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Nikki Ayers and Jed Altschwager have won Australia’s first para rowing gold in Games history with their victory in the PR3 mixed double sculls final.
Ayers and Altschwager, who won the world championship in the event last year, fought off the challenge of British pair Annabel Caddick and Samuel Murray to win gold in a time of seven minutes and 26.74 seconds.
Earlier, Australia’s Erik Horrie was awarded bronze in the Pr1 men’s single sculls.
Horrie crossed the finish line in fourth place but was elevated to third after Italy’s Giacomo Perini was excluded from the final results for using illegal communications equipment during the final.
At Stade de France, Australia’s Mali Lovell picked up bronze in the women’s 200m T36 event after recording a time of 29.82 in the final.
In para swimming, Australia’s reigning world champion Ahmed Kelly will contest the men’s 150 metres individual medley SM3 final after initially being disqualified.
Kelly had reached the wall second behind Australian teammate Grant Patterson in their heat.
He was disqualified for swimming the strokes in the incorrect order, having performing butterfly during the freestyle leg.
But the Australians launched a protest, which was upheld, and Kelly was reinstated to take his place in the final.
In other sports, Australia’s Jamieson Leeson and Dan Michel reached the respective women’s and men’s individual BC3 finals in the boccia program.
The world champion Steelers will play for bronze in the wheelchair rugby after losing their semifinal 52-51 to Japan in extra time.
Australia lost 76-69 to the United States in its men’s wheelchair basketball preliminary round game.
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Key Events
Day four: Aussies in action and medal winners
It’s another bumper day for the Australian squad in Paris (all times AEST):
Medals won:
đĨPara rowing: PR3 mixed double sculls final âNikki Ayers and Jed Altschwager, GOLD
đĨPara rowing: PR1 men’s single sculls final âErik Horrie, BRONZE
đĨPara athletics: Women’s 200m T36 final â Mali Lovell, BRONZE
đĨPara cycling: eam sprint qualifying â Gordon Allan, Korey Boddington and Alistair Donohoe, BRONZE
Live and upcoming events:
Para archery
12:38am: Men’s individual compound open 1/8 elimination â Jonathon Milne
Para table tennis
1am: Women’s singles WS4 round of 16 â Daniela di Toro
2:30am: Men’s singles MS3 round of 32 â Jessy Chen
4am: Men’s singles MS8 round of 32 â Nathan Pellissier
Para swimming
1:44am: Men’s 100m freestyle S10 final â Rowan Crothers, Tom Gallagher and Alex Saffyđ
3:20am: Men’s 150m individual medley SM3 â Ahmed Kelly and Grant Patterson đ
4:19am: Mixed 4x100m freestyle relay S14 final â Ben Hance, Jack Ireland, Madeleine McTernan and Ruby Stormđ
Para athletics
3:04am: Women’s 800m T53 final â Angie Ballardđ
3:32am: Women’s javelin F34 final â Dayna Creesđ
Aussies coming up in the next hour
We have two Australian athletes coming up in the next hour.
Para archery
12:38am: Men’s individual compound open 1/8 elimination â Jonathon Milne
Para table tennis
1am: Women’s singles WS4 round of 16 â Daniela di Toro
*all times in AEST
Wheelchair rugby: ‘That sucks’ – Batt and Bond speak after loss
The Steelers are still processing their loss to Japan in the semis.
It was a high quality match with only five turnovers for the entire game, but both of Australia’s turnovers proved to be the most costly.
Batt spoke to the Nine Network and said it was “in the bag.”
“Even with 15 seconds to go, it was in control,” he said.
“Unfortunately, Bondy (Chris Bond) had a fumble, and then I did a fumble with 15 seconds to go, very uncharacteristic for us.
“We handled the pressure all game and oh man, that sucks.
“I’m a big game player, I love this stuff…Â and that’s my biggest mistake in my career, to be honest.
“So it’s hard, but that sport, isn’t it?”
Captain Chris Bond told the Nine Network he was frustrated.
“Going into this Games, people probably would have touted that to be the final us verse Japan, probably the two in form teams coming this comp,” he said.
“We had the chance to win it, just couldn’t clinch in the end, and they were too smart for us in the very end… and they just played composed and smart.”
Celebrating Aussies success on day four
It’s raining medals all over the place for Team Australia!!!
– stumcin
It has been a great day so far for our Paralympicans.
Para cycling: Australia wins bronze in the open C1-5 750m team sprint
Australia has defeated France and have won a bronze medal in the open C1-5 750m team sprint.
Gordon Allan, Korey Boddington and Alistair Donohoe rode a brilliant race to narrowly take victory.
Boddington was the rider who rode the final lap for the Aussies.
He started narrowly behind his French rival but powered home to earn Australia another medal.
Blind football: First matches complete
Where once there was a volleyball court, now stands a blind football field.
The first round of group B matches is now complete, with Colombia downing Japan 1-0 and Morocco and Argentina playing out a 0-0 draw.
Group A gets underway later tonight, with Brazil taking on TÃŧrkiye before France begins its campaign against China PR.
ICYMI: ‘A fine red wine from Langhorne Creek’: Roeger speaks after silver
 Michael Roeger and Madison de Rozario starred on the track for Australia last night, with silver and bronze respectively.
Roeger was poised to win gold in the men’s T46 1,500m but he was overrun in the final 80 metres to claim a well earned silver.
And de Rozario claimed a medal in the women’s T54 5,000m for the first time.
They both spoke to National Sport Reporter David Mark in Paris.
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Para cycling: Open C1-5 750m team sprint
Australia has a chance for a bronze medal.
Gordon Allan, Korey Boddington and Alistair Donohoe are in the bronze medal race of the Open C1-5 750m team sprint.
It will be a very loud crowd at the National Velodrome â Australia is taking on France.
Aussies hunting more medals on day four
Hello everyone.
It has been a busy start to day four of the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games.
I will be burning the midnight oil with you this evening,
Here are the Aussies chasing medals tonight:
Para cycling
11:30pm: Open C1-5 750m team sprint âGordon Allan, Korey Boddington and Alistair Donohoe
Para swimming
1:44am: Men’s 100m freestyle S10 final â Rowan Crothers, Tom Gallagher and Alex Saffy
3:20am: Men’s 150m individual medley SM3 â Ahmed Kelly and Grant PattersonÂ
4:19am: Mixed 4x100m freestyle relay S14 final â Ben Hance, Jack Ireland, Madeleine McTernan and Ruby Storm
Para athletics
3:04am: Women’s 800m T53 final â Angie Ballard
3:32am: Women’s javelin F34 final â Dayna Crees
Steelers Heartbreak
Noooooooooooooo
Noooooooooooooo– Wheelchair rugby
Absolute agony.
I know it mightn’t feel like much consolation right now, but bronze still beckons for our Steelers.
9:30pm AEST tomorrow evening, against the loser of Great Britain and the USA.
Wheelchair rugby: JAPAN DEFEAT AUSTRALIA IN SEMIFINAL
Japan has triumphed 52-51 beating Australia in overtime in the semis.
In the final minute, Ryley Batt, the heart and soul of the Steelers for two decades, threw a long pass that was intercepted by Japan, and that proved to be the decisive play with Yukinobu Ike subsequently scoring.
Heartbreak for the Steelers, especially Batt who looks absolutely shattered.
They’ll still play for bronze, but that really was the one that got away.
They had a chance to win it in regulation time when they were running down the clock, but lost possession with seconds left, then than turnover in OT was costly.
OMGGGGGGGGGGGG
OMG OMG OMG GO STEELERS
– Wheelchair rugby
Wheelchair rugby: WE’RE GOING TO EXTRA TIME
It’s finished 47-all between Australia and Japan in their wheelchair rugby semifinal.
So it’s off to extra time!!
That was a nervewracking finish to regulation time.
The Steelers had a chance to go up in the final seconds but turned the ball over, and so it goes to three minutes of overtime to see who will make it through to the gold medal match.
If they’re still level after that, they keep playing until there’s a winner.
Wheelchair rugby: Tense finish coming up
 It’s 45-all between Australia and Japan with just a couple of minutes left in their wheelchair rugby semifinal.
Is anyone else as stressed out as me???
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Boccia: Michel also into gold medal match!
What a time to be alive.
Just moments after Jamieson Leeson booked a place in the women’s BC3 gold medal match, Dan Michel did the same in the men’s.
He made light work of Greece’s Grigorios Polychronidis, winning 6-1 in the semifinal.
This caps off a mammoth day for Michel, who, only a matter of hours earlier, won his quarterfinal against Argentina’s Rodrigo Romero 5-0.
Fingers crossed Dan can get a couple of good night’s sleep before his gold medal showdown with the Korea Republic’s Howon Jeong at 4am AEST on Tuesday morning.
Set those alarm clocks, folks. Jam 2:30am. Dan 4am. Tuesday morning.
In the words of Bob Hawke “any boss who sacks anyone for not turning up [on Tuesday the 3rd of September] is a bum.”
Wheelchair rugby: Steelers still leading by one after three quarters
Australia has managed to hang onto its one try lead against Japan in the semi-finals, up 36-35.
The Steelers have put in another huge defensive effort, and thwarted Japan’s attempts to level the scores approaching the break.
Those big defensive plays could be the difference in this tense duel.
Para cycling track: Aussies fourth in time trial final
Kane Perris and pilot Luke Zaccaria have placed fourth in the men’s B1,000m time trial final.
Perris and Zaccaria (1:00.940) were in the bronze medal position when the final pairing, Germany’s Thomas Ulbricht and Robert FÃļrstemann (pilot), took to the track.
The Germans, who were the fastest qualifiers for the final, finished third with a factored time of 59.312.
Great Britain got the quinella, with James Ball and pilot Steffan Llloyd winning gold with 58.964 and Neil Fachie and Matthew Rotherham (pilot) collecting the silver in a factored time of 59.312.
It was a busy day for the Perris family, with Kane’s older brother Chad competing in the men’s 100m T13 heats in the para athletics.
Chad qualified for the final after finishing second in his heat.
Boccia: JAMIESON LEESON THROUGH TO GOLD MEDAL MATCH
She’s done it!
What a star.
Thanks to a 7-1 rout of Brazil’s Evani Calado, the queen of Dunedoo has booked her place in the boccia BC3 gold medal match, in which she’ll play Hong Kong’s Yuen Kei Ho at 2:30am AEST on Tuesday.
This of course means that Leeson is guaranteed at least a silver medal, which will be Australia’s best ever boccia result at a Paralympic Games.
More to come on Dan in just a moment. It’s also good news.
Para cycling track: Perris second on provisional standings
Australia’s Kane Perris and pilot Luke Zaccaria have the second fastest time after four pairings in the men’s B 1,000m time trial final.
The Australians posted a factored time of 1:00.940.
Great Britain’s Neil Fachie and pilot Matthew Rotherham (59.312) sit in the gold medal position.
There are two pairings to come.
Wheelchair rugby: Steelers up by one at half-time
Another tense quarter in the semi between Australia and Japan, and the Steelers are leading 25-24 at the main break.
In a match like this, with two world class, evenly matched opponents, every moment counts, and the Steelers came up with a big play right on the siren.
Japan looked poised to score, but Ryley Batt and Chris Bond trapped Katsuya Hashimoto right on the try-line, and Hashimoto couldn’t get the pass away in time to his teammate, to ensure the Steelers keep a slender lead at HT.
