Goosebumps after Paralympics debut: "I'm tearful"

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Goosebumps after Paralympics debut: "I'm tearful"
Photo: Christine Olsson/TT

Everything revolves around medals in Paris. Ask only about Sweden's first Paralympic participants in 2024. I'm delighted. It's fantastic here, says swimmer Conrad Hildebrand after 100 meters butterfly stroke.

Hildebrand was the first of the Swedish Paralympians to compete in Paris. But there will be no final on the 100-meter backstroke, class S2, for the 29-year-old swimmer.

The Swede's time in the trials, 2:45.44, gave a ninth place overall. A time of 2:22.50 was required to reach the final as one of eight.

It doesn't matter that much. I knew it would be quite difficult to reach the final, says Hildebrand to SVT.

Just getting to make his Paralympic debut in front of a packed audience is a dream come true, he says.

Imagine the biggest concert you've ever been to, it feels exactly like that in here.

It's so fantastic here.

Conrad Hildebrand was a promising swimmer without a disability when, at the age of 16, he broke his neck in an accident at his high school in Stockholm.

I would always show off for everyone. And I would do a stylish parkour jump out of the window, Conrad Hildebrand has recounted in SVT's documentary "The Window that Changed Everything".

He became wheelchair-bound but later returned to swimming, but as a para-athlete.

Hildebrand will also compete in the 50 and 200-meter backstroke in Paris.

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By TTEnglish edition by Sweden Herald, adapted for local and international readers

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