Paralympics: Anna Grimaldi and Cameron Leslie fall short in finals
NZ Herald
6 Sep, 2024 09:38 PM3 mins to read
Anna Grimaldi competing in the T47 Long Jump final on day nine of the Paris Paralympics. Photo / Getty Images
Kiwi Paralympians Anna Grimaldi and Cameron Leslie missed out on medals by the narrowest of margins in Paris overnight.
Grimaldi finished fourth in the Women’s Long Jump T47 final – just 1cm off a podium place – in the event in which she won gold at both Tokyo and Rio.
Leslie finished an agonising 0.13 seconds shy of bronze in the Men’s 50m Freestyle S4 final.
Grimaldi’s best jump of 5.75m was just 1cm shy of her gold-medal winning distance at Tokyo 2020. World record-holder Kiara Rodriguez, of Ecuador, bagged the three longest jumps of the competition, with a best of 6.05m.
Dunedin-based Grimaldi claimed bronze in the Women’s 100m T47 earlier in the week, but said she was disappointed with her long jump effort.
“I know I am better than that and I train to be able to handle situations like that,” she said. “I was really nervous.
“I had a good first jump but that foul [in round one] made me more nervous. If I had that 5.75m in my first round it might have calmed my nerves enough to be able to build on it, but I wasn’t able to today.”
Three-time Paralympic champion Leslie produced his best time of the season in the final of the Men’s 50m Freestyle S8.
“This week has been hard, but I am proud of the two swims I’ve had [in the Men’s 50m Freestyle S4]. They were very respectable times for me, and so long as I doing myself proud, I have nothing to be disappointed about. It was super close to a personal best and not forgetting I am 34 years old, and to set personal bests at that age is not easy.”
The race was won by Canadian teenager Sebastian Massabie, with Takayuki Suzuki, of Japan, taking silver and Israel’s Ami Omer the bronze.
“The race was hard, it was a close race, really tough. For a swimmer to smash the world record like that by someone who has come out of the woodwork happens like that in a Paralympic year. It was once Ami and I trading world records and now here we are winning bronze and finishing fourth.”
Leslie is scheduled to race in the Men’s 50m Backstroke S4 later today.
“It gives me confidence ahead of [the backstroke final]. I can sprint and it shows to me that what we are doing in training is on the right path for what we want to do.”
