Ukraine’s Serbin claims third gold for country in swimming at 2024 Paralympics

Ukrainian swimmer Mykhailo Serbin has claimed the gold medal at the 2024 Paralympic Games, setting a new world record. This marks Ukraine's third gold medal at this year's event.

Suspilne.Sport reports this.

Mykhailo Serbin won the 100-meter backstroke event in the S11 category.

Serbin, a 20-year-old, made a strong move in the final 50 meters of the race, catapulting himself from fourth place to the top of the podium.

He crossed the finish line in 1 minute and 5.84 seconds, setting a new world record and surpassing his own from 2023.

Danylo Chufarov also had an impressive performance, moving from fifth to third place with a time difference of 1.19 seconds. The Czech competitor David Kratochvil came in between the Ukrainians in the top three.

Paralympics-2024. Backstroke (100 meters, class S11)

• Mykhailo Serbin (Ukraine) — 1:05.84 minutes (world record)
• David Kratochvil (Czech Republic) — 1:06.54
• Danylo Chufarov (Ukraine) — 1:07.03

Serbin successfully defended his title as the current Paralympic champion in the 100-meter backstroke. He had previously claimed the top spot in Tokyo in 2021.

Overall, the 20-year-old Ukrainian athlete had already earned his third medal at the Games. Along with two gold medals, Mykhailo also won a silver in the 200-meter individual medley in 2021.

Chufarov has now earned his sixth medal at the Paralympic Games, making it his fourth "bronze" for Ukraine, in addition to two silver medals.

Ukraine has achieved its third double podium at the Paris Games, with two medalists in the men's shot put and 200-meter individual medley.

For reference:

Mykhailo Serbin is a 20-year-old Paralympic swimmer hailing from the Kharkiv Region. He has achieved "gold" at two previous Paralympic events (2021, 2024) and two World Championships (2022, 2023). In 2024, he also proudly earned his first bronze medal at the European Championship.

In August 2023, the Ukrainian para athlete achieved a world record by swimming the 100-meter backstroke in 1:06.01 minutes. One year later, at the Paralympics in Paris, he surpassed his own record and finished in 1:05.84 minutes.

During an interview with Suspilne.Sport, Serbin spoke about his emotions following Ukraine's third "gold" at the 2024 Paralympics. He also discussed how the competition went and his preparations for future races:

"I'm surprised because history is repeating itself. The history of 2021, when we just came here to get new results. But now it's not enough that I renewed my world record – we are the first in the 100m swim in the S11 class. And this is the second gold swimming medal won by our athletes at the 2024 Paralympics."

Danylo Chufarov, aged 35, is a Paralympic swimmer from the Donetsk region. He is currently competing in his fifth Paralympic Games and has already achieved six silver and bronze medals throughout his career. He is also a five-time world champion in parasailing, winning in 2013 and 2023.

The 2024 Summer Paralympic Games will be held from August 28 to September 8, 2024, in Paris at the same venues used for the Olympic Games.

This year, Ukraine is represented by the largest delegation in its history — 140 athletes in 17 out of 22 sports.

At the opening ceremony, the Ukrainian flag was carried by fencer Olena Fedota-Isaieva and rower Roman Poliansky.

At the previous competitions in Tokyo, Ukraine took 6th place in the medal count, having won a total of 98 awards, 24 of which were gold.

The Ukrainian national team claimed its first medal at the 2024 Paralympic Games on August 29th. Swimmer Anton Kol secured the silver in the S1 class for the 100m backstroke event.

On August 30, Ukraine won its first gold medal. Ukrainian swimmer Oleksandr Komarov became the best in the 100-meter freestyle final in the S5 class.

It should be noted that Ukrainian Paralympians continue to win high awards for the 4th day at the 2024 Paralympics in Paris.

The "blue and yellow" team from Ukraine has already earned a total of 25 medals in France, placing 10th in the medal rankings with three golds.

• "Gold": Mykhailo Serbin (swimming, 100-meter backstroke, class S11), Oksana Zubkovska (athletics, long jump, class T12)
• "Silver": Roman Poliansky (academic rowing, singles, class PR1)
• "Bronze": Danylo Chufarov (swimming, 100-meter backstroke, class S11), Yevhenii Bohodaiko (swimming, 100-meter breaststroke, class SB6), Artem Kolinko (bocce, class BC4).

According to reports, Ukrainian bocce athlete Artem Kolinko has made history by winning a medal at the Paralympic Games for the first time. He has achieved the status of a bronze medalist.