Paris 2024 Paralympic Games: Britain’s Dimitri Coutya wins wheelchair fencing gold

Great Britain’s Dimitri Coutya has won his first Paralympic gold medal in wheelchair fencing in the men’s foil B category.

The world number one breathed a huge sigh of relief after beating China’s reigning double Paralympic champion Feng Yanke 15-7 at the Grand Palais.

The 26-year-old dominated the contest from the start, taking an early 8-4 lead before running away with the score to wrap up an eight-point victory.

On his way to the final, Coutya had also comfortably beaten Ukraine’s Dmytro Serozhenko 15-4 in the semi-final and Thailand’s Visit Kingmanaw 15-5 in the quarter-final.

The wheelchair fencer’s Paralympic gold is an improvement on the bronze he won at the same event in Tokyo three years ago and will add to the European titles in the foil and épée B events he won in March and in 2022.

“It hasn’t really sunk in yet. I can barely breathe right now,” Coutya said after the contest.

“It’s something I’ve wanted for so long, and I’ve been working on it for so many years now.

“After the disappointment of Tokyo, I was very happy with the result (bronze) considering my position, but I really wanted this gold medal and it’s something I’ve dedicated my life to in recent years.

“I haven’t really started thinking about it yet.”

Of his tactics against Feng, Coutya, who trains at the University of Bath, added: “I knew if I really wanted to win a Paralympic gold medal I would have to beat him.

“He’s in his best shape, so I thought I had to get into the best mindset possible and use it until the end. And that’s what happened during the match.”

Coutya, who is also the world number one in the B category of épée, will be aiming for further gold medals in the men’s team foil quarter-final on Thursday (11:40 BST), the individual épée B category on Friday (08:40) and the team épée quarter-final on Saturday (11:40).