Mexico’s delegation, made up of 67 athletes, won 17 medals at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games including three gold, six silver and eight bronze.
While the country’s winnings in Paris didn’t match those of Tokyo three years ago — when it won 22 medals — Mexico’s head of mission at the 2024 Paralympic Games, Israel Benítez Morteo, said the athletes’ performance “considerably increased” this year and that he’s confident “Mexico is set to be a power in Paralympic sports.”
Swimming and track and field competitions led the way for Mexico with a combined 11 medals, including three gold by swimmer José Arnulfo Castorena Vélez (men’s 50-meter breaststroke in the SB2 para-swimming category), track and field athlete Gloria Zarza Guadarrama (women’s shot put, category F54), and track and field runner Juan Pablo Cervantes García (men’s 100 meters, category T54).
Meanwhile, the swimmer Ángel Camacho from León won the most medals for the Mexican delegation, collecting three in total: two bronze and one silver. With these achievements, he now has four medals under his belt, making him the most decorated Mexican in Paris 2024.
During his morning-press-conference, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador applauded those who won a medal in this sporting event.
“We are going to give special recognition and mention to all the Paralympic athletes who are participating in Paris, who are representing us and doing very well […] a round of applause for them,” he said.
López Obrador added that he will receive the Paris Olympic and Paralympic delegations on Sept. 17 to award them monetary recognition. The money, he said, will come from the fund of the Institute to Return to the People What Was Stolen (INDEP).
As for the international medal table, China came in first — for the sixth time in a row — with 220 medals, followed by Great Britain with 124 and the United States with 105. Mexico ranked No. 30.
The country’s best record at the Paralympic Games was in Arnhem, Netherlands, in 1980: it won 42 medals, including 20 gold.
Andrew Parsons, the International Paralympic Committee president, said Paris had set a new standard, particularly in terms of the experience for both athletes and fans.
“Quite simply Paris 2024 is the new benchmark for the Paralympic Games, in every aspect, in every single point of the organization,” Parsons told The Guardian. “I think that in terms of the athlete experience it has been amazing, the services they have had at the village. At the venues the crowds have been amazing. I think after the athletes they are probably the main characters of these Games.”
The Paralympic Games in 2028 will be hosted in Los Angeles, marking the city’s third time hosting the event.
With reports from El Financiero, AM and López-Dóriga
