Swimmers open Russia’s golden account at London Paralympics

Published time: August 30, 2012 20:43
Edited time: August 31, 2012 02:52
Russian swimer, Oksana Savchenko (RIA Novosti/Iliya Pitalev)

Russian swimmers Sergey Punko and Oksana Savchenko have won their country's first gold medals at the London Paralympics.

­Punko was unmatched in the men’s 400m Freestyle – S12 as the 31-year-old left second-placed Enrique Floriano four seconds behind.

Savchenko triumphed in the same discipline in the women’s competition, beating home crowd favorite Hannah Russell by 0.7 seconds.

Russia’s very first medal in London came in the men’s -48kg powerlifting.

Vladimir Balynetc coped with the weight of 170 kilograms, but was surpassed by Yakubu Adesokan, who set the new world record by lifting 10 kilograms more.

Judoka Victoria Potapova also climbed on the podium, grabbing bronze in the women’s -48kg category.  

Meanwhile, it’s China, who took the lead in the medal’s count, with 14 medals (5 golds, 6 silver, 3 bronze) after the first day of action.

Team Russia currently occupy the sixth spot in the standings, with 2 gold, a bronze and a silver.

Comments

Add comment

By posting your comment, you agree to abide by our Posting rules

Log in to comment in full, or comment anonymously under character-limit restriction.

100 Text

– required fields

Register or

Name

Password

Show password

Register

or Register

Request a new password

Send

or Register

To complete a registration check
your Email:

or Register

A password has been sent to your email address

Edit profile

Name

New password

Retype new password

Current password

Save

Cancel

Follow us