PARIS, 1 Sep. (by EUROPA PRESS special correspondent Ramón Chamorro) –
Triathlon will be the star of the show on Monday, 24 hours later, during the fifth day of competition for the Spanish delegation at the Paralympic Games in Paris, with many chances of winning medals as it did three years ago in Tokyo.
The triathlon could not be held on Sunday as planned because the water quality of the River Seine was not “suitable” and, after confirmation from the organisation, it seems that it will be held on Monday where the Spanish team, larger (14 athletes) than three years ago in the capital, will try to improve on the four medals obtained three years ago.
Susana Rodríguez, the 2021 champion, is one of the favourites in the visually impaired category and she is joined by two other very serious options, such as Dani Molina (PTS3) and Marta Francés (PTS4). Other medallists in Tokyo are also in Paris, such as Héctor Catalá, silver in PTVI, and Alejandro Sánchez Palomero (PTS4) and Eva Moral (wheelchair), who were bronze medallists.
The team is completed by José Luis García, who is returning, Jairo Ruiz, in his third and final Paralympic event, Rakel Mateo (PTS2), also present in 2021, and debutants Lionel Morales (PTS2), Nil Riudavets (PTS4), Andrea Miguélez (PTS5) and Diego Lardón (PTS3).
The other more reliable medal options will come in the pool, where, among the large number of swimmers competing as always, the individual debut of Marta Fernández stands out. The Burgos native, winner of three medals in Tokyo 2020, will swim the 50m backstroke S3, a race she did not swim in the Japanese capital and which is not one of her favourites, although she won bronze in Europe a few months ago.
In athletics, there will only be one chance for a medal, that of Álvaro del Amo in the F11 weight class, where he won bronze at the World Championships last year in Paris, while it will be a key day in wheelchair tennis at Roland Garros, as Martín de la Puente and Dani Caverzaschi will be looking to make it to the quarter-finals against the Dutch Maikel Scheffers and Tom Egberink. In table tennis, Jordi Morales, Álvaro Valera, Miguel Ángel Toledo, Iker Sastre, Alejandro Díaz, Francisco Javier López and Eder Rodríguez, the latter in his second match, will be in action in the individual competition.