Maitlan Knoke wins first Para gold at Canadian Track and Field Championships

Canada’s women’s sitting volleyball team in Europe; 3X3 wheelchair basketball teams named for Commonwealth Games

OTTAWA – Maitlan Knoke of Saskatoon won the first Para gold medal at the Canadian Track and Field Championships on Wednesday morning with a victory in the men’s seated discus throw.

The competition runs until Sunday at the Terry Fox Athletic Facility in Ottawa.

Knoke, one of 12 Para athletics athletes named to Canada’s team for next month’s Commonwealth Games, delivered his best of six throws on his last attempt reaching 29.80 metres.

David Lipton of Halifax, a double medallist at the Canada Games last year, was second at 21.11 and Daryl Yuen of Vancouver third at 20.31.

The women’s seated discus is scheduled for Wednesday evening.

On the track, Brendan Cote-Williamson of Calgary showed his Grand Prix victory last month was no fluke as he clocked the fastest time in the men’s 400-metre ambulatory race preliminaries.

He clocked 51.54 seconds with Paralympic Games medallist Zach Gingras of Markham Ont., second in 54.05 and David Johnson of Victoria third.

In the women’s 100-m ambulatory preliminaries, Chloe Dunbar of Windsor, N.S., was the fastest in 12.48 seconds followed by Paralympic Games medallist Marissa Papaconstantinou of Toronto in second at 13.22.

George Quarcoo of Oshawa, Ont., took the men’s 100-metre ambulatory prelims in 11.42 seconds with Cote-Williamson second in 11.56 (just 0.04 seconds off his T47 Canadian record) and David Johnson third in 11.63.

The finals for all three races are on Friday.

For more information on the Canadian Track and Field Championships including tickets and live streaming clock HERE

Pre-worlds tune-up for women’s sitting volleyball team

Canada’s women’s sitting volleyball team is in Assen, Netherlands for the for the Dutch Tournament which runs this Friday to Sunday. The competition is a tune-up for the sitting volleyball world championships July 10-17 in Hangzhou, China.

Led by head coach Nicole Ban, the Paralympic Games bronze medallists players include from the 2024 squad: Jolan Wong of Pembroke, Ont., Heidi Peters of Neerlandia, Alta., Katelyn Wright of Edmonton, Jennifer McCreesh of Smithers, B.C., and Allison Lang of Edmonton.

Other team members are: Amber Brown of Wandering River, Alta., Natasha Sexton of Middle Sackville, N.S., Kerrie Buchberger of Edmonton, Chelsea Coates of Calgary, Keira Neal of Invermere, B.C., Anna Dunn of Halifax and Julia Chisholm.

Canada opens the round robin tournament with games against Poland, Ukraine and Germany on Friday. Then it’s the Netherlands and Italy on Saturday and the reigning Paralympic Games champion the U.S. on Saturday.

Last month, Canada and the U.S. waged an epic battle in the final at the USAV Cup with the Americans winning in five sets, the last game finishing 16-14.

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Wheelchair Basketball Canada names 3×3 teams for Glasgow Commonwealth Games

Commonwealth Sport Canada and Wheelchair Basketball Canada have named the athletes who will represent Canada in 3×3 wheelchair basketball at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, from July 23 to Aug. 2.

The women’s team is led by returning Commonwealth Games gold medallists Kady Dandeneau of Pender Island, B.C., and Élodie Tessier of Saint-Germain-de-Grantham, Que. Both helped Canada win gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and the 2025 IWBF 3×3 Open World Championships.

They will be joined by Puisand Lai of Toronto and Rosie Long of Oakville, Ont.

The men’s team features Garrett Ostepchuk of Regina and Lee Melymick of Toronto, members of Canada’s gold-medal-winning squad at the 2025 IWBF 3×3 Open World Championships.

Reed De’Aeth of Sherwood Park, Alta., and Kyrell Sopotyk of Aberdeen, Sask., will make their 3×3 Commonwealth Games debuts.

The Canadian teams will look to build on their results from the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, where the women captured gold and the men earned silver.