KILKENNY’S MARY FITZGERALD finished eighth in the women’s F40 shot put final at the Stade de France on Saturday morning.
Fitzgerald’s best throw came with her second attempt of the day, 7.64 metres, well short of her personal best of 8.87m, but she couldn’t better that mark to move herself into medal contention.
Lara Baars of the Netherlands — the bronze medallist in Rio eight years ago — won gold with a massive 9.10m on her very first throw, adding a new Paralympic record to the world record which she already holds at 9.25m.
Reigning Paralympic champion Renata Sliwinska of Poland fell just short of defending her title as she took silver with 9.00m, while bronze went to Raja Jebali of Tunisia with a best throw of 8.66m.
