São Paulo – Tunisia won nine gold, five silver and five bronze medals and had the best performance in the London Paralympics, which ended on Sunday. The country was in 14th place in the general standings, ahead of Cuba, France, Spain, Canada and New Zealand, among others.
Of the nine gold medals won by the Tunisians, two were obtained by Walid Ktila, in the 100 metres and 200 metres for people with cerebral palsy and in wheelchairs. Abderrahim Zhiou won the 800m and 1.500m races in athletics for those with visual deficiencies. He also won silver in the 5,000 metres and bronze in the marathon. Mohamed Chida won gold in the 400 metres among those with cerebral palsy who are not in wheelchairs; and Mahmoud Khaldi, in the 400 metres for the visually impaired.
Among the women, Maroua Ibrahmi, aged 23, won gold in club throw among those in wheelchairs who suffered central nervous system damage, poliomyelitis or amputations. In this competition, athletes throw a weight after spinning their wheelchairs. The winner is the one who throws the furthest. Ibrahmi also won bronze in shot put. In another weight throwing category, for dwarves, the Tunisian Raoua Tlili won the gold. Neda Bahi won in the 400 metres for those with cerebral palsy who do not use wheelchairs.
Algeria ended the Paralympics in 26th place, with four gold, six silver and nine bronze medals. Abdellatif Baka won gold in the 800 metres for the visually impaired. Mohamed Berrahal won in discus for those in wheelchairs and also won bronze in the 100 metros athletics. Kamel Kardjena won in the shot put for wheelchair users with cerebral palsy.
Among the Algerian ladies, Saifi Nassima won the discus gold medal for athletes with cerebral palsy in wheelchairs. Algeria also won three bronze medals in Judo: for men up to 60 kilograms, up to 66 kilograms, and for women over 70 kilograms.
The Egyptian Paralympic athletes left London with four gold medals, all in weightlifting: Mohamed Eldib won in the category up to 100 kilograms, Sherif Othman, up to 56 kilograms, and Hany AbdelHady, up to 90 kilograms. Fatma Omar was the winner for women up to 56 kilograms.
The Egyptians, who came in 28th place in the general classification, also won four silver medals: one in male weightlifting, two in female weightlifting and one in shot put for those with cerebral palsy not in wheelchairs. Of the seven bronze medals, one was for javelin for males in wheelchairs, another for male shot put for wheelchair users, three in male weightlifting, one in female shot put and one in individual class 4 table tennis, for wheelchair users.
In the 37th position in the general standings, the Moroccans won three gold medals and three bronze. The others went to El Amin Chenteouf, in the 5,000 metres for those with visual deficiencies, to Azzedine Nouiri, in the shot put for those with cerebral palsy and in wheelchairs, and for Najat El Garraa, in discus for dwarves. She also won bronze in shot put.
Also winning bronze was runner Mohamed Amguoun, in the 400 metres for the visually impaired, and runner Abdellillah Mame, in the 800 metres for the visually impaired.
The only gold won by the United Arab Emirates was by Abdulla Alaryani in sports the 50m rifle shooting for those who do not need support for the weapon. The silver was won by Mohamed Hammadi in the 200 for those with cerebral palsy and in wheelchairs. He also won the bronze in the 100 metres in the same category. The country came in 46th place in the general standings.
The Iraqis came in the 60th position on winning a silver medal in male weightlifting for over 100 kilograms. In javelin for dwarves, in turn, the country won silver and bronze.
Saudi Arabia came in last among the Arab nations winning medals, with a silver in male discus for those in wheelchairs with cerebral palsy.
In the general standings, China came in first, with 95 gold, 71 silver and 65 bronze medals. Russia came in second, with 36 gold, 38 silver and 36 bronze medals, followed by Great Britain, with 34 gold, 43 silver and 43 bronze medals. Brasil came in sixth place, with 21 gold, 14 silver and eight bronze medals.
*Translated by Mark Ament
