Rabat – Moroccan runner Aymane El Haddaoui claimed Morocco’s first medal at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games by winning the bronze in the 100-meter race today.
Competing in the T47 classification, El Haddaoui finished in third place with a time of 10.78 seconds. He narrowly missed the gold and silver positions held by Brazil’s Petrúcio Ferreira (10.69 seconds) and the United States’ Korban Best (10.75 seconds), respectively.
Earlier today, El Haddaoui had set an African record in the 100m heats with a time of 10.69 seconds, finishing first. This performance secured him his place in today’s final.
He surpassed Cuba’s Raciel Gonzalez Isidoria, who clocked 10.74 seconds, and Zimbabwe’s Paidamoyo Chigwedere Kudakwashe, who recorded 10.78 seconds.
El Haddaoui’s compatriot Ayoub Sadni was disqualified from the second qualifying heat after two false starts.
The Paris 2024 Paralympics’s opening ceremony took place on Wednesday at Place de la Concorde, a historic square in central Paris. This marked the first time the Paralympics opened outside a main stadium, following the approach of the 2024 Olympics, which featured an opening ceremony along the River Seine.
The event featured a grand procession through different Parisian locations, transitioning from the Avenue des Champs-Élysées to Place de la Concorde.
Najwa Awane, a wheelchair tennis champion, and Hicham Lamlas, a cecifoot (blind football) player, led the Moroccan delegation as flag bearers.
The Moroccan delegation consists of 38 athletes—24 men and 14 women—competing across various sports.
The Games will feature 4,400 athletes from 184 delegations competing across 11 days of sports action.
