Oznur Cure Girdi crowns dream performance with Paralympic gold

Oznur Cure Girdi earned the status of a para archery star at the Paris 2024 Paralympics after she broke the compound women’s world record in the ranking round reaching over 700 and preserved her outstanding shape in the elimination rounds. 

The 26-year Turkish athlete captured her first Paralympic gold defeating Fatemeh Hemmati in the final.

“I believed in the medal already after the ranking round and my world record,” she said.

The two archers tied in the first end, but as the match went on, Cure Girdi moved on shooting 10s and nines to build a two-point advantage. Before the last end, she led by three and didn’t let gold slip out of her hands.

After the final arrow, she burst into tears celebrating. 

“I believed I would reach it! And now it’s around my neck! I’m so happy. I worked really hard for this. It’s great!”

The archer from Türkiye confirmed her dominance and the role of top contender in each match. She seemed just unstoppable. And she was.

Jodie Grinham became the first pregnant athlete to win a Paralympic medal when she beat teammate Phoebe Paterson Pine in the bronze medal match.

Cure Girdi celebrated in a very emotional manner, crying and shouting, but could keep a cool head in the decisive moments. 

“Actually, we worked very hard on this, too,” the newly crowned Paralympic Champion claimed. “We’ve a huge team, and we practise a lot with our psychologist.”

In her preparation period, she did a lot of exercises to control her nerves, and that helped a lot while competing.

“I tried all those things, I tried to feel the pressure during my training, and then it was easy to control it during the competition. I was used to that. I’m happy I could handle the pressure.”

Silver went to Iran’s Hemmati, who beat the defending champion Paterson Pine in the semifinal.

The British archer left Paris without a medal, as she lost out to her teammate Grinham in a thrilling bronze medal match. 

The 31-year-old’s incredible run for bronze aroused applause and admiration, as she competed seven months pregnant, becoming the first ever pregnant athlete to win a Paralympic medal.

Paterson Pine took the lead in the third end of the bronze medal match and stayed ahead until the last end.

But her fellow countrywoman put pressure pulling two 10s at her last two arrows.

“Especially with archery, you have to shoot the last arrow,” Grinham insisted. “The match is not over until the last arrow.”

“I knew going into that last end that I needed to produce good shots. I needed 10s. And, thankfully, that’s exactly what I did.”

Paterson Pine needed a ten to win or a nine to set a tie with her last shot. She shot an eight.

“I put the pressure on Phoebe, which is heartbreaking, she’s my teammate, but it worked in my favour, and that meant I came with bronze,” the new Paralympic medallist concluded.

Grinham won her first individual Paralympic medal and is about to give birth, but she pleaded right away that she would compete in the next Paralympic Games at Los Angeles 2028.

The archery competition in Paris continues with W1 and compound men’s eliminations and medal matches on Sunday.