TOKYO, August 25. /TASS/. Russian swimmer Valeria Shabalina won gold on Wednesday at the 2020 Summer Paralympic Games in Tokyo in women’s 100-meter butterfly S14 competition.

Shabalina completed the distance in 1 minute 3.59 seconds setting a new World Record to bring the first gold medal of the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics for Team RPC (the Russian Paralympic Committee).

The silver and bronze medals went to Australian swimmers Paige Leonhardt and Ruby Storm, who completed the race in 1 minute 5.48 seconds and 1 minute 6.5 seconds respectively.

The previous World Record in women’s 100-meter butterfly S14 event (1 minute 3.68 seconds) was registered in 2019 and it belonged to Shabalina as well.

Shabalina is 26 years old and she is the five-time world champion and six-time European champion. She started trainings in swimming in 2002 in the Russian Urals city of Chelyabinsk and also attempted to try her abilities in the sport of figure skating. Shabalina is on the roster of the Russian national Paralympic team since 2014.

The 2020 Summer Paralympic Games in Japan’s Tokyo are being held between August 24 and September 5, 2021. In March 2020, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced their decision to postpone the 2020 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in Japan for one year due to the continuous COVID-19 spread.

Team RPC at 2020 Summer Paralympics in Japan

The team of national athletes from Russia at the 2020 Summer Paralympic Games in Japan includes 242 athletes, while the overall number of the RPC delegation in Tokyo stands at 432 people. The selected Paralympians from Russia are fighting for medals in 19 out of the 22 sports competitions, on the program of the quadrennial event.

Russian athletes are competing in the 2020 Summer Paralympic Games in Tokyo under the flag and logo of the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC) instead of the Russian national flag and state emblem.

The national anthem of Russia is also under sanctions at the Paralympics in Japan. The First Piano Concerto by Pyotr Tchaikovsky was selected to be played at awarding ceremonies for Russian Paralympians in Tokyo.