The 2024 Paris Paralympic Games have been underway since Aug. 28, giving countless countries that didn’t fare well in the preceding Olympic Games a chance to secure medals and build on their past performances. And that obviously includes the Arab World, which has sent over 200 athletes from 17 different nations vying to bring home a piece of silverware.
Running until Sept. 8, Arab federations hope to surpass the table-sheet of medals from the quadrennial tournament’s last edition, which took place in Tokyo in 2020. Back then, 234 athletes from 11 Arab nations won 55 medals, including17 gold, 21 silver, and 17 bronze. With a little less than a week left of the Paris games, five teams have won medals so far— namely Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Iraq, and Kuwait— with a total of 17 medals shared between them.
Below, an exhaustive list of the four athletes who have secured first place in the first half of the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games.
Raoua Tlili (Shot Put, Tunisia)
We think Raoua Tlili enjoyed her trip to the top of the podium 😆
Tag an athlete who will be doing the same today ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/MbOy0VJavf
— Paralympic Games (@Paralympics) August 31, 2024
The first Paralympic athlete to win a gold medal for the Arab world, RaouaTlili clinched her fifth gold medal in her fifth Paralympic Games appearance in the shot put category. In this year’s event, the 34-year-old outperformed Kubaro Khakimova from Uzbekistan and Antonella Ruiz Diaz from Argentina with a throw of 10.40 meters long.
Nassima Saifi (Discus Throw, Algeria)
GOLD FOR ALGERIA! It’s the first gold medal for Algeria at the Paralympics in Paris 2024! 🇩🇿
Nassima Saifi takes the gold in the women’s F57 discus throw. 🥇
She even set a new Paralympic record with a throw of 35.55m! 👏🏼 pic.twitter.com/T3DCaO4Xmd
— Dean Ammi (@AlgerianFooty) August 31, 2024
By winning her homeland’s first gold medal at these games, Nassima Saifi also set a new record. In the F57 Discus Throw event, the 35-year-old established a new Paralympic record on her first attempt with a throw of 35.55 meters.
Skander Djamil Athmani (100m, Algeria)
Voir cette publication sur Instagram
Much like his Algerian counterpart Saifi, Skander Athmani made his native Algeria proud by not only winning the 100-meter (T13) race on the fourth day of the tournament but also by setting a new record with a time of 10.42 seconds. A few months ago, he already became the world Paralympic champion in the same discipline, making 2024 one his busiest and most successful years in his career.
Maroua Brahimi (Throwing, Tunisia)
Maroua Ibrahimi, from Tunisa, has brought home gold in the women’s club throw! Her victory shines a spotlight on the incredible talent of African athletes with disabilities.
Calling on African governments to promote mainstream sports participation for people with disabilities. pic.twitter.com/k8PjqSupIk
— African Union (@_AfricanUnion) September 3, 2024
As the adage goes, good things tend to come in threes, and clearly, the 2024 Paralympic Games are no exception. With Saifi and Tlili both winning gold medals and setting new records, Tunisian athlete Maroua Barhimi also happens to be part of this prestigious cohort of Arab women paralympians by winning gold and setting a new record in the club throw event (F32). Initially finishing second, it was only after the event’s final decision, which disqualified her Polish counterpart Róża Kozakowska for non-compliant equipment, that the 35-year-old moved into first place and set a new record with a throw of 29 meters.
