In the space of one night, the Czech Republic managed to move up ten places in the provisional ranking of the Tokyo Paralympic Games thanks to the obtaining of three new charms. The Czech Republic now has six medals: two in gold, two in silver and two in bronze.
Peška wins gold in boccia
The feat of this Wednesday undoubtedly goes to Adam Peška who distinguished himself in boccia, a sport close to petanque, by winning first place. Suffering from Duchenne muscular dystrophy since his childhood, the new 24-year-old champion competed in the BC3 category, reserved for athletes with significant motor difficulties. Despite her young age, Peška had already won the world championship in Canada in 2019. This new medal, however, constitutes her first Paralympic title.
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3 archery medals
Adam Peška therefore offered the Czech Republic their second gold medal. The first was won by quadriplegic archer David Drahonínský on Monday.
Aged 39 and from Prague, David Drahonínský has rediscovered a taste for gold, thirteen years after a first victory at the Beijing Games. The gap remained thin until the end between Drahonínský and the Turkish Türkmenoğlu. But the concentration, patience and skill of the Czech finally got the better of his opponent, as he congratulated himself on the microphone of the special envoy of Czech Radio:
“I tried to go step by step, to follow my routine. Fortunately, it worked, even though the Turks are prepared to crush their opponents. “
After a silver medal in London in 2012 and two medals, silver and bronze, in Rio in 2016, Drahonínský was determined to go as far as possible this year to repeat his achievement of 2008:
“You don’t fight for a gold medal at the Paralympic Games every day. I was well aware of this chance and I am particularly happy that this victory rewards the hard work I have done over the past two years. “
Subject to sleepwalking, Drahonínský lost his full motor skills after falling from a window at the age of fifteen. Coming back to Prague with a second Olympic gold medal in his tracksuit pocket is above all a personal victory for him.
This was not his first medal in Tokyo, however. On Saturday, alongside Šárka Musilová, he gave the Czech Republic their first podium finish by winning silver in the mixed event. His compatriot testifies:
“I’m happy, of course, that we as a team were able to make silver in archery. […] David introduced me to this sport and, therefore, when I say that he is a hero, he is above all my own hero. He showed me what was beautiful about shooting and competing with him is always a great experience for me. Today it’s not just about shooting anymore. We started working together before the Rio Games, then we went through the competitions and now we can both say that we are a real team. “
This Wednesday, Musilová once again revealed his archery skills. The Czech won a second silver medal in the individual event.
Bronze in shot put and table tennis
With a delegation made up of twenty-eight athletes, the smallest in its history, the Czech Republic is represented in eight of the twenty-two disciplines on the program of the XVI Paralympic Games.
In addition to the boccia title and their three archery medals, the Czechs also distinguished themselves in the shot put on Sunday and in table tennis on Wednesday. Table tennis players Jiří Suchánek and Petr Svatoš climbed to the third step of the podium in the doubles after beating their Thai opponents. Finally, with a throw to 8.25 meters, the shot putter Aleš Kisý also obtained bronze and at the same time his first Olympic success.
