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LONDON 2012

Perales makes Paralympic history as Spain brings home 42 medals

Swimmer becomes most decorated Paralympian in London

Spain's Alberto Suárez Laso finishes in first place in the men's Marathon T12 at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
Spain's Alberto Suárez Laso finishes in first place in the men's Marathon T12 at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.PAUL ELLIS (AFP)

The Spanish Paralympics team completed a haul of 42 medals — eight of them gold — as London 2012 came to a close on Sunday.

Spain finished in 17th place in the medals table with eight golds, 18 silvers and 16 bronzes, down from 10th position in Beijing.

As it did on home turf in 2008, China led the way with 231 medals (95 golds, 71 silvers and 65 bronzes), followed by Russia in second with 101 (35-38-28) and host nation Great Britain ending up third on 120 (34-43-43).

Star of the Spanish squad was undoubtedly swimmer Teresa Perales who with her six medals at these games — one gold, three silvers and two bronzes — became the most decorated Paralympian of all time. The Zaragozan has now won a total of 22 Paralympic medals, the same number as the most-decorated Olympian of all time, US swimmer Michael Phelps.

Pool talent

Spain earned a total of 22 medals in the pool in London, which also included a gold and world record for Michelle Alonso, two silvers and a bronze for Sebastián “Chano” Rodríguez and a silver and a bronze for Richard Oribe. The latter two’s performances brought their overall medals totals up to 16, on a par with Spanish runner Puri Santamarta.

Cycling brought seven medals, including golds for both Alfonso Cabello on the track in the individual C4-5 1km time trial and Christian Venge-David Llauradó on the road in the time trial.

Carmen Herrera won her third consecutive Paralympic title in the judo, while three more golds came in the athletics from David Casinos in the discus, José Antonio Expósito in the long jump and Alberto Suárez in the T12 marathon for the visually impaired.

“This is what all athletes dream about,” said Suárez after his world-record run on Sunday. “And for me it means the utmost because it is a perfect combination and the perfect end to a very tough season.” His fellow Spaniard Abderrahman Ait Khamouch finished second in the race. Spain also earned medals in five-a-side soccer, where it won bronze, table tennis and shooting.

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