Tennis ace Langmann out at “home game” in Paris

In front of numerous red-white-red fans who had travelled with him, the Viennese lost to former world number one Maikel Scheffers 4:6,1:6 in Roland Garros on Sunday. Swimmer Andreas Onea missed the final in the 200 m individual medley by just 33 hundredths, coming in ninth. Archer Michael Meier and table tennis player Krisztian Gardos both reached the end of the line in the round of 16.

Langmann showed a solid performance, especially in the first set, and repeatedly caused the former French Open winner from the Netherlands to falter. “I was pretty close, but I should have done a little better in the decisive moments,” Langmann summed up. The conclusion of the singles competition is nevertheless clearly positive after the first success on Friday. “This is a day that I will never forget for the rest of my life. No one can take that away from me.”

Car accident at the age of two

Langmann, who has been paralyzed since a car accident at the age of two, was accompanied on his Paris adventure by dozens of fans. The atmosphere at the court was always unique. “It felt like a home game,” said the Viennese. A few hours after the singles performance, Langmann and Josef Riegler were also eliminated in the doubles. The third Paralympics will definitely not be the 27-year-old’s last; Los Angeles awaits. “Of course, you have even more goals now and will attack again.”

The mood was completely different for Onea. The swimmer was in tears after his bitter exit in the preliminary round. “I’m three tenths away from the final. That hurts so much,” he said. “I really gave it my all. It was a great race, tactically it worked out very well for me.” This means Onea leaves the Games in France without making it to the final. On Thursday he finished twelfth in his favorite discipline, the 100 m breaststroke.

Now he’s going on holiday with his family. “I hope I’ll see as little water as possible there.” After that, however, the focus will be on the future. Onea, who lost his left arm in a car accident at a young age, wants to be at the forefront again at the Paralympics in Los Angeles.

Table tennis ace Gardos similarly frustrated

Table tennis ace Gardos was similarly frustrated after his elimination in the round of 16. “I was just bad. I had no feeling for the racket, I couldn’t find my rhythm,” said Gardos. The Tyrolean had started promisingly against the Brazilian Claudio Massad, winning the first set with ease. However, three missed set balls in the second set heralded a turnaround. “I basically had the set in the bag. I just have to close it out,” said Gardos. In the end he lost to Massad 1:3 (6,-12,-5,-10).

It was a lot closer for archer Meier. The Lower Austrian lost the quarter-finals against Canadian Kyle Trembley 139:140, with the final shot deciding the outcome. “I always say that when the last arrow hits gold (9 or 10-point segment, note), the score is taken. And because it wasn’t gold, it didn’t work out,” explained Meier. Sports shooter Josef Pacher failed in the qualification for the 10 m air rifle competition, coming 23rd.

Swimmer Andreas Ernhofer also had to miss the fourth day of competition at the Paris Games. The 27-year-old is on the mend after an illness, but it was too early to compete in the 150 m individual medley. This means that Ernhofer, who had originally planned to compete in six events, still has three disciplines left. The triathlon competition with Florian Brungraber was postponed on Monday due to poor water quality in the Seine.