Paris 2024 Paralympics Day 10: Six-medal day for Team Canada as Games near their conclusion
Canada picked up more hardware on the penultimate day of competition.
Six medals were won by Canadian athletes on the penultimate day of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games on Saturday, as competition wrapped up in several sports on the eve of the closing ceremony.
Austin Smeenk won Canada’s first medal of the day, and his second of Paris 2024, taking gold in the men’s T34 800m final at Stade de France.
Smeenk crossed the line in 1:39.27, just 0.19 seconds ahead of Chaiwat Rattana of Thailand, with Rheed McCracken of Australia finishing third. Smeenk is the current world record holder in the event, and now at Paris 2024 — his third Paralympics — gets his first gold medal. He also won a bronze medal earlier this week in the 100m event.
“It’s a good day for me, a good day for Canada, a good day for our program,” said Smeenk. “There was a lot that went into this, and a lot of people that contributed, so everybody here is celebrating. It’s a single person sport, but there’s a massive team behind me that has contributed to this.”
Nate Riech stepped onto the men’s 1500m T38 podium for the second Paralympics in a row, unable to defend his title but still coming away with a silver medal.
The world and Paralympic record holder raced across the line in a time of 4:13.12, behind champion Amen Allah Tissaoui of Tunisia and ahead of Reece Langdon of Australia. Riech tightened up a bit on the final stretch down the track after making his move on the outside of the tight pack of runners, and wasn’t able to chase down Tissaoui in time.
“I had three plans: slow, medium and fast,” said Riech. “I thought Reece was going to grab early control but he didn’t. I knew that I would drift up with 700 to go, if it was slow, and bake those guys. The plan worked great but I thought I would have more wheels at the end. It sucks, but at the end of the day those guys were great to me when I won, and I have nothing but respect for Amen. He was the best guy out there, no doubt about it, and I’m just proud.”
Two other Canadians challenged for the podium on the last day of Para athletics competition, with Noah Vucsics finishing fifth in the men’s T20 long jump final, and Sheriauna Haase racing to sixth in the women’s T47 200m.
Danielle Dorris defended her Paralympic title from Tokyo 2020 in the women’s 50m butterfly S7 event, touching the wall in 33.62 seconds to take gold.
Remarkably, the podium looks exactly the same as it did in Tokyo. Dorris won gold, Mallory Weggemann of the United States took silver, and Italy’s Giulia Terzi picked up the bronze.
“I’m very happy with how the results turned out tonight,” said Dorris. “I was faster than in the morning even by just a little bit, I’ll take it. Coming in I was hoping for a world record, but I cannot complain coming out with a medal in my favourite event on the last day of the competition.”
Shelby Newkirk won her first Paralympic medal in the pool on Saturday, taking the bronze medal in the women’s 100m backstroke S6.
Competing at her second Paralympics, Newkirk moved up a spot from her result in this event at Tokyo 2020, finishing third with a time of 1:22.24, 2.8 seconds behind the silver medallist, American Elizabeth Marks. China’s Jiang Yuyan won her seventh gold medal of Paris 2024, in a world record time of 1:19.44.
“I really just gave everything I could,” said Newkirk. “I was very excited as soon as I realized I got bronze. It’s been a goal for so long. It was a goal in Tokyo, I came in fourth, I came in fourth earlier this week. To finally be able to break onto the podium was such an amazing feeling.”
In the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay final, Newkirk swam the anchor leg as she, Aurelie Rivard, Alec Elliot and Reid Maxwell finished eighth after being in first place after 300 metres.
Elliot and Fernando Lu were unable to qualify for the final of the men’s 200m individual medley SM10. Also unable to advance from the morning heats were Katie Cosgriffe in the women’s 200m individual medley SM10, Maxwell in the men’s 100m butterfly S8, and Clemence Pare and Hannah Ouellette in the women’s 200m individual medley SM5.
Brianna Hennessy, competing in her second Paralympic Games, won Canada’s first-ever medal in Para canoe on Saturday, finishing second in the women’s single 200m VL2 event. She crossed the line in 1:00.12, beaten only by Paralympic record holder Emma Wiggs of Great Britain (58.88 seconds). Hennessy finished fifth at Tokyo 2020 and second at the 2022, 2023, and 2024 world championships — losing to Wiggs each time.
Later on Saturday, Hennessy — along with Para swimmer Nicholas Bennett — was named one of Canada’s flag bearers for the closing ceremony on Sunday.
In the women’s 200m VL3 event, Erica Scarff finished second in her semifinal heat to advance to the final later in the day, where she crossed the line in fifth.
Canada reached the women’s sitting volleyball podium for the first time ever on Saturday, beating Brazil in straight sets in the third place match. Canada won the first set 25-15, before winning the second and third sets 25-18 to take the bronze medal.
“It was really fast and exciting,” said team captain Danielle Ellis. “It was really comfortable, which seems like a crazy thing to say, we lost to them just a week ago. But today we came in, we had so much information, we knew what was happening, we were all in it together. We were playing hard, we were playing aggressive. It was fun.”
Alexandre Hayward and Nathan Clement raced in Para cycling road races. Hayward finished one spot back of the podium after hanging with the lead pack for most of the men’s C1-3 event, while Clement finished ninth in the men’s T1-2 race.
Also just missing out on the podium was the men’s wheelchair basketball team. Canada was leading by a single point against Germany after three quarters but could not hang on for the victory, as the Germans went on a run that saw them outscore Canada 28-14 in the final frame. In his final Paralympic game, the legendary Patrick Anderson scored 31 points as he tried to lead his team to victory, but in the end he wasn’t able add a fifth medal to the collection.
“A bronze medal would’ve been the perfect ending to this run – not just this couple of weeks, but for me, coming back in 2017 and all of the ups and downs, but that’s not how life works,” said Anderson. “I’m still very proud to have gone on this journey with these guys. I’m really proud of them, and I look forward to seeing what they do going forward.”
Roberta Sheffield was the only Canadian competing in the individual freestyle discipline event in Para equestrian after qualifying earlier this week alongside her horse Fairuza. The duo finished sixth.
What’s happening on Day 11?
On Sunday, the Paralympics will come to an end with the closing ceremony at Stade de France. That will begin at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT here in Canada, and can be watched on CBC’s television and digital channels.
Before the closing ceremony there will be three final events including Canadians. Click here for CBC’s guide on when and where to watch every Paralympic event.
The women’s wheelchair basketball team take on China in the bronze medal match, looking to reach the podium for the first time in 20 years. Canada last won a medal, a bronze, at Athens 2004 after previously winning gold three times in a row from 1992 to 2000. Canada played China in the preliminary round, losing a tight game 70-65.
Before leading Canada into the closing ceremony with Nicholas Bennett, Brianna Hennessy races in the semifinals of the women’s single 200m KL1 event, looking to advance to the final about an hour and a half later. The situation is the same for Mathieu St-Pierre in the men’s single 200m VL2 event.
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