The Moldovan Paralympic athletes won two medals at this year’s edition of the Paralympic Games.  Ion Basoc won a silver medal in para judo (+90 kg), while Oleg Crețul obtained a bronze medal won in the same sports event (-90 kg). The Republic of Moldova was represented at the Games in Paris by five athletes, IPN reports.

Ion Basoc reached the para judo final after defeating his Dutch opponent Daniel Knegt in the quarterfinals and beating France’s Jason Grandry in the semifinals. In the final, the athlete lost to Brazil’s Wilians Silva de Araujo, thus becoming Paralympic vice-champion in para judo. Ion Basoc is at his second participation in the Paralympic Games. At the Tokyo 2021 Paralympics, he ranked 7th.

Oleg Crețul’s path to the bronze medal began with a defeat in the first part of the competition, when he lost to France’s Cyril Jonard. However, the athlete recovered in the playoffs and won against his opponent from Iraq Taha Al-Gburi, but also against Iran’s Mousa Gholamishafia in the final of the playoffs. He was thus propelled to the fight for the bronze medal. In the last fight, Oleg Crețul defeated Turkey’s Yasin Cimciler, winning bronze. Oleg Crețul wasat his fifth participation in the Paralympic Games.

Athlete Larisa Marinenkova ranked 7th in the final of para powerlifting. Her best lift, out of three attempts, was 81 kg. Larisa Marinenkova wasat her fifth participation in the Paralympic Games.

At the 2024 edition, Paralympic athlete Ina Cernei (57 kg) made her debut in women’s para judo, while Gheorghe Spînu competed for the first time in shot put.

Among the debutants, Ina Cernei entered the competition the first. She lost the first duel to Alfiya Tlekkabyl of Kazakhstan, who won by ippon. Ina Cernei was the first Paralympic judoka to represent Moldova at this level.

Para athlete Gheorghe Spînu ranked 8th in shot put, category F35. He achieved the result of 9.62 meters, which is also his best result so far.

The Republic of Moldova finished the Paralympic Games in 73rd place, out of a total of 184 countries. This year’s performance was the best so far at the Paralympic Games. The Paralympic team of the Republic of Moldova participated in eight editions and won two bronze medals, both in 1996.

The Paralympic athletes, as well as the Olympic athletes, will be remunerated for their successes. Those who ranked 2nd and 3rd will receive 2.6 and 2 million lei respectively, while the contenders  who took the 7th and 8th places will get 300,000 lei and 200,000 lei respectively.