PARIS.- The Venezuelan Naibys Morillo broke the Paralympic record for the F46 javelin throw on Friday and won his delegation’s third gold medal in these competitions. Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
With a throw of 43.77 metres, the 24-year-old parathlete claimed her first medal at the Paralympic Games, beating Uzbekistan’s Shahinakhon Yigitalieva (43.12m) and Britain’s Hollie Arnold (40.59), the current Paralympic record holder.
The young Venezuelan, who already won the title in this event at the 2023 Parapan American Games held in Chile, had finished on the brink of the podium at the previous Paralympic event (Tokyo 2020), in fourth place.
Morillo did not spare this time, competing in the category that brings together athletes with moderately limited movement in one or both arms, or missing a limb.
Tribute to murdered athlete
The city of Paris will pay tribute to slain athlete Rebecca Cheptegei by naming a sports venue after her, the mayor of the French capital, Anne Hidalgo, announced on Friday.
Cheptegei, who competed in the marathon at the Olympics last August, died on Thursday, four days after a man claiming to be her partner set her on fire in Kenya.
“She dazzled us in Paris. We saw her. Her beauty, her strength, her freedom. And it was probably her beauty, strength and freedom that was intolerable for the person who committed this murder,” Hidalgo told reporters.
“Paris will not forget her. We will dedicate a sports venue to her so that her memory and history will remain with us and help us to transmit the message of equality, which is the message of the Olympic and Paralympic Games,” added Hidalgo.
