PARIS - The Paris Paralympics crowned its first champions on Thursday, with swimmer Ugo Didier collecting the host nation's first gold in euphoric scenes at La Defense Arena.
Didier, who was born with clubbed feet and has reduced use of his legs, won the 400m freestyle event in the S9 category after being roared home by French supporters in scenes reminiscent of those when Leon Marchand won four golds at the Olympics.
Didier timed 4min 12.55sec to finish a second and a half ahead of Simone Barlaam of Italy.
Brazilian swimmer Gabrielzinho won the third Paralympic title of his career. The 22-year-old, who has no arms or hands and his legs are atrophied, claimed the men's 100m backstroke S2 title.
Francesco Bocciardo and Carlotta Gilli launched much-fancied Italy's search for multiple swimming golds as they both successfully defended their titles.
Medals were also on offer in track cycling, table tennis and taekwondo.
Paralympic powerhouses China dominated the last Games in Tokyo with 96 golds and cyclists Zhangyu Li and Xiaomei Wang opened their account in Paris.
The Chinese also won two golds in swimming to take an early lead in the medals table.
In men's wheelchair basketball, reigning champions USA and the pretenders to their title, Great Britain, were quick to get their first wins.