While a final sport makes it's Paris 2024 debut, athletes in many others continue to look for glory, and one final team battles for hardware for the first time since 2004.
– First Para canoe races coming up; five athletes set for finals in Para athletics
– Wheelchair fencing, Para equestrian competition returns
Paris, September 5, 2024 – Para canoe is the final sport to make its Paris 2024 debut at the Paralympic Games on Friday, with all three Canadian athletes set to race in heats. The day’s schedule will also see Canada take on Netherlands in the women’s wheelchair basketball semifinals, and competition continue in wheelchair fencing, Para swimming, Para athletics, Para equestrian, and Para cycling. Here is what is coming up for the Paris 2024 Canadian Paralympic Team on Day 9, Friday September 6:
Wheelchair Basketball
The Canadian women’s wheelchair basketball team will face off against Netherlands for a spot in the gold medal game at 9:30 p.m. CEST / 3:30 p.m. ET. The Dutch are the defending Paralympic champions, while Canada is playing in the semifinals for the first time since 2004. The Canadian squad was fifth at the Tokyo 2020 Games.
Para Canoe
Canada’s Para canoe athletes will be making their Paris 2024 debut on Friday. Brianna Hennessy, a three-time world championships medallist over the last two seasons, will be racing in two heats. She will lead off for Canada in the women’s VL2 heats at 10:20 a.m. CEST / 4:20 a.m. ET and return to the water for the women’s KL1 heats at 11:25 a.m. CEST / 5:25 a.m. ET.
Erica Scarff will take her turn in the women’s VL3 heats at 10:30 a.m. CEST / 4:30 a.m. ET and rounding out the squad is Mathieu St-Pierre in the men’s VL2 heats at 11:45 a.m. CEST / 5:45 a.m. ET.
All three athletes will be making their second Paralympic Games experience. Canada is looking for its first medal in the sport; it debuted on the Paralympic program in 2016.
Para Equestrian
Canada will compete in the Para equestrian team event at Chateau de Versailles. Jody Schloss and El Colorado will start it off for Canada at 1:37 p.m. CEST / 7:37 a.m. ET followed by her teammates Austen Burns alongside horse Happy Feet 3 then Roberta Sheffield and Fairuza.
Wheelchair Fencing
Ryan Rousell and Trinity Lowthian will return to Grand Palais for the epee competition in wheelchair fencing. Rousell will take on Artem Manko of Ukraine at 9 a.m. CEST / 3 a.m. ET in the men’s category A table of 32, while Lowthian starts her campaign at 10:10 a.m. CEST / 4:10 a.m. ET in the women’s category B table of 16 versus Ukrainian Olena Fedota-Isaieva.
Para Cycling Road
Keely Shaw will represent for Canada in Para road cycling. She is set for the women’s C4-5 road race starting at 9:35 a.m. CEST / 3:35 a.m. ET.
Para Athletics
Paralympic champion Cody Fournie is among the athletes competing at Stade de France on Friday. Gold medallist in the 200m, he will now compete in the 100m.
First up in the day session will be Anthony Bouchard in the men’s T52 100m final at 11:38 a.m. CEST / 7:38 a.m. ET. Shortly thereafter, Jesse Zesseu will make his Paralympic debut, competing in the men’s F37 discus throw at 11:58 a.m. CEST / 5:38 a.m. ET.
Rounding it out for the Canadians will be Austin Smeenk in the men’s T34 800m heats at 12:18 p.m. CEST / 6:18 a.m. ET. Smeenk won his first Paralympic medal earlier in the Games, a bronze in the 100m. He is the world record holder in the 800m.
The evening session will feature three finals – Marissa Papaconstantinou in the women’s T64 100m at 7:11 p.m. CEST / 1:11 p.m. ET, Renee Foessel in the women’s F38 discus at 8:32 p.m. / 2:32 p.m. ET, and Cody Fournie in the men’s T51 100m at 9:09 p.m. CEST / 3:09 a.m. ET.
Papaconstantinou, fourth in the 200m, was the bronze medallist in the 100m race at Tokyo 2020. Foessel is looking for her first Paralympic medal after finishing fourth in Tokyo and winning the silver medal at the 2023 world championships.
Para Swimming
It is a busy day at the pool as Para swimming competition continues, with 10 Canadians racing in the morning for the chance to advance to finals.
First up will be Hannah Ouellette in the women’s 50m butterfly S5 heats at 9:53 a.m. CEST / 3:53 a.m. ET. She will be followed by: Alexander Elliot in the men’s 100m backstroke S10; Aurelie Rivard, Arianna Hunsicker, and Katie Cosgriffe in the women’s 100m backstroke S10; Mary Jibb in the women’s 100m butterfly S9; Nicholas Bennett in the men’s 100m backstroke S14; Emma Van Dyck in the women’s 100m backstroke S14; Sebastian Massabie in the men’s 50m freestyle S4; and Reid Maxwell in the men’s 100m freestyle S8 closing it out at 11:28 a.m. CEST / 5:28 a.m. ET.
Evening finals start at 5:30 p.m. CEST / 11:30 a.m. ET.
The complete schedule for September 6 can be found on the Paris 2024 website HERE.
HOW TO WATCH
Audiences can tune in for CBC/Radio-Canada’s coverage of Paris 2024 in English on CBC, CBC Gem, CBC’s Paris 2024 website (cbc.ca/paris2024) and the CBC Paris 2024 app for Android and iOS devices, and in French on ICI TÉLÉ, ICI TOU.TV, Radio-Canada’s Paris 2024 website (Radio-Canada.ca/jeux-paralympiques), and the Radio-Canada Paralympiques app for Android and iOS devices.
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