Aguilera demonstrated great stability all throughout the competition, opening with the second best throw (61.29 m), which was a personal best and regional record for North, Central America and the Caribbean, an initial record only lower than that achieved in his opening by Britains’ Daniel Pembroke (68.39 m).

Come the third round, however, he was outperformed by the Spaniard Héctor Cabrera (62.04) and the Iranian Ali Pirouj, who achieved a personal best of 69.74 m, but saw Pembroke maintain the lead with a spectacular throw of 71.15 m, which translated into a new world and Paralympic record.

Aguilera, born in the Eastern Cuban province of Holguín, remained undaunted and responded with a new personal record of 62.51 m, thus returning to the podium, a place he would not lose again, to conquer a valuable bronze medal, which surpasses the fourth place achieved by him in the previous edition of Tokyo 2020.

Pembroke, a Paralympic champion in Tokyo (69.52 m), was not satisfied with having secured the gold medal from the third attempt, so he sought to ratify his superiority by improving his world and competition record, with a proverbial throw of 74.49 m at the end of the fourth round of throws. Iran’s Pirouj came out with the silver medal, the same position he achieved in Japan, where he followed Pembroke with 64.30 meters. His compatriot Sajad Nikparast, a 37-year-old veteran and double Paralympic runner-up at London 2012 and Rio 2016, finished fifth (60.44) behind Spaniard Cabrera, bronze in Tokyo 2020 and fourth here at the Stade de France.

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