Out of the total six athletes, only two athletes from the Alpes-Maritimes were present on various fields of the Paralympic Games today: David Smétanine and Christophe Carlier. Here’s a summary of their results.
Para-swimming
David Smétanine competed in the last race of his career this Friday. At 49 years old, the athlete from Antibes participated in the 50-meter freestyle. With a time of 42.97 seconds, he finished 5th in his heat. As a member of the Handisport Antibes Méditerranée (HAM) club, Smétanine could only secure an 11th place overall, which was not enough to qualify for the final. Thus ends a career rich with 9 Paralympic medals.
Wheelchair Basketball
In this match for 7th place, the French team led by Christophe Carlier faced a challenging game against Spain, constantly struggling to catch up on the scoreboard. Trailing from the opening minutes, they managed to minimize the damage and were only three points behind at halftime. The French team held strong at the beginning of the second half, keeping up with the Spanish until five minutes before the end of the third quarter. However, at that point, France’s game fell apart and the gap widened inexorably. At the start of the last quarter, the French lagged by 14 points, a deficit they were never able to overcome. In the end, the French lost 72-57. A painful defeat that sealed their journey in this Paralympic tournament, with six losses in as many matches. They finished in eighth and last place in this Paralympic tournament.
