Hart beats Baker to Paralympic dressage gold as USA wins three equestrian medals

PARIS -- Rebecca Hart won the dressage gold medal aboard Floratina at the Paris Paralympics and the United States won two other equestrian medals on Tuesday.

Britain’s Natasha Baker, a six-time gold medalist, was the favorite but finished third in the Grade III category for riders with severe impairments in both legs but minimal or no trunk impairment.

“It’s been 25 years of trying to get to this point and being close many, many times,” said the 39-year-old Hart. “To actually get it, I feel like I’m going to wake up at any moment. It’s just surreal. It feels like a dream.”

Hart’s best previous result at the Paralympics was a team bronze medal in Tokyo.

Fiona Howard won gold for the U.S. in the Grade II category on Diamond Dunes and Roxanne Trunnell took silver on Fan Tastico H in Grade I — which has the most severely impaired riders.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better (horse) to do my first Paralympic Games,” the 25-year-old Howard said.

She praised the impact of team veterans Hart and Trunnell, who is also 39.

“It’s helped me so much,” Howard said. “All my teammates have been to at least one (Paralympic) Games and numerous world championships.”

Howard got distracted by her surroundings in the regal gardens at the Palace of Versailles, once the home of French royalty.

“I had to refocus myself," she said. "It’s such a beautiful venue.”

It was Trunnell's fourth Paralympic medal after two individual golds and a team bronze at the Tokyo Games in 2021. She contracted a virus in 2009 that caused swelling in her brain and left her needing a wheelchair.

Alexandr Kostin won the T12 1,500 meters for athletes with minor visual impairment, in a Paralympic record time of 3 minutes, 44.43 seconds, four seconds faster than the previous mark.

“I haven’t realized that I have won gold yet," said Kostin, who, as a Russian, is competing as a neutral. "It feels like I’m sleeping through a magical dream.”

Yeltsin Jacques of Brazil also set a record in the T11 1,500 for athletes with severe visual impairments who use guides.

Jacques won in 3:55.82, breaking the world and Paralympic records he set in winning the Tokyo gold.

“After everything I’ve been through — injury, illness — to come here and get a medal, it’s very special," Jacques said.

Cuban long jumper Robiel Yankiel Sol Cervantes secured his second consecutive Paralympic gold at 7.41 meters, winning by nine centimeters.

China’s Hao Wang was second and Russia’s Nikita Kotukov third at 7.05 under a neutral banner.

“It means a lot to me to win back-to-back Paralympic titles," Cervantes said. "I only wish I could have improved my distance because I had trained for that.”

Cervantes dedicated his victory to his late grandmother.

“I have a debt to her because she left me a task that I couldn’t achieve today, to jump eight meters,” Cervantes said. “I was training a lot for that. It wasn’t today, but let’s move on.”

In the women’s 50 meters backstroke final, Chinese swimmers took the top three spots.

Lu Dong won the gold medal ahead of He Senggao and Liu Yu in the S5 class, for swimmers with severely impaired movement in the torso and legs or missing limbs.

The 32-year-old Lu, who lost both arms after being hit by a car at the age of six, is now an eight-time gold medalist and has achieved the feat of winning gold at each of the last four Paralympic Games.

“I’m really excited and happy to have the gold again today," Lu said.

”(Our secret) is to support each other," He commented when asked about China's sweep of medal in the category. "That’s how we got all the medals, we support each other.”

The men's 50 meters backstroke S5 final saw the same scenario as three Chinese swimmers also claimed all three medals.

Yuan Weiyi won the race at La Défense Arena, beating Guo Jincheng and Wang Lichao.

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AP Sports Writer Jerome Pugmire in Versailles contributed to this report.

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AP Paralympics: https://apnews.com/hub/paralympic-games