Paris: Sasirawan Inthachot became the first female to win a para athletics medal for Thailand at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games on Saturday.
The 21-year-old from Si Sa Ket, who is making her Paralympic debut in Paris, clocked 25.20sec -- her season best -- to claim a bronze medal in the women's 200 metres T47 final at the Stade de France.
Sasirawan was a gold medallist in the 200m event and a bronze medallist in the 100m event at the Asian Para Games in Hangzhou last year.
She also won bronze in the 200m race at the world championships in Paris last year.
Thailand's other seven medals in para athletics all came from wheelchair racers -- Pongsakorn Paeyo (one gold, two silvers), Chaiwat Rattana (one gold, one silver) and Athiwat Paeng-Nuea (two silvers).
Anna Grimaldi of New Zealand won the gold medal with a time of 24.72 while Brittni Mason of the US took silver in 25.18.
Para table tennis player Wanchai Chaiwut picked up a silver medal in the men's singles MS4 event on Saturday.
The 35-year-old lost to South Korea's Kim Young-Gun 2-3 (11-6, 9-11, 7-11, 11-9, 5-11) in the gold medal contest.
It was Wanchai's second medal in Paris. He won the men's doubles MD8 bronze medal with Yuttajak Glinbancheun.
In wheelchair fencing, Thailand edged hosts France South Korea 45-40 in the women's epee team bronze medal bout in front of a vocal home crowd at Grand Palais.
It was the fifth medal from wheelchair fencing for the country.
Saysunee Jana, who was part of the team, earned her fourth medal in the French capital. Her other three medals were all individual category B golds -- sabre, foil and epee.
The other team members were Aphinya Thongdaeng, Duean Nakprasit.
Visit Kingmanaw was the other medal getter -- a silver -- in the men's epee category B event.
American swimming great Jessica Long secured an 18th Paralympic gold medal, and 31st overall, as she won the 100m butterfly in the S8 category on Saturday.
The 32-year-old ended her sixth Games with victory, adding to her gold in the 400m freestyle S8 from a week ago in the French capital.
"Oh goodness, this is so sweet," Long told AFP. "When I finished the wall, I looked all around and I was like, oh my God, I won!
"I didn't think I'd get another [medal], so I just soaked it all in," she added.
Aged just 12, she made her Paralympics debut at Athens 2004, a matter of months shy of the record set by Poland's then 11-year-old Natalia Partyka in Sydney 2000.
Since Long's first Games she has gone on to become a Paralympic great, with only five other athletes having won more gold medals than her.
Compatriot Trischa Horn is the sole Paralympian with more overall medals than Long, with 55.
Record ticket sales
Paris 2024 sold a record 12 million tickets for the Olympics and Paralympics, beating the Games record previously set by London 2012, organisers said on Sunday.
Some 9.5 million tickets were sold for the Olympics and 2.5 million for the Paralympics, which ended on Sunday.
In 2012, London organisers set the record for the Paralympics with 2.7 million tickets sold but only 8.2 million were sold for the Olympics. bangkok post/agencies
Para table tennis player Wanchai Chaiwut. photos by Reuters MARIA ABRANCHES