‘Paralympians are amazing!’: Viewers are wowed by ‘inspiring’ athletes on Day One of the Games in Tokyo, including an armless table tennis star who plays with a bat in his MOUTH and the swimmer who uses a towel between his TEETH to push off!
- Dame Sarah Storey dominated after winning her 15th Paralympic gold medal
- But she was one of many star performers on the opening day of the Tokyo Games
- Egypt’s Ibrahim Hamadtou wowed with his unique table tennis technique
- Brazil’s Gabriel Geraldo dos Santos Araujo won silver in the men’s backstroke
Viewers watching the Paralympics have admitted to being ‘wowed’ by the performances of ‘inspiring’ athletes on the opening day of the Tokyo Games.
Dame Sarah Storey dominated the headlines after winning the C5 3,000m individual pursuit for GB’s first gold of the Games and her fifteenth overall.
The 43-year-old broke her own world record in the qualifier but she was just one of many Paralympics athletes – including Ibrahim Hamadtou and Gabriel Geraldo dos Santos Araujo – who left audiences around the world mesmerised by their performances.
Paralympians including Ibrahim Hamadtou wowed viewers across the world on the opening day of the Tokyo Games
He wowed once again despite losing to Korea’s Park Hong-Kyu in class 6 on Wednesday
‘To all the paralympians, you are all truly amazing and inspirational. Good luck to all competing in the #Paralympics,’ one said.
‘So am I, well of all our Paralympians they’re so inspiring even more so than some of our Olympians what they’ve had to overcome,’ another added.
Egyptian table tennis star Hamadtou’s arms were amputated when he was only ten years old after a train accident.
To play table tennis, he has since held his bat in his mouth, and after wowing with his technique at Rio in 2016, he once again impressed against Korean Park Hong-Kyu in class 6, reserved for athletes with severe deficiencies in their arms and legs.
He was defeated 3-0 but said after the game: ‘I’m sad about the loss, but I hope to win the next match.’
Gabriel Geraldo dos Santos Araujo used a towel between his teeth to push off in the backstroke
Meanwhile, Brazilian swimmer Gabriel Geraldo dos Santos Araujo also has a limb deficiency put took part and won silver in the men’s 100-metre backstroke S2 competition.
Viewers were stunned after he pushed off by clutching a towel in his mouth because he does not have any arms, but that did not stop him from recording a time of two minutes 2.47 seconds.
The gold medal was grabbed by Alberto Abarza of Chile with a time of two minutes 0.4 seconds, while Russian Olympic Committee swimmer Vladimir Danilenko won bronze.
But it only inspired him to win silver in the men’s 100-metre backstroke S2 competition
Dame Sarah Storey stole the headlines for ParalympicsGB after her fifteenth gold medal