Live: Aussie Petricola breaks world record as Paralympic title defence continues in Paris

Spain has extended its lead over Australia, up 33-25 at half time in their men’s wheelchair basketball preliminary game.

There were promising signs from the Rollers in the second quarter, 19-year-old Jaylen Brown is leading the way at the moment with 11 points and providing plenty of energy.

18-year-old Eithen Leard has also had some bright moments, including a brilliant assist for Tristan Knowles closing in on half-time.

But there’s still a bit of work to if they’re to overhaul this deficit.

At Stade de France, Australia’s Corey Anderson placed sixth in the men’s F38 javelin final.

Anderson, the 2019 world champion in the event, produced a best performance of 49.34m.

Colombia’s José Lemos won gold with a world record of 63.81m.

He broke his previous global mark of 61.76m, which he set last November.

Australia’s Darren Hicks has missed out on a berth in the medal races in the men’s C2 3,000m individual pursuit.

Hicks was fifth on the overall standings with a time of 3:33.098,  finishing one spot away from the bronze medal race .

He was on the track at the same time France’s Alexandre Léauté broke his own world record via a time of 3:24.298.

Defending gold medallist Léauté had seen his Paralympic record fall to Belgian Ewoud Vromant earlier in the qualifying round.

But he recaptured the Paralympic mark with his superb effort, setting up an blockbuster final against Vromant.

Spain has made a fast start to its preliminary round men’s wheelchair basketball game, leading Australia 19-12 at quarter- time. 

The Rollers have struggled defensively and haven’t been able to keep pace with the Spainards, so will need to lift significantly to get things back on track.

The rain has eased at Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium, meaning Nikki Ayers and Jed Altschwager have finally been able to contest the PR3 mixed double sculls heats.

They are the dominant pair in the event and the overwhelming gold medal favourites, and they showed why with an emphatic win to progress to the final, nearly 13 seconds clear of the second placed French duo.

Australia is currently taking on Spain in its second preliminary round game.

The Rollers lost to the Netherlands in the early hours of this morning, so they haven’t had much time to re-group.

Captain Tristan Knowles said the team’s opening performance was “clunky” and “disappointing”, so they’ll be primed to have a better performance tonight.

WORLD RECORD!!

What a performance from Australia’s Emily Petricola, who set a world record for the women’s C4 3,000m individual pursuit in the qualifying round in Paris.

Petricola posted a time of 3:35.856 to break the previous world mark (3:38.061) she set at the Tokyo Paralympics three years ago.

She will defend her Paralympic title in the gold medal race at 11:25pm (AEST).

Australian teammate Meg Lemon finished sixth on the standings with a time of 3:49.703.

A fantastic result from Australia’s Korey Boddington, who produced the best factored time of 1:01.190 in the qualifying round of the men’s C4-5 1,000m time trial.

Boddington’s finish time of 1:02.021 was a C4 Paralympic record and he advanced to the final, which will be held later tonight at 10:52 (AEST).

In the women’s C4 3,000m individual pursuit qualifying stage, Australia’s Meg Lemon stopped the clock in 3:49.703 to sit in provisional first place on the standings.

Australia’s Tokyo gold medallist Emily Petricola is still to come.

The two fastest of the eight para cyclists will move through to the gold medal race.

The next two fastest will contest for the bronze medal.

Australia’s co-flagbearer at the opening ceremony, Madison de Rozario, has enjoyed her first outing at the Paralympics.

At a rainy Stade de France, she was second behind American Susannah Scaroni in the first heat of the women’s T54 5000m, to go through to the final.

In addition to this event, de Rozario is also competing in the 1500m and will defend her title in the marathon.

Despite winning gold in the 800m in Tokyo, she’s opted not to race it in Paris, preferring to focus on the longer events.

Hi Bec,

Thanks for joining us on the blog. We do have the medal emojis on the pinned post as we update it. With the swimming heats wrapped up you can now see the final times for early tomorrow morning.

And unfortunately ABC Radio didn’t get the broadcast rights for the Paralympics, so we’ll do our best here to bring it all to life for you.

It was a nervous wait, but the Australian quartet of Grant “Scooter” Patterson, Ahmed Kelly, Holly Warn, and Chloe Osborn have claimed a spot in the final of the mixed 4x50m freestyle relay 20 points.

They had to wait until the second heat was finished to see if their time was quick enough – and they snuck in as the eighth fastest qualifier.

Great scenes though as they celebrated making it through as if they’d won a medal!

We agree!

After Ameera Lee’s win earlier, Melissa-Anne Tanner has followed suit, winning her 1/16 elimination round of the women’s individual compound open event.

Tanner beat Costa Rica’s Maria del Pilar Riveros 137-133.

That means she’s into the 1/8 elimination round, after that its quarterfinals, semis, and then the medal match ups.

Rain has delayed competition in the Para rowing at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.

It’s been delayed until at least 8:15pm AEST, with heats of the PR2 mixed double sculls, PR3 mixed double sculls, and PR3 mixed coxed four still to come.

Adelaide based duo Nikki Ayers and Jed Altschwager are the hot favourites for the new event of the PR3 mixed double sculls, proving near unbeatable since they teamed up.

Tim Hodge has secured his spot in the men’s 100m breaststroke S8 final, finishing second in his heat.

It was an incredibly close heat, the first six swimmers were separated by just 0.88 of a second. 

The second heat was faster though, so Hodge is fifth fastest overall.

He has a packed schedule in Paris, this is the second of his five individual events, after finishing fourth in the men’s 400m freestyle S9 on night one.

Australia’s Sam McIntosh finished sixth in his heat of the men’s T52 400m.

Rain at Stade de France made for less than ideal conditions, with four-time Paralympian McIntosh posting a time of 1:10.33.

The first three in each of the two heats qualified for the final, as did the next two fastest across both races.

Japan’s Tomoki Sato, the defending champion, won the heat in 58.04.

Earlier, Belgium’s reigning world champion Maxime Carabin broke Sato’s T52 Paralympic record when he triumphed in the opening heat via a time of 54.48.

Carabin holds the T52 world record for the one-lap event, having clocked 52.00 last February.

A world record has fallen at Stade de France, as Brazil’s Júlio Cesar Agripino wins gold in the men’s 5,000m T11 final.

The Brazilian ran a time of 14:48.85 to break the world mark previously held by countryman Yeltsin Jacques, who finished third in 14:52.61.

Kenya Karasawa of Japan won silver in 14:51.48.

The previous world record held by Jacques was 14:53.97.

Keira Stephens is through to the final of the women’s 100m breaststroke SB9, finishing just behind Dutchwoman Lisa Kruger in her heat.

Stephens won bronze in this event in Tokyo.

Hello Paralympic loving friends! I’m Amanda Shalala joining Luke on the blog tonight, and we’re back at Paris La Défense Arena for day two of the swimming heats.

There are only three Australians in the pool tonight – Keira Stephens and Tim Hodge in their respective 100m breaststroke heats, and the mixed 4x50m freestyle relay 20 points.

Will keep you posted with all the results.