A Jam-packed Day for Canada’s Para athletics Team as a Decorated Paralympian adds Another

PARIS – Canadian wheelchair racer Brent Lakatos highlighted a busy day on the track and in the field for the para athletics squad, capturing gold in the Men’s 800m T53 for his second medal of Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. 

The victory marks Lakatos’ 13th total medal of his storied career, and his second Paralympic gold, with his first earned in Rio 2016 in the Men’s 100m T53. His first place finish marks Canada’s sixth gold in Paris, tied with Switzerland for 15th in the medal count. 

An offseason of injury and recovery for the 44-year-old led to the ultimate zenith, and he couldn’t cherish the experience more. 

“I feel so good, it’s been such a long road,” said Lakatos after the race. “I’ve never had a serious injury like that before, so it’s been a really different experience. Lots of doubts, moments where I didn’t even know if I’d be here. And then getting back into it, training, feeling the excitement building. 

“I’m really lucky to be here, really happy. It’s an amazing feeling.”

Lakatos, who already owns the world-record time in the 800m T53 of 1:31.69, put on a show for the crowd at the Stade de France. The Dorval, Quebec City native finished with a time of 1:37.32, just under a second faster than second place finisher Pongsakorn Paeyo of Thailand. 

Paeyo holds the Paralympic record time of 1:36.07, of which Lakatos was just over a second of catching. The Canadian picked up a silver in the 400m T53 event earlier this week for his first medal in Paris. 

Lakatos shared his goal heading into the final stretch of the race.

“Coming out of that last corner, I know I wanted to be in the middle of one and two to block off as many angles as possible, and then just go for it. So that’s what I did.”

Elsewhere, Julia Hanes of Windsor, Ontario competed in the Women’s Shot Put – F33 Finals, finishing sixth in her second event in Paris. 

In her debut Paralympic Games, the 29-year-old recorded a personal best of 7.15m in her second attempt. She reached the same mark in her fifth attempt and dropped a centimetre below in her sixth and final throw.

Hanes smashed her throws in the 2024 Canadian Track and Field Championships of 7.01, 7.04, and 7.06. Her numbers on Thursday set new records, of which she held the top three Canadian throws in her category leading up to Paris.

Back on the track, Marissa Papaconstantinou ran in the Women’s 100m T64 first round, finishing with a time of 13.24 for sixth in her heat.

The Toronto, Ontario native’s performance was solid enough to earn her the final qualifying spot in Friday’s 100m T64 final, where she’ll compete for her second medal, her first coming in Tokyo 2020 with a bronze in the same event. 

In the men’s 100m T52, Anthony Bouchard finished second in his heat with a time of 17.43, the fourth best numbers across both round 1 races. The 31-year-old booked a spot in Friday’s finals, where he’ll compete in the final event in his Paralympic debut.

Finally, Keegan Gaunt finished with a time of 1:03:16 in Canada’s final Para athletics appearance of the day, the Women’s 400m T13 heats. In her first Paralympic Games in Paris, she reached the Women’s 1500m T13 Finals this past Saturday, but failed to qualify for the 400m final taking place on Friday.