Teresa Perales Wins Bronze in 50m Backstroke, Matches Phelps' 28 Medals

Teresa Perales expanded her legendary status this Saturday by winning the bronze medal in the 50-meter backstroke at the Paralympic Games in Paris, thereby matching Michael Phelps' 28 Olympic medals. After undergoing surgery in May 2022 for a dislocated left shoulder, which had been troubling her for a year, Teresa Perales had to learn to swim with one arm and managed to secure the bronze by just two hundredths of a second. In her seventh consecutive Paralympic Games without missing the podium, the Aragonese swimmer finally fulfilled her dream of equaling the most decorated Olympian in history.

"I was so eager to hear that I finally matched him. I've been waiting for this moment for many years. Before the final, I said there would only be tears if there were medals, and I cried a lot out of happiness. It has been an incredibly tough journey to get here," acknowledged Teresa Perales, who has lost almost all mobility in her left hand as her disability worsened. After finishing sixth in the qualifying series, the Zaragoza-born swimmer managed to clinch the bronze by two hundredths of a second against Italy's Angela Procida in a fiercely contested final for the last podium spot.

Teresa Perales now has seven golds, ten silvers, and eleven bronzes in the Paralympic Games, climbing to third place historically among athletes with the most medals. She is only surpassed by former American swimmer Trischa Zorn (46 medals) and fellow American Jessica Long (29), who can still increase her tally as she competes in Paris. The Aragonese swimmer has also matched British cyclist Sarah Storey's 28 Paralympic medals, another athlete present at Paris 2024.

After undergoing surgery following a dislocation before the Tokyo 2020 Games held in 2021, Teresa Perales returned to competition last March with a new classification due to her increased disability, swimming only with her right arm since then. She moved from class S5 to S2.

For the Paris Games, she registered for three events and finished fifth in the 100-meter backstroke on Thursday. Her goal was set on equaling Phelps in the 50-meter backstroke final. Although she entered the final at La Défense pool with the sixth-best qualifying time among finalists, far from podium positions, she surged in the final meters and secured bronze with a time of 1:10.95.

"I achieved the medal mainly thanks to the determination I showed at the end. I told myself: 'until the end, until the very end.' I swam without taking a breath to reach and touch," revealed Teresa Perales, who felt "a jolt" when she saw the light on the block illuminate. "I remained cautious until confirming the result and could finally cry with joy," added the legendary Paralympic athlete.