In a heart-wrenching close call, Greta Streimikyte yet again finished just outside the medal positions at her third consecutive Paralympics, despite setting a new European record in the T13 1,500m final at Stade de France on a recent Saturday evening.
Streimikyte, having previously missed out on a medal in the 2016 Rio games where she placed fourth, and the fifth spot in Tokyo three years earlier, was left lingering in the fourth position once more. The 29-year-old in this race clocked a time of 4:32.28, slicing almost a second off her own European record, previously set at 4:33.27 at the Para Athletics World Championship, which earned her qualification for these games.
However, her personal best still stands at 4:29.33, recorded at the non-major international competition, the AAI Games at Morton Stadium in June 2021, hence it wasn’t eligible for official record consideration.
In the race, Streimikyte was initially placed second after the opening lap but was eventually overtaken by a fast-approaching cluster of runners, causing her to slip to the sixth spot. She finally managed to rally herself to finish a strong final lap, even surpassing Somaya Bousaid, but by then the leading trio had dashed far ahead.
The victorious Ethiopian athlete, defending champion Tigist Gezahagn Mengistu, crossed the finish line first with 4:22.39, followed by Morocco’s Fatima Ezzahra El Idrissi with 4:22.98 and USA’s Liza Corso who managed a time of 4:23.45, pushing Streimikyte’s new European record time of 4:32.28 to fourth best in the contest. This time nevertheless represented the quickest she ran this season, bettering her previous 2021 best time of 4:35.84. Yet the elusive Paralympic medal slipped out of her reach again.
Coming in fourth place, although an uncomfortable position for me, seems to be the recurring narrative of this season. I hope it won’t continue for long,” she voiced her feelings post-race.
Even though this season did not unfold as well as I envisaged, setting my Season’s Best (SB) offers some contentment – the statistics say it all. I’m gratified I managed to draw out an unexpected performance.
Regrettably, ending in fourth place seems to be a frequent occurrence for the Irish contestants at these Games; with Róisín Ní Riain and Ellen Keane, both swimmers, just falling short of the medal range during the first and second-day competitions respectively.
Reflecting on her own event, Streimikyte disclosed, “I think I was too far off the mark to contend for the medals, albeit I offered my best shot.
I could surely feel the strain. My legs were slightly unstable, which shows that I truly exerted myself. I’m unsure about any possible regrets, but I undeniably put in my maximum effort.”
During the morning track session, Shauna Bocquet ranked eighth in the final round of the historically swift T54 5,000m race.
Bocquet, a 20-year-old competitor hailing from Galway on her debut at the Paralympic games, met her match among the top athletes worldwide. She posted a time of 11:50.85.
The golden accolade went to Switzerland’s Catherine Debrunner with a time of 10:43:62, shaving nine seconds off the existing Paralympic record. Coming in second was American Susannah Scaroni (10:45.18) followed by Australian Madison de Rozario clinching the bronze with a time of 11:10.20.
Reflecting on her event, Bocquet said “It was noticeably more fierce compared to the previous day’s heat, I had foreseen a rigorous start and it indeed took off aggressively. However, I’m quite pleased with my performance”.
I clung on to a fellow contender and we worked collaboratively for most of the race; it devised a successful strategy, we took alternating laps.
“The atmosphere in the stadium is awe-inspiring. The cheering every time we circled the track was incredibly encouraging. Competing at the Paralympic Games and being part of the finals is simply wonderful,” she concluded.
Bocquet still has the 1,500m and 100m races on his schedule. Meanwhile, two fresh Irish records were set at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome on Saturday. Ronan Grimes accomplished a second Irish record, this time in the C4 4000m individual pursuit qualifier with a time of 4:28.859. Despite his excellent performance, his fifthplace was insufficient to secure a spot in the final.
In the qualification stage of the C1-3 500m time trial, Richael Timothy landed the 10th position, setting a national record and personal best of 41.937. “I’m overjoyed. I couldn’t have pushed myself more,” Timothy expressed. “The 500 is obviously a sprint specialist event but I resolved to participate – for the experience, the warm-up and everything else.”
In the world of para-rowing, Katie O’Brien and Tiarnán O’Donnell secured fourth place in the PR2 mixed double sculls repechage with a time of 8.40.85. They advance to the B final scheduled for Sunday morning at 9.10am. France clocked 8.29.61 and Ukraine finished at 8.30.81, both qualifying for the A final.
“The outcome wasn’t as we had hoped, but we will retire tonight assured that we delivered our best. It’s premature to count us out of the contest yet. We still have more to offer, and we’re setting our sights on the LA games as well,” O’Donnell offered after the repechage.