Charlotte Henshaw and Laura Sugar add to Britain’s medal haul with kayak golds at Paralympics

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Great Britain will finish second in the medal table at the 2024 Paralympics having won 49 golds and 124 of any colour following a good showing on the water on the final day of competition.
Two gold medal wins, from Charlotte Henshaw (kayak single 200 metres KL2) and Laura Sugar (kayak single 200 metres KL3), along with silvers for Emma Wiggs (kayak single 200 metres KL2) and Jack Eyers (va’a single 200 metres VL3) capped an impressive 11 days of competition in Paris and its environs.
Just one event featuring a British athlete remains – Liam McGarry in in the men’s over 107kg para powerlifting – which will bring the curtain down on a hugely entertaining edition of the Paralympics. The closing ceremony gets under way at 7.30pm (BST), which you can follow from around 6.30pm right here with Telegraph Sport.
Great Britain’s Jack Eyers, the European champion, narrowly missed out to Vladyslav Yepifanov of Ukraine in the final of the men’s va’a single 200 metres VL3. Eyers, who was competing at his maiden Paralympics having grown up playing wheelchair basketball, will take a silver medal home to Bournemouth. Peter Cowan of New Zealand grabbed bronze having pipped Aussie Curtis McGrath on the line in what was a thrilling race.
And this concludes our coverage from this morning’s action. Check back in at 2.45pm (BST) to see how Liam McGarry fares in the men’s over 107kg para powerlifting. The 27-year-old Briton is the only member of the ParalympicsGB squad who has not yet completed his schedule at this year’s Games.
Charlotte Henshaw, speaking to Channel 4 after winning gold earlier: “[I’m feeling] not an awful lot, just an immense amount of gratitude, I guess, for the opportunity to be here, still hitting it out with the best in the world.
“I was a one eventer in swimming so I only ever got the opportunity to race for one medal and when it came to this Games, I thought ‘isn’t it going to be nice to get two bites of the cherry?’
“The two golds was the ultimate icing on the cake and to achieve that is just unbelievable, I’m just immensely grateful.
“It’s a para-canoe party which we always said we would get but my goodness, they have brought it. It’s been so amazing, I’ve got a group of school friends up there who love a party and they felt right at home here and I think that’s what special about this.
“We raced in front of empty stands in Tokyo and while it was an amazing Games, it just had that extra bit missing and Paris has certainly brought that so just a huge thank you for embracing para-canoe and supporting our amazing sport.”
At a press conference in St Denis this morning with Andrew Parsons, the International Paralympic Committee president, and Tony Estanguet, president of Paris 2024, as they outline views on 17th summer Paralympic Games.
After 2.5 million tickets were sold, Parsons said: “A new benchmark was set for the Paralympic Games in every aspect” relating to athlete experience and crowd involvement.
Estanguet added that Paris’s “ambition was met” and the Paralympics “have left their mark in peoples’ minds as an exceptional development.”
Will be asking what more needs to be done by International Paralympic Committee after this … 
…and then off to second news conference at GB House in Clichy to talk about ParalympicsGB Games with Penny Briscoe chef de mission.
In sporting terms, Great Britain has won 49 golds and 123 medals thus far overall. Nine more gold medals than Tokyo 2020. GB is second to China in the table of medals. More detail on all this later.
Laura Sugar, the defending champion from Tokyo, absolutely dominated the women’s kayak single 200 metres KL3 final to win her sixth gold medal at either Paralympic or World Championship level. Home favourite Neila Barbosa gave the French fans plenty to cheer about with a brave performance that saw her take silver, while Felicia Laberer of Germany took bronze. Hope Gordon, the second Briton in the race, finished in fifth spot.
Ed Clifton’s hopes of taking home a meadl from the men’s va’a single 200 metres VL2 final ended in disappointment after the Essex man finished second from last in seventh spot. Brazil, meanwhile, completed a one-two with a moustachioed Fernando Rufino de Paulo taking gold ahead of Igor Tofalini. Blake Haxton of USA was third, adding a bronze medal to the silver he took home from Tokyo.
Charlotte Henshaw, the 37-year-old from Mansfield, has just won her second gold medal of these Games with a supreme performance in the women’s kayak single 200 metres KL2 final. Compatriot Emma Wiggs held on to take silver, while Anja Adler of Germany took bronze. Henshaw, incidentally, is yet another athlete who has switched sports. At the Beijing, London and Rio Games she was found competing in the swimming pool – winning silver in 2012 and bronze in 2016.
Fatima El Idrissi of Morocco has just set a world record of 2:48.36 to win the women’s T12 marathon. It was the second medal of the Games for El Idrissi after she took silver in the 1500 metres T13 in the opening week of the Paralympics. 
The 29-year-old, whose hero is compatriot middle-distance runner Hicham El Guerrouj, tore the field apart with second-placed Meryem En-Nourhi, also from Morocco, crossing the line 9min 42sec off the pace. Elena Congost of Spain finished third to take bronze at 12min 12sec.
There was disappointment for Jeanette Chippington after the 54-year-old Briton finished seventh in the women’s kayak single 200 metres KL1 final. In stark contrast, Katherinne Wollermann of Chile came from behind to overhaul Maryna Mazhula of Ukriane to land gold. Following her win, Wollermann did her customary roll into the water – before being rescued. German athlete Edina Müller was third for bronze.
Another Briton, Jack Eyers, has just flown into the men’s va’a single 200 metres VL3 final after coming from behind setting a a new Paralympic record of 48.59sec in his semi-final. The 35-year-old from Bournemouth will go for gold at 11.41am (BST). A magnificent seven Britons will be in action later this morning with all having a chance of taking home a gold medal from these Paralympics.
Back on terra firma, Wajdi Boukhili of Tunisia has won the T12 men’s marathon. The 25-year-old who has cited Eliud Kipchoge as a huge influence on his career, completed his marathon in 2hr 22min 5sec, finishing 1.57sec ahed of Alberto Suárez of Spain. El Amin Chentouf of Morocco trailed over the line at 2.30sec.
Hope Gordon produced a very impressive performance to win her women’s kayak single 200m semi-final. The 29-year-old Scot, who carried the Olympic through Inverness in the lead-up to the 2012 Olympic Games, finished ahead of Katarzyna Patrycja of Poland, while Amanda Embriaco of Italy cruised over the line in third. By the way, another Briton – Jeanette Chippington – will race for gold at 10.25am in the KL1 final.
Ealier this morning, Aliakbar Gharibshahi of Iran, the 42-year-old who won his first international event at the Asia-Oceania Championships in Kitakyushu, Japan in 2018, landed the biggest win of his career in the para powerlifting. Gharibshahi won gold in the ‘up to 107kg’ division, finishing ahead of Enkhbayaryn Sodnompiljee of Mongolia, with Mexico’s Jose Castillo taking bronze.
Ed Clifton, the 38-year-old from Chelmsford, held on to finish third in his men’s va’a single 200m L2 semi-final. He appeared to struggle a little, producing a much slower stroke rate than winner Norberto Mourao of Portugal and Mathieu St-Pierre of Canada. Either way, Clifton – who also competed in the F51 discus at the 2019 Grand Prix event in Grosseto, Italy – will be in the final later this morning.
Emma Wiggs, 44, was narrowly beaten by Australia’s Susan Seipel in the second women’s kayak single 200 metre KL2 semi-final. Wiggs competed in the sitting volleyball at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London.
Good morning and welcome to live coverage from day 11 – the final day – of action from the XVII Paralympic Games.
It was an early start in Paris this morning, with four medal events having already got under way: men’s marathon T54, women’s marathon T54, women’s marathon T12 and the men’s marathon T12.
Two events, as it stands, have finished, the men’s and women’s T54 marathons. Briton David Weir finished fifth in his race before later announcing he has now retired from competing at the Paralympics – but confirmed that he will still compete in other marathon events around the world. The 45-year-old won six Paralympic gold medals, including four at London 2012, having made his debut aged 17 at Atlanta in 1996.
“It was quite emotional at the end because this will be my last race for GB,” said Weir after posting a time of one hour, 33 minutes and 27 seconds.
“I’ll still do the major marathons, I still enjoy doing them, but it’ll be my last international. My body just couldn’t cope with it today. It’s an age thing, I was the oldest in the field.
“I am still highly competitive and still trying to beat Daniel [Romanchuk, 26-year-old American athlete who finished fourth] who is half my age, I could be his dad. I’m still doing all right. I gave it my all today.”
British athlete Eden Rainbow-Cooper did not finish the women’s T54 marathon.
The silver bullet 🚅Marcel Hug of Switzerland races through the finish line to win the men’s marathon T54 💨🏆🇨🇭#Paralympics #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/IC16vX76JK
And the women’s are in!Ruling champion Catherine Debrunner of Switzerland retains her title in the women’s marathon T54 💨🏆🇨🇭#Paralympics #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/F1TE82phpv
Meanwhile, ParalympicsGB have announced the flagbearers for tonight’s closing ceremony. Swimmer Poppy Maskill and taekwondo star Matt Bush will both hoist the Union flag later this evening.
Introducing your ParalympicsGB Paris 2024 closing ceremony flagbearers: @mattbush1 and @MaskillPoppy!#ParalympicsGB 🇬🇧#Paris2024 #Paralympics pic.twitter.com/KGkjEmInWS
Maskill won five medals in the pool in the S14 swimming class for intellectually impaired athletes, including golds in the 100 metres butterfly, where she set a world record, 100m backstroke and 4x100m freestyle mixed relay.
The 19-year-old said: “The butterfly was my favourite as it was my first Paralympic medal and a world record. Next time I really want to win five golds. I’ve had a really amazing time and I can’t wait to carry the flag.”
Bush won gold in the men’s 80+ kilograms category with a dominant 5-0 win in the final.
The Welshman, who previously competed as a javelin thrower prior to a shoulder problem, missed out on the Tokyo Games three years ago because of injury.
He said: “It’s an unbelievable honour to represent not only the athletes in my sport but across all the 19 sports in ParalympicsGB. Everyone has performed so well and it’s been so fantastic to be here, I’m just super happy.
“ParalympicsGB is such a close-knit team. It is extra special that I can carry the flag on behalf of everyone. It’s an unbelievable way to finish my first experience of a Paralympic Games.”
The Paralympics draws to a close in Paris on Sunday evening.