Paralympic newsletter: Canada strikes gold, and who to watch on Tuesday
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After collecting eight medals over the first four days of competition without reaching the top of the podium, Canada finally struck gold today in Paris. Swimmer Nicholas Bennett, who has autism, won the men’s 100m breaststroke SB14 for his second medal of the Games.
Two other Canadians made the podium on Day 5 to give the country its most productive day of the Games so far. Wheelchair triathlete Leanne Taylor took bronze in the women’s PTWC event while wheelchair track racer Austin Smeenk also earned a bronze in the men’s 100m T34. It’s the first Paralympic medal for both athletes.
Canada came close to adding two more triathlon medals today, but Kamylle Frenette placed fourth in the women’s PTS5 for the second straight Paralympics while top contender Stefan Daniel finished 10th in the men’s PTS5. Daniel, a two-time Paralympic medallist, was leading his race when he crashed his bike into a barricade, knocking him out of contention.
The triathlon races were supposed to be held Sunday, but they were rescheduled due to poor water quality in the Seine river — the same problem that plagued the Olympic triathlons.
In case you missed it, Canadians captured four medals over the weekend — all silver. In addition to Bennett’s second-place finish in the men’s 200m freestyle, swimmer Tess Routliffe was the runner-up in the women’s 200m individual medley SM7 while swimmer Aurelie Rivard and wheelchair track racer Brent Lakatos each captured their 12th career Paralympic medal.
Other key Canadian results today:
* Canada’s women’s sitting volleyball team swept Rwanda in three sets to place second in its group with a 2-1 record and advance to the semifinals on Thursday. The Canadians’ opponent will be determined Tuesday.
* The Canadian wheelchair rugby team lost to France 53-50 in the fifth-place playoff game, meaning Canada finishes sixth. Japan defeated the United States to win its first Paralympic title after taking bronze at the past two Games. The U.S. has now taken silver three straight times.
* Wheelchair tennis player Rob Shaw lost his quarterfinal in straight sets to second-seeded Dutchman Niels Vink, eliminating Shaw from the quad singles tournament.
* Lakatos did not advance to the men’s T54 1,500m final after placing eighth in his heat. None of the 44-year-old wheelchair track star’s 12 Paralympic medals have come in the 1,500m, but he did take silver at last year’s world championships.
Here’s a full roundup of today’s most notable Canadian performances.
WATCH | Bennett ends Canadian gold-medal drought:
Nicholas Bennett of Parksville, B.C., claimed Canada’s first gold medal at Paris 2024, and his first-career Paralympic gold medal, by winning the men’s 100-metre breaststroke SB14 final. It’s Bennett’s second medal in Paris, as he swam to silver two days earlier.
Top Canadian medal chances on Day 6
Tuesday’s leading contenders are all on the track. Here they are in chronological order of their finals:
Zach Gingras in the men’s T38 400m final at 1:20 p.m. ET. The 23-year-old athlete with cerebral palsy took bronze in this event as a Paralympic rookie in 2021 and silver at last year’s world championships. His personal-best time of 50.23 seconds in the one-lap race ranks third among the nine finalists.
Marissa Papaconstantinou in the women’s T64 200m final at 1:53 p.m. ET. Assuming she advances through the morning heats, Papaconstantinou should challenge for her second Paralympic medal. The 24-year-old blade runner took bronze in this event at last year’s world championships and was a 100m bronze medallist at the 2021 Paralympics in Tokyo.
Bianca Borgella in the women’s T13 100m final at 2:13 p.m. ET. The 21-year-old visually impaired sprinter is a strong podium contender in her Paralympic debut after taking bronze in the 100m at her first world championships last year. She also took silver in the 200m at the worlds, but that event is not available in her classification at the Paralympics.
Other Canadians to watch on Tuesday
* The Canadian men’s wheelchair basketball team takes on the Netherlands in the quarterfinals at 10 a.m. ET. Canada defeated Germany 68-52 today to finish second in its group with a 2-1 record, while the Dutch placed third in their group at 1-2. Co-flagbearer Pat Anderson led the way for Canada today with 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds. The Canadian women’s wheelchair basketball team will face Germany in their quarterfinals on Wednesday after going 2-1 in group play.
* Canada’s women’s goalball team faces Israel in the quarterfinals at 9:15 a.m. ET. Canada finished second in its group with a 1-1-1 record, while Israel was third in its group with one win and two losses.
* The second-ranked mixed pairs BC4 boccia team of Alison Levine and Iulian Ciobanu plays both of its group-stage games, against China at 4:30 a.m. ET and Croatia at 12:50 p.m. ET. At the end of the day, the top two teams in each group advance to the quarterfinals on Wednesday. Levine was eliminated in the quarters of her women’s individual event while Ciobanu did not advance past the group stage on the men’s side.
WATCH | Setting up Day 6 on CBC Sports’ Rise and Stream:
On Day 6 of the Paralympics, Marissa Papaconstantinou, Bianca Borgella and Sheriauna Haase will all make their Paris 2024 debut. Plus, 3 Canadians compete in Para equestrian, and Ruth Sylvie Morel begins her fourth Paralympics in wheelchair fencing. Watch it all on CBC Gem.
More on the Paralympics
If you’re wondering what BC4, SB14 and other such event designations mean, they’re disability classifications. Here’s a handy guide to how they work in each sport. Classification can be a controversial aspect of the Paralympics, with some athletes even accused of “class doping.” Read more about the fraught system in this story by CBC Sports’ Myles Dichter.
If you missed Tuesday’s newsletter, here’s our primer on the Paralympics with some fun facts about the Canadian team.
For more stories, video and live streams, visit CBC Sports’ Paris 2024 website and Paris 2024 app.
How to watch the Paralympics
Go here to choose the live events you want to watch and find replays and highlights. See the full streaming schedule here.
You can also catch the action in Paris via three daily live shows on the CBC TV network, CBC Gem and CBC Sports’ Paris 2024 website and app. There’s Petro-Canada Paris Prime, hosted by Scott Russell, at 2 p.m. ET; Toyota Paralympic Games Primetime, hosted by Russell and Stef Reid, at 8 p.m. in your local time zone; and Canadian Tire Paralympics Tonight, hosted by Devin Heroux and Roseline Filion, at 11:30 p.m. local.
Digital coverage will also include daily episodes of Rise and Stream, highlighting the must-see events and Canadians to follow, and Hot Takes, featuring interviews with athletes and analysts. Both shows are available on the Paris 2024 site and on CBC Sports’ YouTube channel, Facebook, Instagram and X. Here’s more on CBC’s Paralympics coverage.
