BarcelonaValles swimmer Sarai Gascón, 28, has won her seventh Paralympic medal at the Tokyo Paralympic Games after revalidating the silver medal she had already won five years ago at the Rio de Janeiro Games in the 100-meter freestyle final in category S9. In addition, Terrassa has set a new European record in this category with a time of 1 minute, 2 seconds 77 cents and finished just behind the champion, Sophie Pascoe, from New Zealand. Gascon had won the silver medal in the 100 breaststroke in 2008 in Beijing when he was just 16 years old. In London he won a silver in 100 butterfly and bronze in 100 pounds in 2012. And at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games came three silver medals in the 100 pounds, 100 butterfly and 200 styles. Gascón, who at the age of 9 was training with other children despite missing half his birth arm, now has the challenge of winning a gold medal.
Her parents enrolled her in a swimming course when she was three years old, but a coach understood her potential and at the age of 14 she was already a world champion, the first of her 13 medals in a World Cup. “I’ve always competed, I’ve always had a good time in the pool”, explains a swimmer who admits that she never imagined “that I could win medals”: “Swimming was a way to compete with myself, to enjoy …, but once you have a medal you want more. ” In both Rio and Tokyo, it has fallen to tenths of a gold. But he still has opportunities to make the leap to the top of the podium.
Also today, the Baix Llobregat cyclist Sergio Garrote won gold in the H2 class time trial. The Viladecans runner won with a time of 31 minutes, 23 seconds and 53 cents ahead of the Italian Luca Mazzone on a circuit on Mount Fuji.
CN Sabadell table tennis player Jordi Morales, meanwhile, has secured a medal in the doubles tournament, teaming with Álvaro Varela, in qualifying for the semifinals. In case of losing the semifinals, Morales and Varela would secure the bronze medal, although their challenge is to fight for gold in the final.
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