Athanasios Ghavelas has become the first Greek to win gold in two consecutive Paralympic Games after he won the 100m (T11) in Paris.
Repeating his victory from Tokyo, Ghavelas, led by Ioannis Nyfantopoulos, clocked 11.02 seconds to win Greece its second gold medal at the event.
Frenchman Timothée Adolphe finished behind the Greek, as he did in Tokyo, with 11.05 and China’s Dongdong Di finished third with 11.08.
The sprinter was visibly emotional after the race during his interview with ERT.
“I will not speak about myself, but about all the people who have helped me and one of them is this ‘fool’ (Ioannis Nyfantopoulos), who has given his soul for two months,” he said.
“We came here to show who is the ‘boss’ of the 100 meters, we came to win and not to lose. Two months with Giannis I was in a very difficult psychological situation… when everyone was telling me what happened Gavela, maybe you’re done, maybe you can’t run.
“No guys, it’s not that I can’t run, it’s that I want a smile and people to believe it more than twice to win.”
Greece now has 10 medals at the Games, two gold, three silver and five bronze.