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Britain’s Dimitri Coutya was crowned Paralympic foil champion as wheelchair fencing attracted a royal crowd in Paris.
The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh were interested spectators at the Grand Palais on the seventh day of the Games in the French capital.
Coutya was the undisputed winner, taking gold in the men’s B category with a convincing 15:7 victory over two-time defending champion Feng Yanke, and thus standing at the top of the podium for the first time.
Prince Edward – a patron of the British Paralympic Association – and Sophie sat alongside British Ambassador to France Menna Rawlings and ParalympicsGB chief executive David Clarke to cheer on the British team.
“It’s something I’ve dedicated my life to, especially in recent years,” said Coutya, who won one silver and three bronze medals at Tokyo 2020.
“I really wanted that gold medal. It was a very emotional experience.”
Wheelchair racer Sammi Kinghorn was quick to add to Great Britain’s success by winning a stunning gold medal in the T53 100m at the Stade de France.
Scottish athlete Kinghorn, who secured silver in the 800 m and 1500 m in recent days, beat Swiss star Catherine Debrunner and set a Paralympic record of 15.64 seconds.
The 28-year-old was the first non-Chinese athlete to win the title since Tanni Grey-Thompson 20 years ago in Athens.
Tears of joy streamed from her eyes as she greeted her family in the stands before dedicating the victory to her brother on his birthday.
“I just can’t believe I did this,” she said. “It really blows my mind.”
“This is definitely for my brother.”
Meanwhile, powerlifter Zoe Newson dramatically won silver in the women’s 45 kg final.
The 32-year-old, a two-time bronze medallist, had to lift 109kg to finish second and initially appeared to have committed a foul before successfully appealing.
“I don’t really know how I feel – good, happy, emotional, a little bit of everything,” she said.
“The Paralympics in Paris were great and I’m glad I brought that home with me.”
Swimmers Poppy Maskill, Alice Tai and Rhys Darbey also won silver.
Maskill increased her medal tally to four in France when she finished second in the women’s 200m individual medley SM14 with a time of 2 minutes, 23.93 seconds.
Teammate Tai repeated the feat with a time of 4min 52.24sec in the S8 400m freestyle, having previously won gold in the 100m backstroke and bronze in the 200m individual medley at the Games.
Darbey, already champion of the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay, took Britain’s first podium finish by finishing the men’s 200m individual medley SM14 in 2 minutes 8.61 seconds at the La Defense Arena on Wednesday evening.
Earlier, four-time Paralympic gold medalist Sophie Wells completed her hat trick of British dressage bronze medals at the Palace of Versailles.
The 34-year-old secured the last place on the podium in the fifth class individual competition on LJT Egebjerggards Samoa with a score of 72.257.
Her equestrian teammates Natasha Baker and Georgia Wilson took third place in classes three and two, respectively, on Tuesday.
The medals for the three British riders mean they each qualify for the individual freestyle competitions on Saturday, in addition to their compatriot Mari Durward-Akhurst, who finished sixth in the first class on Tuesday.
Wells, who changed horses after Don Cara M withdrew at short notice, said: “She (LJT Egebjerggards Samoa) is an incredible horse, she will be the best horse in the world at some point.
“I had to give her a little hand during the test and give her a little confidence. I’m so proud that she kept her nerve.”
British shooter Tim Jeffery won his first Paralympic medal with the bronze medal in Chateauroux.
The 28-year-old, who took part in the Games for the third time in a row, achieved a score of 227.8 in the R9 mixed shooting with 50 m rifle prone SH2.
Shooting was the only one of 19 registered sports in which ParalympicsGB failed to win a medal at Tokyo 2020.
“The final was one of the hardest things I’ve done in a long time,” said Jeffery
“Hopefully this medal is the first of many.”
