Hong Kong got off to a great start at the Paris 2024 Summer Paralympic Games when swimmer Chan Yui-lam clinched silver in the women’s S14 100-metre butterfly event in the early hours of Friday. Chan clocked the race in 1:03.70, beating her own Asian record. This was the swimmer’s best-ever performance in the event as she came in fourth at the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021.
The 20-year-old Chan entered the finals ranking second overall and was allocated the fifth lane. She finished the first lap in third place, but picked up the pace to finish second after the UK’s Poppy Maskill, who set a world record with her time of 1:03.00. Russian swimmer Valeriia Shabalina won the bronze medal in the event.
Chan’s win puts Hong Kong at the No. 24 spot in the Paralympics rankings table. She will compete in other events at this year’s Paralympics, including 200-metre freestyle, 100-metre breaststroke, 100-metre backstroke, and the 200-metre individual medley.
Header image credits: China Hong Kong Paralympic Committee
