MINSK, 1 September (BelTA) – Belarusian swimmer Ihar Boki placed fifth in the Men's 100m Breaststroke at the 2020 Paralympic Games, BelTA has learned.
The Tokyo Paralympic five-time champion touched in fifth in the Men's 100m Breaststroke SB13, clocking 1:05.90. Taliso Engel of Germany set a new world record winning the event 1:02.97.
Earlier in the Japanese capital, Ihar Boki set new records in the Men's 100m Butterfly, 100m Backstroke and 50m and 400m Freestyle, and the Men's 200m Individual Medley S13. In the previous years Ihar Boki won 11 gold medals at the Paralympics in London in 2012 (5) and in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 (6). Now, the athlete has 16 gold medals won in the three Paralympic Games.
Belarus' Yahor Shchalkanau placed fourth in the Men's 200m Breaststroke SM9 on 1 September. Earlier, he won silver in the Men's 100m Backstroke.
Belarusian athletes have so far won seven medals at the Paralympic Games in the capital of Japan. Swimmer Ihar Boki claimed five gold medals, swimmer Yahor Shchalkanau won silver in the Men's 100m Backstroke, and javelin thrower Lizaveta Piatrenka took bronze. In the ongoing Games in Tokyo Belarusian athletes are competing in five sports.
At the Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro Belarusian athletes won 10 (8 gold, 2 bronze) medals, placing 19th in the medal table. Since the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics Belarus has won a total of 98 (36, 32, 30) medals.
Some 4,000 athletes from 160 countries are competing at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. The Games feature 539 medal events in 22 sports. The closing ceremony is scheduled for 5 September.
