Canada ends Cerebral Palsy World Games in third place with 38 medals

SANT CUGAT, Spain – Canada capped the CPISRA World Games for athletes with cerebral palsy with 14 trips to the podium this past weekend to finish third in the overall medal standings with 19 gold, 15 silver and four bronze for 38 total.

The Games started last Wednesday and ended Monday with a couple of soccer matches.

In the pool this weekend, Megan Sherwin of Toronto earned gold in the S8 100m breaststroke and silver medals in the 200m individual medley and the 100m butterfly. Nicolas Plamondon of Quebec City added a medal to finish the competition with four gold and a bronze.

“Today’s competition was rough compared to yesterday because there was little time to rest between swims,” said Plamondon. 

Jessica Tinney of Toronto showed her versatility with a bronze medal in athletics in the T33 400m. Less than an hour later, she took gold in the pool in the S4-5 100m breaststroke, improving her personal best by six seconds.

Also on the track, Lee Leclerc (St. Paul, Que.,) collected gold medals in the 1500m and 400m. 

“It’s exactly what I was missing in my track experience; the water, the wet track and the soft track,’’ he said. ‘’It was perfect for practice, and I’m happy with the overall experience.” 

Zachary Gingras (Markham, Ont.) added gold in the T38 400m. Djami Diallo (Pitt Meadows, BC) and Rachael Burrows (Oakville, Ont.) took silver and bronze in the T34 400m.

On the boccia court, Michael Mercer (St. John’s, NL) won silver in BC2 while Jennica Gagne (Dartmouth, NS) and Lois Martin (St. John’s, NL) each notched a bronze. 

“It feels amazing, much better than I could have ever imagined,” expressed Gagne, savouring her first international medal. “Competing at the CPISRA Games has made me realized that I love competing at a higher level.”

Great Britain topped the medal standings with 44 gold, 36 silver and 30 bronze followed by Poland (27-12-12). There were 24 countries entered with Canada fielding a 21-member team competing in three of the five sports.

For a full list of results from the CP World Games, follow www.cpworldgames.com.