Medalling brothers: Portals take honours in same race at Paris 2024 Paralympics
Paris La Défense Arena went football stadium on Saturday night as the French para swimmers Alex and Kylian Portal won silver and bronze respectively in the men's 400m freestyle.
That the S13 world record holder Ihar Boki claimed the spoils to add the prize to his golds in the 100m butterfly and the 100m backstroke seemed irrelevant to the 13,000 partisans around the pool.
Alex Portal led for most of the race for swimmers with visual impairments. Boki went ahead of the 22-year-old Frenchman just before the turn for 350m and the 30-year-old Belarusian surged clear in the final 50m to take the course in three minutes, 58.37 seconds and rack up a 19th gold medal over four Paralympic Games.
Portal was nearly two seconds behind the legend. His 17-year-old brother pipped Kyrylow Garashchenko to the bronze to the delight of the flag-waving French fans.
Challenge
"I said to myself: 'This is my moment. In front of the Paris crowd, I'm obliged to do the 50m of my life.' said Kylian Portal.
"And I think that's what I did. I managed to get this bronze medal."
Kylian added: "Each time I win a medal, I have the feeling that Alex is prouder for me than he is for himself when he wins."
Their father, Frédéric, was simply delighted.
"We would never have believed that the two of them would be on the same podium," he told RFI. "It was magical."
On Friday, Alex Portal claimed bronze in the 100m backstroke and silver - behind Boki - on Thursday in the 100m butterfly.
"Only Alex or Kylian on the podium would have been tough," added Frédéric Portal; "But I'm extremely proud. Before the race, the most important thing for me was that they were not disappointed at the end."
