Historic gold, amputee’s bounce-back: What you missed while sleeping

PARIS: A pair’s history-making gold, a rowing controversy, wheelchair rugby heartbreak, an amputee’s disqualification farce and devastation for “The White Tiger” — Australian sprinter Chad Perris — defined day four of Paralympic action.
Here’s what you missed while you were sleeping.
The incredible, intertwining journeys of Australian rowers Jed Altschwager and Nikki Ayers culminated in history-making gold.
Competing in the PR3 mixed double sculls as the event featured on the Paralympic stage for the first time, Altschwager and Ayers won Australia’s first-ever gold in Paralympic rowing.
“She’s an incredible human being,” Altschwager said on the Nine coverage, gazing down at his great mate as his voice began to quiver.
“And we’ve been able to connect and, you know, get it done.”
Altschwager suffered a traumatic injury when an excavator crushed his left foot in 2015, leading to a below-knee amputation.
Ayers’ life took a drastic turn during a rugby match in 2016, when a tackle that went awfully wrong resulted in a knee dislocation that severed an artery and a nerve in her right leg.
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Australian amputee Ahmed Kelly was wrongly disqualified after a heat swim, then reinstated.
The former Iraqi orphan dived back in the pool hours later and scored silver, finishing second in the men’s 150m medley SM3.
Australian teammate Grant “Scooter” Patterson joined him on the podium to collect bronze.
Australian rower Erik Horrie finished fourth in the men’s PR1 single sculls, but collected bronze following a rival’s disqualification.
Italian Giacomo Perini was disqualified after it was discovered he’d rowed with a communications device.
Chad Perris, perhaps best known as “The White Tiger” because of his albinism and blistering speed, fell short of the medals in the men’s 100m T13 by just 0.05 of a second.
As officials went about determining if Perris or Japan’s Shuta Kawakami had won bronze, the Australian realised he’d missed out in raw scenes captured on the Nine broadcast.
The Australian wheelchair rugby team, the Steelers, are no longer a gold medal chance after suffering heartbreak in an extra-time defeat to Japan.
The Chris Bond-captained team fell 52-51 and is now set for a bronze medal showdown.
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