Omar Qarada of Jordan went a perfect 3-for-3 to retain his Paralympic title in the Up-to-49kg weight category of the men’s parapowerlifting at the 2024 Paralympics.

Qarada benched 181 kg (399.037 pounds) for the winning lift, while Abdullah Kayapinar, of Turkey, came up a kilo short at 180 kg for silver, though he too went 3-for-3.

Both men would then agree to compete in the bonus powerlift round to break the world record, held by Le van Cong, of Vietnam. The latter was the bronze medalist at Paris.

Neither suceeded.

Cong, who was the silver medalist in Tokyo three years ago, had an interesting day.

He would make his first-round attempt of 171 kg, but then missed his second-round attempt of 176 kg. Despite the no-lift, he would jump up five kilos to 181 in his third and final attem.

If that had worked, it would have put him level with Qarada, and in line for a head-to-head final lift-off with the Jordanian for the gold. But the Vietnamese was unsuccessful, hanging onto the final podium spot.

Hungarian Nando Tunkel would provide the inspiration for the day, as he had his first round attempt of 158 kg declared a no-lift before roaring back into the competition in the last two rounds, successfully lifting 160 kg and 162 kg, coming fourth overall.

China’s Yu Zheng was another podium contender, who almost went 3-for-3 as well. His third attempt of 163 kg looked very comfortable, but it was declared a no-lift after judges stated he did not rest the bar on his chest long enough for the stop sequence.

He would finish two spots shy of the podium in fifth.

Parisian hometown hero Alex Adelaide would also try his luck to at least capture a bronze. After failing his second attempt at 165 kg, he would jump seven kilos to 172 in the third.

Despite the loud support of the French faithful, Adelaide was unsuccessful in the lift, finishing sixth.