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Russia’s Alexander Kostin runs to gold in men’s 1,500m at 2024 Paris Paralympics

The 2024 Summer Paralympic Games run in the French capital of Paris between August 28 and September 8

PARIS, September 3. /TASS/. Russia’s Alexander Kostin and Anton Kulyatin won gold and bronze medals respectively on Tuesday at the 2024 Paris Summer Paralympic Games in the men’s 1,500-meter running event.

Kostin ran the distance in 3 minutes 44.43 seconds, beating out Tunisia’s Rouay Jebabli, who took the silver (3 minutes 44.67 seconds), while Kulyatin snatched the bronze (3 minutes 44.94).

The 1,500-meter running event is a T13 competition, meaning it is for runners who are visually impaired. Their vision is constricted to a radius of less than twenty degrees or the ability to recognize a tennis-ball sized object at a maximum distance of five meters.

Kostin, 20, already won the silver medal in the 5,000-meter event at this year’s Paralympics. In 2020, he took the bronze in the same event in Tokyo.

Kulyatin, 33, finished just behind Kostin in the 5,000-meter event this year, taking the bronze. He previously won gold medals in the 1,500-meter running event at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics and the 2024 World Championship in Kobe.

The 2024 Summer Paralympic Games run in the French capital of Paris between August 28 and September 8. Russian Paralympians are participating in the 2024 Games under a neutral status

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) cleared 88 Paralympians from Russia to take part in the 2024 Paris Summer Paralympic Games. They were barred from taking part in the Parade of Athletes during the opening and closing ceremonies and also excluded from the 2024 Paralympics overall medal standings.

Russia's route to 2024 Paris Paralympics

On March 6, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) published strict eligibility criteria that Russian and Belarusian athletes and support personnel must meet and adhere to in order to participate as neutrals at the 2024 Summer Paralympic Games in Paris.

According to the IPC’s requirements "Neutral athletes will compete under a white flag featuring black lettering spelling out NPA [Neutral Paralympic Athletes]." The IPC also ruled that "NPA will compete as individuals in neutral uniforms under an NPA flag, and will not be able to take part in medals ceremonies or march in the Opening and Closing Ceremonies."

On September 29, 2023, the IPC General Assembly ruled at its session in Bahrain to suspend some of the rights the RPC has within the global organization.

However, the IPC General Assembly cleared Russian athletes to participate under a neutral status in international competition, including at the 2024 Summer Paralympics.

In mid-March this year, RPC President Pavel Rozhkov told TASS that Russian Paralympians and accompanying staff would don turquoise and beige at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.