The fifteenth medal of the Spanish team at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games has arrived. Silver was achieved by Toni Ponce in the 100 breaststroke SB5 of swimming.
Ponce finished second in 1:29.43, behind Swiss Leo McCrea, who won in 1:27.15. Ukrainian Danylo Semenykhin was third in 1:30.96, with a very clear position in a race where the Swiss swimmer marked the ground from the start. Ponce, who had dominated the series, was frustrated by his inability to score.
McCrea pulled away at the start, leaving Ponce a bit behind in the battle for second and third. In fact, he was third at the wall touch, having to make up ground and with second place within reach but with McCrea opening up a gap ahead.
A good turn lifted the Spaniard into second place, but the Swiss remained relentlessly ahead. Ponce tried to upset him in the middle of the second pool, where he gained a few tenths, but McCrea again accelerated to avoid calling his victory into question in the final stage.
In this way, Ponce achieved a silver medal representing the fifteenth overall podium for the Spanish team at the Paris Games. This is the seventh medal achieved in swimming, with two golds, one silver and four bronzes, and it is a podium that reinforces his excellent record of achievements and joins the two silvers won by Toni at Tokyo 2021, both in 200 freestyle and the 100 breaststroke.
Toni Ponce suffers from bilateral spastic paraparepsy, a degenerative disease that specifically affects her legs, although it can affect the rest of the body. It is a disease that he has had since birth and that limited him when he was young and wanted to play sports like soccer. He began to practice swimming because it was the modality that would help him in his treatment, so he entered a pool for the first time at the age of six, although to practice it for his treatment and as a recreational method.
His mother, who was sick, motivated him to fulfill his dreams. Toni Ponce’s team was at a Paralympic swimming event that she met and decided to train with. With his degenerative disease, he grew to become one of the great leaders of Spanish swimming. Silver in Tokyo in both the 200 freestyle and 100 breaststroke, he now has a Paris Games silver medal hanging around his neck.
Source: La Verdad
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