Austin Smeenk's gold medal ceremony for his win in the 800M T-34 at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, France on September 7, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, CANADIAN PARALYMPIC COMMITTEE, Michael P. Hall
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PARIS – Canadian athletes topped the podium at the track and in the pool Saturday.
Those performances at the Paralympic Games pushed the country to a level not seen in 16 years.
Wheelchair racer Austin Smeenk finished first in the men’s T51 800 metres, while swimmer Danielle Dorrie captured the women’s 50-metre final.
Canada’s 10 gold medals heading into the final day of competition Sunday is the most since the 2008 Beijing Games. The team’s 29 medals also surpass its total from three years ago in Tokyo, and matches the 2016 output in Rio de Janeiro.
Action at the track concluded Saturday with Smeenk’s gold and Nate Riech’s silver in the T38 1,500 metres to give the Canadians nine medals at Stade de France, including five gold, for the most of that colour since earning 10 in Beijing.
Smeenk threw his arms in the air before the finish line Saturday – but topped Chaiwat Rattana of Thailand by just two-tenths of a second.
“Don’t do that, other people and other athletes,” said the Oakville, Ont., product. “I’m sure the coaches will appreciate me saying that.”
Dorris, meanwhile, defended her gold medal in the 50 metres in the pool after also winning in Tokyo at age 18.
“Winning my second medal in this amazing crowd, with my family here, is incredible,” said Dorris, who was Canada’s youngest athlete in Rio at just 13. “I’m much more mature now. I’m very happy for this whole journey that I’ve been on. More to come.”
Fredericton’s Shelby Newkirk also secured a medal in the pool, capturing bronze in the women’s S6 100-metre backstroke.
Riech, who hails from Victoria, won gold on the track in Tokyo, but didn’t have the same push in Paris.
“With 120 (metres) to go, I thought I was going to win this dang thing,” he said. “I tightened up with 50 to go.”
Ottawa canoeist Brianna Hennessy won silver – her first Paralympic medal – in the women’s 200-metre sprint.
The 39-year-old’s paddle includes a cardinal in remembrance of her late mother Norma, the letter “W’ for Wonder Woman and a cat.
“My mother passed away last year, so I said I’d be racing down the course with her,” said Hennessy, who will also race in the women’s kayak single Sunday. “In our family, a cardinal represents what our love means. My mum was my Wonder Woman, and this is a cardinal rising up.”
Hennessy and swimmer Nicholas Bennett, who won three medals at the Games, will be Canada’s flag-bearers at Sunday’s closing ceremony.
Canada also won its first Paralympic medal in women’s sitting volleyball and ended the country’s team sport podium drought Saturday.
The Canadian women swept Brazil 3-0 (25-15, 25-18, 25-18) to take bronze at North Paris Arena.
They are the first Canadian side to claim a Paralympic medal in a team sport since the men’s wheelchair basketball squad won gold in London in 2012.
“Oh my gosh, literally disbelief, but also, we did it,” said veteran Heidi Peters of Neerlandia, Alta. “It’s indescribable.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 7, 2024.
