt like I was standing ten feet tall. We fought for every ball and we played some good stuff. To finally get a match at the Paralympic Games means so much to me.”
The final Scot in action on day one was Nathan Macqueen in the men’s Individual Compound Open. Nathan put in a strong performance to finish sixth with a season’s best score of 696, to take him though to tomorrow’s (30th) round of 16 where he will face Slovakia’s Martin Doric.
Looking ahead to tomorrow he said: “It’s the biggest crowd that any of us have shot in front of. It’s going to be pretty special. And to have the family out there is going to be pretty cool. I’m just going to go and do my best.”
The Paris 2024 Paralympics runs from the 28th August – 8th September. You can follow all the action and find out how the 21 Scottish Para athletes get on by following Scottish Disability Sport on Facebook, X and Instagram, as well as on the SDS website. You can catch all the action on Channel 4. More information here.