Swimmer Ellie Challis hails ‘the most incredible day ever’ after Paralympic gold

Quadruple amputee swimmer Ellie Challis celebrated “the most incredible day ever” after claiming Paralympic gold in Paris.

The 20-year-old, who underwent surgery on each of her limbs having contracted meningitis aged 16 months, upgraded the silver she won in Tokyo by securing the S3 50m backstroke title in 53.56 seconds.

Louise Fiddes quickly added the S14 women’s 100m breaststroke crown to Britain’s impressive medal tally after Stephen McGuire won boccia gold.

Pregnant archer Jodie Grinham later won the mixed team compound competition alongside Nathan Macqueen, beating Iran 155-151 in the final.

Challis, who had her legs amputated above the knee and her arms below the elbow, said: “I went to the worlds in 2019 and since then I’ve just gone up and up and up.

“It’s been the most incredible day ever. I was so confident in myself but it’s a swimming race, anything can happen. But wow that was fun.”

Fiddes took inspiration from Challis to win her maiden Paralympic title, holding off the challenge of Brazilian twin sisters Debora and Beatriz Borges Carneiro and adding to the 200m freestyle bronze she won on Saturday.

“I was on the edge of my seat even though she won it by a mile,” she said of Challis.

“If she can do it, I can do it. In Tokyo we both got silver, we both get gold here.”

McGuire earlier claimed his maiden Paralympic medal.

The 40-year-old Scot, who made his debut at London 2012, defeated Colombian Edilson Chica 8-5 to take the BC4 men’s individual title.

McGuire was a late addition to the ParalympicsGB squad for France after recovering from a broken knee and femur sustained during a fall at his home in 2022.

He produced an assured performance at South Paris Arena, with a five-point gain at the third end ultimately proving decisive.

McGuire’s triumph came a day after flatmate David Smith fell short in his quest for a third consecutive individual BC1 title.

“I’ve played this sport for 20 years and I’ve been in every possible final, apart from the Paralympics, I’ve never even been to the podium,” said McGuire.

“I was starting to feel this event was getting away from me, two fourths in London, another fourth in Rio, I didn’t even make the semis in Tokyo, it just shows why you should never give up.

“My flatmate is David Smith and he’s won three golds, he told me to have no regrets and told me not to settle for silver, just go for it.”

British badminton players Dan Bethell and Krysten Coombs were forced to settle for individual silvers.

The 28-year-old Bethell was backed for gold in the SL3 men’s singles by former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp following his opening win over Wojtek Czyz.

But, having been beaten by Pramod Bhagat in the final on the sport’s debut in Tokyo three years ago, Bethell lost a tense showdown 21-14 18-21 23-21 as Kumar Nitesh secured further glory for India.

“It feels devastating, I came here for that gold,” he said. “I got the silver in Tokyo and it was my ambition from the start to go one better but I just couldn’t get it over the line today.”

Speaking about the presence of Klopp in Paris, Bethell added: “I think it was great for the sport, for him to be here and advertise the sport.

“The way the sport’s been run, the crowds we’ve had, is going to do wonders for the sport and to have him coming in here and supporting my opponent was amazing and it did just add to the whole experience.”

Coombs, a bronze medallist in Japan, lost 21-19 21-13 to France’s Charles Noakes in the men’s SH6 singles final.

Britain’s wheelchair rugby team were beaten 50-48 by Australia in the bronze medal match after their title defence ended on Sunday with a semi-final defeat to the United States.

Captain Gavin Walker said: “The better team beat us on the day. We go into another rebuilding process looking towards LA (2028) now.”