The second day of Para Archery produced a series of surprises for the packed crowd, with losses from dominant Indian Sheetal Devi and French fan favourite Julie Rigault Chupin, and a battle for the bronze medal between two Britons facing off.

The gold medal was less of a surprise, as Oznur Cure Girdi entered the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games as the reigning World and European individual compound open champion, having won silver in the team event at Tokyo 2020. She also set a new world and Paralympic record in Paris on August 29, setting her on the path to success.

Girdi defeated Para archer Fatemeh Hemmati from the Islamic Republic of Iran 144-141 to secure her place on the top podium.

Para-archery takes place on the Esplanade des Invalides, next to the 17th century Hotel des Invalides with a beautiful view of the Eiffel Tower, and runs until September 5.

Brit vs Brit for bronze

Grinham said she was keen to win a medal at Paris 2024. With bronze, she would still be the first openly pregnant Paralympic athlete to stand on the podium.

“I knew if I shot the best I could we could bring back a medal, with or without injury, and that’s what I did,” Grinham told the IPC.

Her route to bronze, however, was not predictable. Jodie Grinham and Phoebe Paterson Pine, both from Great Britain, lost their semi-finals and faced each other in the women’s individual compound open bronze medal match, with Grinham finishing on the podium.

“I didn’t win this medal, Phoebe lost it,” Grinham said. “The most valuable shot is your last arrow and I knew I needed to get a 10 on my last arrow to put pressure on her to drop those points.

“It’s annoying when it’s a teammate, and we both know that’s sport.”

Grinham narrowly escaped elimination, beating Polish Para archer Kseniya Markitantova 142-141, then defeated Brazil’s Jane Carla Gogel 143-142 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, she lost to Girdi 143-145.

The battle for the bronze medal was exciting throughout the competition, even with perfect scores in the second end, with both competitors achieving perfect scores of 10, 10, 10.

“Sometimes sport is just sport. If I come fourth in the Paralympics, I’ll take that,” said Paterson Pine.

“I am so proud of her, she has exceeded all expectations and has gotten here.”

Baby Kicks Through the Competition

At 28 weeks pregnant, Grinham must be having a tougher time than most, as her baby kicked her during the competition.

“I’m so tired, I’m so hungry, but I’m also having so much fun,” Grinham said.

“The baby is kicking, which is amazing. We got to the third round and I was like, ‘Not right now, mommy loves you, but we’re going to kick in a minute.'”

“The baby hasn’t stopped. It’s like the baby is saying, ‘What’s going on? It’s really loud, Mommy, what are you doing?’ But it feels like a little honor to know the baby is there. It reminds me of the little support I have in my belly.”

Devi and Chupin surprisingly lose

Sheetal Devi of India, who was expected to dominate the women’s competition, lost to Mariana Zuniga of Chile in the individual compound open 1/8 elimination round.

At just 17, Devi has already achieved great success and became the first female archer without arms from India to win a medal at the World Championships with a silver in 2023 in Plzen, Czech Republic. Devi also won the individual and team compound gold at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Para Games.

Devi has been training with American archer Matt Stutzman, who is keen to support her and the others in the division. He says:

“It’s the first time we’re in our division with three of us. I’m telling them all my secrets. It’s about growing the sport.”

Meanwhile, French Julie Rigault Chupin won in the elimination rounds against Sevgi Yorulmaz of Turkey and Ameera Lee of Australia. However, in the quarterfinals she lost 143-140 to Fatema Hemmati of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Whether she won or lost, Chupin was cheered on by a proud French audience, who encouraged her between takes with chants of “Allez Julie.”

First medal for China

China’s Minyi Chen retained her title in the women’s individual W1 event to win her first gold medal in Para archery.

In an exact replica of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, Chen took on Czech Republic’s Sarka Musilova Pultar and defeated her 136-129.

The two have come to know each other well by now, both in competition and in the community.

“In normal life she is very outgoing and is a good friend of mine,” Chen said

“She is much more competitive than Tokyo. I never thought I could win this title again. It is a great happiness for me.”

Since Tokyo 2020, Chen has won individual bronze and team gold at the 2023 World Championships, as well as individual gold and team silver at the Asian Para Games.