Greece has secured its first gold at the Paris Paralympics after Athanasios Konstantinidis finished on top in the Men’s shot put F32, with Lazaros Stefanidis placing at third to give the nation two spots on the podium.
Konstantinidis secured the gold with a top score of 11.93 metres, eclipsing his personal best and setting a new European record in the process.
He came into the event with a season record of 10.56m, which he managed to beat with his first throw at 11.17m.
The 54-year-old followed it up with scores of 11.57, 11.20 and 10.94 before throwing 11.92 and then 11.93 in his final two attempts.
It marked Konstantinidis’ second medal in Paris after winning silver in the Men’s club throw F32.
Stefanidis also fared well as he threw a best of 9.84m from his attempts to earn his spot on the podium, giving Greece two separate medal winners from an individual event for the first time at this year’s Games.
Their successes take the country’s medal tally to nine (1 gold, 3 silver, 5 bronze).
Dimitris Zisidis, the third Greek in the shot put final, also had a good showing as he threw 8.88m to finish in sixth.
