Hong Kong wins first medal at Paris Paralympics as swimmer Chan Yui-lam clinches silver
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong has won its first medal at the Paralympics in Paris, with swimmer Chan Yui-lam clinching silver in the women’s 100-metre butterfly event.
Chan, 20, came in second place with a time of 1:03.70, a personal best for the swimmer, on Thursday. The UK’s Poppy Maskill won the gold medal, while Russian swimmer Valeria Shabalina secured a bronze medal.
The Paris Games is Chan’s second Paralympics. She qualified for the Tokyo Paralympics, held three years ago, and was the delegation’s youngest athlete at 17, according to the China Hong Kong Paralympic Committee. Chan came in fourth in the 100-metre butterfly event that year.
Chief Executive John Lee congratulated Chan in a statement on Friday, calling her win a showcase of the “extraordinary capabilities of Hong Kong athletes with disabilities.”
“I wish the Hong Kong, China Delegation will continue to achieve remarkable results in other events and unleash their potential to win honour for Hong Kong,” he added.
Chan will also be competing in other swimming events, including freestyle and backstroke, at the Paralympics.
Cheung Ho-ying, who also competed in women’s the 100-metre butterfly event on Thursday, swam a time of 1:10.95 and did not qualify for the finals.
Hong Kong at the Paralympics
Thursday, the first day of the Games, also saw Hong Kong athletes compete in boccia, badminton and archery events.
Five of the city’s six men’s individual boccia athletes won their preliminary rounds. Men’s individual badminton player Chu Man-kai won his first match of the Games.
Meanwhile, archer Ngai Ka-chuen took part in the ranking round on Thursday, used to determine the order of play ahead of the elimination rounds, ranking 30th out of 32 athletes.
The city has 23 athletes competing in the Paralympics across eight sports: archery, athletics, badminton, boccia, equestrian, swimming, table tennis, and wheelchair fencing.
On Friday, Hong Kong athletes will compete in swimming, boccia, badminton and archery events.
Among them are veteran boccia player Leung Yuk-wing and shuttler Chu. Both took home medals at the Tokyo Games in 2021, with Leung winning a silver and bronze medal, and Chu clinching silver in the men’s singles. Hong Kong bagged five medals at the Paralympics that year.
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