Here's what you should know from the 11th and final day of competition at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games:
- The U.S. women's wheelchair basketball team fell to the Netherlands 63-49 in its first appearance in the gold-medal game since 2016.
- Team USA's Susannah Scaroni wrapped up an impressive Paris Paralympic Games with a bronze in the women's marathon T54. Scaroni won four medals in Paris, moving her total Paralympic medal tally to six.
- Three-time Paralympian Blake Haxton won bronze in the men's VL2 200m canoe sprint.
- Army veteran and para powerlifter Bobby Body finished fourth in the men's 107kg final.
Double Dutch gold in women's wheelchair basketball; Team USA grabs silver
The Dutch women were golden once again in wheelchair basketball, claiming a 63-49 victory over the United States to become the first Paralympic gold medalists to go back-to-back in the women's tournament since the U.S. in 2004 and 2008.
The Americans started strong, leading by four points after the first quarter, but continued to drop behind the Netherlands as the game progressed. The U.S. trailed by 10 points going into the final quarter but weren’t able to make up any ground against an aggressive Dutch team led by four-time Paralympian Mariska Beijer and Bo Kramer, who scored a team-leading 23 points.
"We kept doing what we wanted to do, so we didn't change anything," Kramer said of how the team rebounded after the first quarter. "We didn't do something else because of America. We played our game and that's what we did for 40 minutes, and now we have a gold medal."
The last time the U.S. played in the Paralympic final was 2016, when the team won the gold medal. The Americans went home with bronze at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics while the Netherlands, who have been on the podium at the last three Games, won the gold.
The Dutch played with a veteran team in Paris, as 11 of the 12 players were a part of the gold medal-winning team in Tokyo.
Scaroni caps off Paris Paralympics with bronze in women's marathon T54
Susannah Scaroni concluded a remarkable Paris Paralympic run with a bronze in the women's marathon T54 with a time of 1:46.29. It was a close battle with Australia's Madison de Rozario, who grabbed the silver with a time of 1:46.13. Catherine Debrunner of Switzerland won the gold with a time of 1:41.50.
“There was a moment in the race where (Madison) was working so hard with me, I didn’t care what color the medal was," Scaroni said. "I was hoping she and I could get the silver and bronze and that’s what happened."
The bronze marks Scaroni's sixth Paralympic medal but her first in the marathon. Paris was her fourth attempt at a medal in the event.
“It means a lot," Scaroni said. "There were women on this course who were there at my first back in London and there were some today for whom this is their first."