Paris 2024 Day 1 Recap: Two bronze medals for Canada to open Paralympic Games

– Para cyclist Kate O’Brien wins first medal, Aurélie Rivard adds another in Para swimming 
– Women’s goalball and sitting volleyball teams notch opening victories  

Paris, August 29, 2024 – The Paris 2024 Canadian Paralympic Team captured two medals on the opening day of competition at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, with Para cyclist Kate O’Brien securing the nation’s first podium followed by Aurelie Rivard adding to her impressive medal collection with another bronze in Para swimming.    

MEDALS WON ON AUGUST 29 

BRONZE – Kate O’Brien, Para Cycling Track, Women’s C4-5 500m Time Trial  
BRONZE – Aurélie Rivard, Para Swimming, Women’s 50m freestyle S10  

OVERALL MEDAL TOTAL 

GOLD – 0 
SILVER – 0 
BRONZE – 2  
TOTAL – 2 

RESULTS SUMMARY  

Para Cycling Track  
Kate O’Brien captured Canada’s first medal of the Paralympic Games with a bronze in the women’s C4-5 500m time trial. A silver medallist in this event in Tokyo, O’Brien is now a two-time Paralympic medallist. She finished the race in third with a time of 37.37 seconds behind Dutchwoman Caroline Groot in 35.566 and Marie Patouillet of France in 36.700.   

“I honestly didn’t think this was in the cards,” said O’Brien of winning a medal in Paris. “I’ve never won a first medal of anything, and it just means a lot. And to have so much support behind it from Canada and my family and friends, I can’t describe it.” 

In the same event, Keely Shaw was 10^th in qualifying and did not advance to the final. Her main track event, the individual pursuit, will race Friday.  

Para Swimming  
Aurélie Rivard secured her 11^th career Paralympic medal on Thursday, claiming bronze in the women’s 50m freestyle S10. She touched the wall third in 27.62 seconds behind China’s Chen Yi in 27.10 in world record time and American Christie Raleigh-Crossley in 27.38.  

“Of course I always go for gold, but I never set my goals in terms of medals,” said Rivard. “The time I did was a little disappointing considering what I did in the morning, but this was still the icebreaker event – the 50 free which is not my favourite, the one I’m most comfortable in, but it gave me a great idea of the shape I’m in. I know what I’m capable to do.”  

“I can’t be disappointed, I can’t stop smiling, it was such a great moment to share with my family and to have the stands full, and people are so happy to be here.” 

Also in finals, Shelby Newkirk finished fourth in the women’s 50m freestyle S6 and Fernando Lu was seventh in the men’s 50m freestyle S10.  

In the morning heats, four swimmers did not advance in their first Paralympic appearances: Arianna Hunsicker, Katie Cosgriffe, Clemence Pare, and Hannah Ouellette.  

Sitting Volleyball  
Canada’s women’s sitting volleyball team, fourth-place finishers in Tokyo three years ago, opened its Paris 2024 campaign with a 3-0 (25-11, 25-21, 25-12) victory over Slovenia.    

“We are feeling ecstatic,” said team member Jennifer Oakes. “Our team has been really raring to go, raring to play. This has been building for a long time, obviously a lot of training the last summer, the last quad, but also within the last nine, 10 years we’ve been building this program, we’ve been building up to this point. It’s just really coming together, and we’re feeling great.”  

Goalball  
The Canadian women’s goalball team started its tournament off strong, with a resounding 10-0 victory over host nation France. Emma Reinke led the scoring for Canada with six goals. The squad will play two more preliminary games before the quarterfinals.  

Wheelchair Rugby  
Canada opened with a close 51-48 loss to the United States in wheelchair rugby play. Zak Madell led the team with 31 tries. In what will be a tight tournament, Canada will play two more round-robin games before the playoff stage.  

“I think we had a few opportunities missed,” said Mike Whitehead, competing at his sixth Paralympic Games. “We fought back early, and we evened it up at the half to put ourselves in a good position. We showed that we can hang, we can fight, we can win. But a tough third [period] there and they got comfortable, and we didn’t make them too uncomfortable.” 

Para Archery  
Kyle Tremblay, making his first Paralympic appearance, finished fourth in the men’s compound open qualification round with a score of 697 and moves into the elimination rounds on Friday.  

Boccia  
Alison Levine opened her tournament in the women’s BC4 individuals with a 4-3 victory over Egypt’s Hanaa Elfar before a 3-2 loss to Malaysia’s Noor Askuzaimey Mat Salim brought her preliminary record to 1-1.  

In other results, Danik Allard lost to Japanese Takayuki Hirose in men’s BC2 play 6-2 for his first match, Lance Cryderman fell 7-0 to Portugal’s Andre Ramos in the men’s BC1, and Iulian Ciobanu, in the men’s BC4 tournament, lost to Ukrainian Artem Kolinko 6-1. Group play continues Friday.  

Wheelchair Basketball  
The Canadian women’s wheelchair basketball team fell 70-65 to China in its opening match. With the score 55-53 in favour of Canada heading into the fourth quarter, a strong quarter from the Chinese gave them the victory. Kady Dandeneau posted 28 points, seven assists, and nine rebounds for Canada in the close loss, with Rosalie Lalonde contributing 18 points.  

“It was definitely little errors on our part,” said team member Arinn Young, who added seven points. “Just mental lapses that messed us up for easy layups or easy shots from China. It’s a good game to learn from and bounce back from. Just because we lost one game doesn’t mean we’re out for the rest of the tournament. Just need a good regroup and get ready for the game on Saturday.” 

Para Badminton  
Yuka Chokyu, Canada’s sole Para badminton player in Paris, fell to her opponent Hu Guang-Chiou of Chinese Taipei to open group play in the women’s singles WH1 category. It was Chokyu’s Paralympic debut in the sport of Para badminton after competing in three Games (2000, 2004, 2008) in wheelchair tennis. She will return to the court on Friday.  

“I wanted to win but it doesn’t go your way all the time. I’m still really enjoying the atmosphere, and this is a great experience for me,” said Chokyu. 

CLICK HERE for the complete results on Thursday August 29.