PARIS, September 4. /TASS/. Russian swimmer Valeria Shabalina won the gold on Wednesday at the 2024 Paris Summer Paralympic Games in women’s 200-meter medley competition.

Shabalina clocked the distance in 2 minutes 22.40 seconds to take the Paralympics gold and her closest contender Poppy Maskill from the Great Britain finished with the result of 2 minutes 23.93 seconds bagging the silver. Japan’s Aira Kinoshita completed the race with the result of 2 minutes 25.96 seconds to earn the bronze medal.

The women’s 200-meter medley competition was held within the rules of S14 competition, described as being "for swimmers who have an intellectual impairment. These swimmers find it hard to understand and apply training techniques and competition strategies, especially in busy competition swimming arenas."

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.