PARALYMPICS 2024: Swimmer Sadie and sprinter Mhlongo secure final berths

JOHANNESBURG - Swimmer Christian Sadie and track athlete, Mpumelelo Mhlongo, secured their spots for Saturday night's finals in their respective sporting codes.

Christian Sadie will compete in the men's 50m Butterfly S7 final at 18:30.

Sadie, competing at his second Paralympic Games, has already competed in two finals - the men’s SM7 200m individual medley final, where he finished fifth, setting a new African record of 2:35.02, and the S7 100m backstroke, where he finished fifth.

“At the moment, I'm focusing on the 50m fly, which is on my last day, which is the 7th (September), but so far, the other two races have already gone well. I've swam on my PBs, and it’s been really good," said Sadie to Eyewitness News.

The S7 category "is for swimmers with movement affected from a low to moderate level in the arms, trunk and legs, moderately down one side, those with short stature, or the absence of limbs."

The Para-swimmer represented South Africa at the Tokyo Paralympics, won silver at the World Para Swimming Championships in Madeira, Portugal and also won silver at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast in 2018.

Mpumelelo Mhlongo will compete in the men's 200m T64 final at 19:51.

At the Paris Paralympic Games, Mhlongo broke the world record in the T44 long jump.

Mhlongo was competing in a higher category than his T44, and his new world record placed him fifth in the field.

Mhlongo was already the world record holder with 7.07m in the T44 classification but came up against athletes in the T62 and T64 class.

T44 athletes have mild limb loss, muscle weakness or restrictions in the legs, however, do not use any prosthetics.

Meanwhile, T64 athletes have an absence of one leg below the knee and use a prosthetic running leg.

READ MORE:

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