Luxembourg's Paris Olympic Quest Ends on Record High

On the evening of Saturday 7 September 2024, the flame finally went out on Luxembourg's Olympic and Paralympic participation in Paris as the second of two Paralympians completed their event.

Following last Wednesday's early but not entirely unexpected elimination of wildcard entry Katrin Kohl from the Women’s T54 100 metres (given that her personal best of 19.13 is over 3.5 seconds off the paralympic pace), attention turned to Tom Habscheid, who is the world record holder in Men’s F63 Shotput with a distance of 15.10 metres, and paralympic record holder with 13.92 metres.

The competition took place in combination with F42 athletes, whose qualification criteria involve different standards, and whose world record of 17.52 metres is similarly of a different standard. In winning the overall bronze medal, Tom Habscheid can hold his head high knowing that only one other F63 athlete figured in the top ten, with Austria’s Georg Schoeber finishing in 8th, some 2.64 metres behind him. Additionally, Tom’s best throw of 14.97 metres is by some margin a new F63 paralympic record, and in a competition which fell well below previous record distances, he actually found himself within a mere 34 centimetres of the gold medal winning Kuwaiti Faisal Sorour, competing as an F42 athlete.

Following mixed results in Paris over the last six weeks, Luxembourg thus finished with a bang, claiming their first paralympic medal since their exceptional haul of six (one bronze, four silver and one gold) at the 1984 games.

Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, as well as Luxembourg's Prime Minister, Luc Frieden, and the Minister of Sport, Georges Mischo, were among those to have congratulated Luxembourg's Paralympians on their performances in person in Paris.

(Photo 1: Tom Habscheid and Prime Minister Luc Frieden; © Ministry of State; Photo 2: Katrin Kohl; © LUX Press / Luxembourg Paralympic Committee)