Paris 2024 Day 8 Recap: Aurelie Rivard and Brent Lakatos score gold medals as Canada hits 20 total podiums

– Tess Routliffe adds bronze in Para swimming; Fourth places in boccia and Para judo  
– Women’s sitting volleyball and men’s wheelchair basketball teams fall in semis; will play for bronze

PARIS – Aurelie Rivard and Brent Lakatos are keeping pace with each other at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, each winning gold on Thursday for their 13^th career Paralympic medals. With six gold medals so far, the Canadian Paralympic Team has surpassed the five won at the Tokyo 2020 Games and is just one shy of its overall podium total from three years ago. Three competition days remain in Paris.

MEDALS WON ON SEPTEMBER 5

GOLD – Aurelie Rivard, Para Swimming, Women’s 400m Freestyle S10
GOLD – Brent Lakatos, Para Athletics, Men’s T53 800m
BRONZE – Tess Routliffe, Para Swimming, Women’s 100m breaststroke SB7

OVERALL MEDAL TOTAL

GOLD – 6
SILVER – 6
BRONZE – 8
TOTAL – 20

RESULTS SUMMARY

Para Swimming
Aurelie Rivard is now a six-time Paralympic champion and 13-time Paralympic medallist after winning gold in the women’s 400m freestyle S10. Third at the halfway mark of the race, she ultimately touched the wall in 4:29.20, more than two seconds clear of the next athlete. Rivard, who now has a complete Paris collection of one gold, one silver, and one bronze, has claimed the Paralympic title in this distance for the third straight Games.

“This one’s extra special. It’s one thing to be young and chase and go for the first gold medal, but to defend titles, it’s harder each time,” said Rivard. “You have to find little ways to beat yourself. And I’m not easy to beat. I know all my tricks. And you also have to beat your own expectations, which is probably the hardest part, and the pressure I was putting on myself. So this one, I know everything I put into this race in the last few days, and also in the last few years.”

Tess Routliffe earned her second medal in Paris, this time a bronze in the women’s 100m breaststroke SB7, to go along with an earlier silver finish. For Routliffe, who posted a time of 1:31.58, it is her third career Paralympic medal.

“I think it went very well. I’m here to race, and that’s exactly what I’m doing,” said Routliffe. “I’m super happy to be here. I love getting in the pool and competing and racing the person next to me, so I’m just happy I’m getting the chance to do that again.”

The third evening final for Canadians saw Mary Jibb seventh in the women’s 200m individual medley SM9.

With 10 medals through the Paralympic Games so far, Canada’s Para swimming team has already surpassed its total from both Tokyo 2020 (eight) and Rio 2016 (eight).  

In the morning heats, six swimmers did not advance: Abi Tripp in the women’s 100m breaststroke SB7, Katarina Roxon in the women’s 200m individual medley SM9, and the mixed 4x50m medley relay team of Nikita Ens, Shelby Newkirk, Sebastian Massabie, and Reid Maxwell.

Para Athletics
Brent Lakatos is golden on the Stade de France track after racing to first in the men’s T53 800m. Finishing in a time of 1:37.32, the six-time Paralympian secured his 13th Paralympic medal and the second gold of his career – and first since Rio 2016. This is his second podium in Paris following a silver in the 400m.

“I feel so good, it’s been such a long road,” said Lakatos, who recovered from a rib injury this year. “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, then getting back into it, training, feeling the excitement building. I’m really lucky to be here, really happy, and it’s just an amazing feeling.”

Other evening results saw Julia Hanes throw a personal best of 7.15 metres in the women’s F33 shot put final to finish sixth. Two athletes also qualified for finals: Marissa Papaconstantinou in the women’s T64 100m (final set for Friday evening) and Anthony Bouchard in the men’s T52 100m (final set for Friday morning), while Keegan Gaunt did not advance out of the women’s T13 400m heats.  

Boccia
Alison Levine and Iulian Ciobanu settled for fourth in the boccia BC4 pairs event, falling to Thailand’s Pornchok Larpyen and Nuanchan Phonsila 6-1. The difference was a three-point third end for the Thais, ultimately putting Canada’s medal hopes out of reach. This was the nation’s best finish in the sport at Games since London 2012.

“The only thing that makes me feel more confident for the future is we did a lot of great things to come here, to be here today, to play in the semifinals, playing for bronze,” said Ciobanu. “We didn’t miss too much, but this is the sport. Unfortunately, one team lose another one wins, so next time.”

Wheelchair Basketball
Canada’s men’s wheelchair basketball team fell to defending Paralympic champion USA in the semifinals late Thursday evening by a score of 80-43. The squad came out strong, leading 16-15 after the first quarter, but the Americans turned it on in the second and led from there. The team will now play for bronze against Germany and has already secured its best Paralympic result since 2012.

Sitting Volleyball
Canada will play for bronze in women’s sitting volleyball after dropping a 3-0 (25-16, 25-22, 25-18) decision to China in the semifinals. Fourth-place finishers three years ago in Tokyo – its best ever Paralympic result – the team will be looking to go one better in Paris. They will now take on Brazil for bronze on Saturday afternoon.

“I think our goal was to go out there and put everything we had on the court,” said team member Julie Kozun. “We’re scratching the surface of our best volleyball, but we weren’t quite playing our best volleyball. We can run a faster ball than we played today. China is a tough competitor. It’s nice to play high-level volleyball with a high-level team, but I think we had more in the tank and we just weren’t able to execute on it today.”

Para Judo
Priscilla Gagne, a silver medallist three years ago, concluded her Paris Games in fourth place in the women’s 57 kg J1 category. Gagne started her day with a win over Brazilian Oliveira da Silva to move into the semifinals, where she fell to China’s Shi Yijie. In the ensuing bronze-medal match, it was a close duel that went to a golden score, but Gagne came up short against Argentina’s Paula Karina Gomez.

“I’m really glad to see the Paralympic Movement coming to where it is today,” said Gagne. “We came for the gold. We came to train for the final, that didn’t work. We trained for the bronze, that didn’t work. But, you know, you can’t live in despair forever. So I am disappointed, I’m sad I lost it. What a story it would have been if I got the bronze. But you know what – my story’s not over, and I’m really happy for the girl who did win. She’s a great person. She’s got a big heart. And I’m really happy to see the movement at the level it is now, with so many visually impaired people coming out for their first Games.”

Para Cycling Road
Canada’s lone Para cyclist on the day, Charles Moreau, unfortunately crashed in the men’s H3 road race and did not finish his race; he is uninjured. 

CLICK HERE for the complete results on Thursday September 5.

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