Paris 2024 Paralympics Day 9: Record-setting day results in three more trips to the podium for Team Canada
Canada picked up more medals on the penultimate day of swimming and athletics competition.
Three Canadians reached the podium at the Paris 2024 Paralympics on Friday, with two of them earning gold medals in record-breaking fashion.
After setting a new Paralympic record in the morning heats of the men’s 50m freestyle S4 on Friday, 19-year-old Canadian Sebastian Massabie entered the final as one of the favourites to win gold, and he more than lived up to that.
Massabie not only won the gold medal, but he smashed the Paralympic and world records in the process. Israel’s Ami Omer Dadaon, who ended up finishing third in the final, held the previous world record of 36.25 seconds for over two years, but Massabie touched the wall in 35.61 seconds to become the first to break 36 seconds in this classification.
“I feel really, really happy, excited, and proud of myself,” he said afterwards.
Four other Canadians reached finals on Friday night. Katie Cosgriffe was fifth and Aurelie Rivard was eighth in the women’s 100m backstroke S10, Alec Elliot was seventh in the men’s 100m backstroke S10, and Mary Jibb was eighth in the women’s 100m butterfly S9.
Five swimmers were eliminated in the heats in the morning: Hannah Ouellette in the women’s 50m butterfly S5, Arianna Hunsicker in the women’s 100m backstroke S10, Nicholas Bennett in the men’s 100m backstroke S14, Emma Van Dyck in the women’s 100m backstroke S14, and Reid Maxwell in the men’s 100m freestyle S8.
Cody Fournie won a second gold medal at Stade de France on Friday, winning the men’s T51 100m just three days after taking gold in the 200m event.
The 35-year-old, competing in his first Paralympic Games, exploded off the line after hearing the starter’s gun and raced across the line in 19.63 seconds for a new Paralympic record.
“I feel wonderful, it feels great to get two gold medals at the Paralympics,” said Fournie. “I will be bringing back everything I learned from this event and apply it to my training back home.”
Also reaching the podium in Para athletics was another Paralympic debutant, Jesse Zesseu. Competing in the men’s discus F37 event, Zesseu reached 53.24 metres with his final throw, good for the silver medal. It was an emotional moment for Zesseu, who got his redemption for faulting on all three of his attempts in Paris at the 2023 world championships.
“I was here last year for world championships, in exactly the same city, in Paris; I triple faulted, and it was the worst meet of my life, and I cried,” Zesseu said. “And I cried again now in Paris but for a different reason, for a good reason. So it’s just everything in the last three years since I started Para sports, to do this, I have no words, it’s incredible.”
Just missing out on the podium was Anthony Bouchard, who finished fourth in the final of the men’s T52 100m. Marissa Papaconstantinou finished seventh in the women’s T64 100m, behind a podium sweep from three Dutch athletes, while Renee Foessel finished sixth in the women’s F38 discus final.
Austin Smeenk advanced to the men’s T34 800m final on Saturday, finishing second in his heat on Friday.
Canada’s women’s wheelchair basketball team will play for a bronze medal on Sunday after losing 72-61 to the reigning gold medallists from the Netherlands in the semifinals on Friday. Canada stormed back from an early deficit and had a narrow lead at halftime, but the Dutch went on a run in the third quarter to go back in front, and extended their lead in the fourth to take the win. Arinn Young and Kady Dandeneau scored the majority of Canada’s points again, dropping 29 and 24, respectively.
Trinity Lowthian earned Canada’s best ever wheelchair fencing result at the Paralympic Games, finishing fifth in the women’s category B epee tournament. She lost her opening round match, sending her to the repechage rounds, where she beat number three seed Cho Eun Hye of South Korea and number two Rossana Pasquino of Italy. She needed one more win to advance into the bronze medal match, but lost a narrow match 15-14 against Hong Kong’s Tong Nga Ting.
Ryan Rousell lost 15-6 to Artem Manko of Ukraine in the men’s category A epee table of 32, ending his tournament after one match.
Brianna Hennessy had a big day in Para canoe, advancing to the final of the women’s VL2 event with a first place finish in her heat, and also advancing to the semifinals of the women’s KL1. The other two Canadians on the team, Erica Scarff and Mathieu St-Pierre, advanced to the semifinals of the women’s VL3 and men’s VL2 events, respectively.
In Para cycling, Keely Shaw finished 15th in the women’s C4-5 road race, completing the 71 kilometre course in 2:09:28 — just over 15 minutes behind the winner, British racer Sarah Storey.
Represented by Jody Schloss and El Colorado, Austen Burns and Happy Feet 3, and Roberta Sheffield and Fairuza, Canada finished 11th in the Para equestrian team event.
What’s happening on Day 10?
Below are all of the Canadian athletes competing on Saturday, the final day of competition for many sports. Click here for CBC’s guide on when and where to watch every Paralympic event.
On the final day of athletics competition, world record holder Nate Riech will compete in the men’s T38 1500m final, looking to repeat as Paralympic champion after winning the event in Tokyo three summers ago.
Austin Smeenk, who won a bronze medal in the men’s T34 100m earlier in the Games, looks to add an 800m medal to his collection after a second place finish in his first round heat on Friday. He is the world record holder in the event.
Sheriauna Haase races in the morning heats for the women’s T47 200m event, with the final set for later in the day if she is able to advance. Noah Vucsics will be the final Canadian to compete in Para athletics at Paris 2024, making his Paralympic debut in the men’s T20 long jump final.
The final day of Para swimming will be a busy one, with seven events featuring Canadians.
The morning features the heats, including Alec Elliot and Fernando Lu in the men’s 200m individual medley SM10, and Katie Cosgriffe in the women’s 200m individual medley SM10. Shelby Newkirk races in the women’s 100m backstroke S6, Reid Maxwell goes in the men’s 100m butterfly S8, Tess Routliffe and Danielle Dorris in the women’s 50m butterfly S7, and Clemence Pare and Hannah Ouellette in the women’s 200m individual medley SM5.
The finals for all of those events are in the evening session at La Défense Arena. Already qualified for an evening final is Canada’s 4x100m freestyle relay team — which will be made up of Aurelie Rivard, Elliot, Maxwell, and Newkirk
Two Canadian teams will play for bronze medals on Saturday.
Canada’s women’s sitting volleyball team are up first, looking for their first-ever Paralympic medal. They will be up against Brazil in what many thought could be the gold medal match before the tournament began, with Canada ranked first in the world and Brazil second. It is also a rematch of the Tokyo 2020 bronze medal game, which was won by Brazil.
The Canadian men’s wheelchair basketball team will go for bronze in their game later in the day, looking to get onto the podium for the first time in 12 years. Canada dominated the sport early this century, winning gold three times in a row from 2000-2008 and adding a silver in 2012, but they haven’t been able to get back to the podium since. They look to change that on Saturday, in what will be the final Paralympic match for the legendary Patrick Anderson. Canada will take on Germany, who they beat 68-52 in the preliminary round, looking to repeat that result in this match.
Two Canadians who have both medalled in Paris compete in Para cycling road races on Saturday — Alexandre Hayward in the men’s C1-3 event, and Nathan Clement in the men’s T1-2. Clement won a silver medal in the road time trial on Wednesday, while Hayward won a bronze medal on the track earlier in the Games.
Roberta Sheffield will be the lone Canadian competing in the individual freestyle discipline event in Para equestrian, alongside her horse Fairuza. Sheffield and Fairuza, competing in the Grade II category, qualified for this event with a sixth-place finish in the individual championship test event earlier in the week.
Canada has never won a Paralympic medal in Para canoe, but that could change on Saturday. Brianna Hennessy races in the 200m VL2 final, the day after winning her heat to qualify directly for the final. Erica Scarff is looking to make the final of the 200m VL3 event, first competing in the semifinals earlier on Saturday.
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