Miguel Luque, bronze in the 50 breaststroke to open the Spanish medal table in the pool

Left on the first day the first medal for the Spanish swimming team at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games Miguel Luque won bronze in the 50 breaststroke SB3 to open the counter of one of the sports called fetish at the time of adding metals.

In the crowded La Défense pool, Luque clocked 50.52 seconds after maintaining a close battle against Korean Giseong Jo, fourth in 50.73. Vicente Gil finished sixth with 53.06 in the test won by Japanese Takayuki Suzuki (48.04) and with Italian Efrem Morelli second (49.41).

Suzuki led the race from the start and Morelli followed, with Luque giving up at the start and moving into fourth and fifth place. He needed acceleration in the second part of the race, but the Barcelona swimmer found the strength to take the medal.

In a major change of pace in the second part of the test, Luque reached the final meters of the single pool formed in a battle with Jo who was giving up on the ground. He made it to the last stroke, where he managed to hold the third wall by only twenty-one hundredths of a difference to the Korean, earning him the bronze medal.

Vicente Gil, who finished sixth, was unable to put himself in contention for medals. Gil surrendered the starting place and was left in the fight for medals, which led him to finish the test in 53.06 in a direct final test.

That’s why, Luque’s face was especially happy. Combined as one of the veterans of the Spanish team, where he debuted at the Paralympic Games in Sydney 2000, he managed to be on the podium in each of the seven editions he competed in the biggest multi-sports event on the planet. This is his eighth medal at the Games, where he has accumulated two golds, three silvers and three bronzes. Furthermore, with the added value that this medal came after a shoulder injury forced Luque to undergo surgery at the start of the season.