Penny Briscoe OBE, Chef de Mission of ParalympicsGB at Paris 2024, said: “ParalympicsGB has achieved so many milestones at these Games, I couldn’t be prouder of each and every team member for their fantastic performance over 11 exciting days of competition here in Paris.
“To finish these Games with 49 gold medals and 124 overall – more than what we achieved in Tokyo – is a testament to our incredible athletes, coaches and support staff and the years and months of dedicated hard work they have all put in. At each Paralympic Games we see the competition from around the world getting tougher and tougher, so it is truly special to return home with so many fantastic performances from the whole team.”
The rush for gold medals began in the pool with Games debutant Poppy Maskill in the 100m butterfly S14 and continued across the 11 days of competition – day four was a notable high point as ParalympicsGB won 12 gold medals – the highest number on a single day this century. On day nine the team claimed its 42nd gold medal – surpassing the number won in Tokyo, with two more days of competition to go.
Maskill’s medal collection of three gold and two silver made her the most successful athlete on the team, but other young stars also showed plenty of promise: ParalympicsGB’s youngest athlete, 13-year-old Iona Winnifrith, won her first Paralympic medal, a silver in the 100m breaststroke SB7. Another name for the future is undoubtedly 14-year-old Bly Twomey, who won two Para table tennis bronze medals in the women’s singles WS7 and the doubles WS14 with Fliss Pickard.
Dame Sarah Storey already had 18 Paralympic medals to her name at the time of Winnifrith’s birth – at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo she became ParalympicsGB’s most successful Paralympian of all time with 17 gold medals and 28 medals in total. The 46-year-old added two more Para-cycling gold medals to this incredible tally on the streets of the French capital at her ninth Games in Paris.
Every member of ParalympicsGB’s 10-strong rowing squad won a medal in Paris, including 26-year-old Lauren Rowles, who made history by becoming the first Para-rower to win gold medals at three consecutive Games.
