Canadian wheelchair racer Austin Smeenk captures Paralympic bronze in men’s T34 100m

Canadian wheelchair racer Austin Smeenk won his first career Paralympic medal on Monday with bronze in the men’s T34 100 metres.

The Oakville, Ont., native finished in a time of 15.19 seconds at Stade de France, earning Canada’s sixth bronze and 10th medal of these Games.

The 27-year-old accelerated into medal position down the stretch to finish just 0.05 seconds behind silver medallist Walid Ktila of Tunisia, who entered the race as the three-time defending champion.

Thailand’s Chaiwat Rattana won the gold medal while setting a Paralympic record in 14.76.

Smeenk delivered Canada’s second medal on the track in Saint-Denis. Fellow wheelchair racer Brent Lakatos was a silver medallist in the men’s T53 400m on Sunday.

Smeenk registered the fourth-fastest qualifying time, winning his heat in 15.38.

He won silver in the event at the World Para Athletics Championships last July.

Smeenk finished seventh three years ago in Tokyo and sixth in his Paralympic debut at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Smeenk is also set to compete in the men’s 800m T34 event. He holds the world record in both the 800 (1:35.59) and 400 (48.06).

He will race the heat in the event on Friday at 6:10 a.m. ET, with the final scheduled for Saturday at 4:12 a.m. ET. Watch live coverage on CBC Gem, the Paris 2024 website and the Paris 2024 mobile app for Android and iOS devices.  

Smeenk was born with a hereditary form of paraplegia that causes stiffness in the lower limbs.

Taylor takes triathlon bronze

Canada’s Leanne Taylor won a triathlon bronze medal earlier in the day.

The 32-year-old from Winnipeg finished third in the women’s wheelchair triathlon behind victor Lauren Parker of Australia and silver medallist Kendall Gretsch of the United States.

“I don’t think it’s really set in yet. … it meant so much to me to have a performance that got them to cheer even louder than they already were. I’m super excited,” Taylor said after the race.

“It was a really tough day for me. Even coming into it, I wasn’t feeling well coming into the race, so I was really nervous about how hard I was going to be able to push.”

Taylor made her Paralympic debut in Paris. She was paralyzed from the waist down in a mountain bike crash five years ago.

“I was injured in a bike accident six years ago, and there’s a massive group of people who supported me to get to this point. Just to have something to show them like ‘this is why we did it,'” she said.

The distance is a 750-metre swim, a 20-kilometre handbike and a five-kilometre wheelchair race.

Taylor posted an overall time of one hour 12 minutes and 11 seconds.

Parker upgraded her silver medal from Tokyo after clocking 1:06:23, dethroning defending champion Gretsch (1:07:46).

Para triathlon had the same scheduling problems as in the Olympic Games.

The schedule was altered and races postponed because of water quality issues in the Seine River.