Illés Fanni won a silver medal in the 100-meter breaststroke of the SB4 category on the Monday competition day of the Paris Paralympics.
The Hungarian competitor, who started as the defending champion, had the second best time during the morning preliminaries - only the Chinese Zheng Xiao was faster than him by five hundredths of a second - so he was able to swim in lane 5 in the evening finals.
After the preliminaries, he said that he still had energy left for the finals, and as a Paralympic champion, he doesn't feel the pressure. For him, the greatest happiness now is that his two-year-old son, Mór, is there for all his competitions. At the same time, he added that, as usual, he will give everything in the evening.
Vasas' excellence began tactically in the once again sold-out La Défense Arena, where they had three Chinese, two Russians starting in neutral colors, and one each from Spain and Italy in the round of 16.
Although no domestic competitor swam this time, the audience still supported the athletes in the water with a huge roar, and Illés finished in fourth place at 50 meters. In the second half of the distance, he and the Italian Giulia Ghiretti also strengthened, both of them overtook the Chinese Zheng Xiao, who had been leading until then, it seemed that the Hungarian swimmer was leading, but in the end they crossed the finish line almost at the same time.
Only the timekeeper could tell the difference between their performance: the Italian was first, and Illés Fanni was second, only four centuries behind.
The 32-year-old para-athlete - who was born with lower limb deficiency and clubbed fingers - was participating in his fifth Paralympics, and he carried the flag of the Hungarian team at the opening ceremony.
MTI
Cover photo: llés Fanni in the women's 100m breaststroke SB4 final at the Paris La Défense Arena in Nanterre on September 2, 2024. Source: MTI/Koszticsák Szilárd
