Lakatos strikes gold for Canada’s first medal of the 2019 WPA Championships

It is a 12th World Championships title for Lakatos

Story by Athletics Canada

DUBAI - Canada earned its first medal at the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships on Friday, courtesy of Brent Lakatos’ gold medal performance in the men’s T53 100-metre final.

The 16-time World Championship medallist added to his total after breaking away from the 100-metre field to finish with a time of 14.59, claiming his 12th World Championships title, 17th World Championship medal, and his fourth straight gold medal in the 100-metres event (2013, 2015, 2017).

Day 2 got underway with co-captain Alister McQueen taking to the field for the men’s F64 javelin throw final as the reigning bronze medalist from the 2017 World Championships in London. Setting a season’s best with his first throw of 54.46-metres, the Calgary-native's strong performance also set a new Canadian record surpassing his previous record of 53.20-metres, to finish fifth overall in Dubai.

On the track, Ilana Dupont pushed hard through the finish line to stop the clock at 18.64 to finish eighth in the women’s 100-metre T53 final.

Starting off the chain of finals for the day, Zachary Gingras stepped in to the blocks for the men’s 400-metre T38 final, giving Canada’s its first top 8 finish of these Championships by crossing the finish line with a time of 54.59.

Earlier in the day, Thomas Normandeau got off to a quick start in round one of the men’s 400-metres T47 competition, crossing the finish line with a time of 51.84 to qualify for tomorrow’s final.

Austin Smeenk kept the momentum going in the men’s 400-metres T34 qualifying round, finishing the lap around the track in 52.56 to join Normandeau in finals action tomorrow morning.

Concluding the night of competition, Alexandre Dupont and Josh Cassidy line up in round 1 of the men’s 800-metre T54 competition, finishing with times of 1:37.92 and 1:41.05, respectively.

Team Canada will look to build off the momentum tomorrow on Day 3 of the 2019 World Championships.

Ilana Dupont will return to the track tomorrow morning for the women’s 400-metre T53, alongside countrywomen Jessica Frotten. Amanda Rummery makes her World Championships debut in the women’s 400-metre T47 heats, while Diane Roy looks to add to her portfolio in the women’s 800-metre T54 final. Brent Lakatos is back to business on the track for the men’s 400-metre T53 qualifying round, while Austin Smeenk eyes the podium in the men’s 400-metre T34 final. On the field, Amy Watt will take to the runway for the women’s long jump F47 final.

The Para athletics worlds are the largest Para sport event to be held before the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games and run from November 7 to 15. More than 1,400 athletes from almost 120 nations are expected.

Viewers will be able to follow the action via the free CBC Gem streaming service, cbcsports.ca, the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android devices, and CPC Facebook page, as well as the Radio-Canada Sports app and radio-canada.ca/sports.

For the broadcast schedule, please visit Paralympic.ca/Paralympic-Super-Series