SANTIAGO – The Canadian Parapan Am Team added six medals as well as a few key victories in preliminary play as action continued at the Santiago 2023 Parapan Am Games on Sunday.
MEDALS WON ON NOVEMBER 19
GOLD – Alexandre Hayward, Para Cycling (Road), Men’s C1-5 Time Trial
GOLD – Nathan Clement, Para Cycling (Road), Mixed T1-2 Time Trial
BRONZE – Mike Sametz, Para Cycling (Road), Men’s C1-5 Time Trial
BRONZE – Charles Moreau, Para Cycling (Road), Men’s H1-5 Time Trial
BRONZE – Tyson MacDonald, Para Swimming, Men’s S14 100m Backstroke
BRONZE – Emma Van Dyck, Para Swimming, Women’s S14 100m Backstroke
OVERALL MEDAL TOTAL
GOLD – 3
SILVER – 1
BRONZE – 6
TOTAL – 10
RESULTS SUMMARY
Para Cycling – Road
Canada’s Para cycling squad was golden in the road time trial on Sunday, with Alexandre Hayward and Nathan Clement securing spots atop the podium.
The morning started off strong with a double medal performance in the men’s C1-5 time trial. Hayward raced to gold in a time of 26:21.14, and was joined by teammate Mike Sametz who secured the bronze in 27:25.14.
“Mike and I trained for a week in Bromont (Que.) and we joked it would be nice if we could both get on the podium,” said Hayward. “To do it in the first race is really special.”
“It feels good, it’s fun,” added Sametz. “We just got off the plane 48 hours ago, so it’s been a whirlwind.”
Clement then closed out the day’s races for the Canadian squad with gold in the mixed T1-2 time trial in 15:44.73. Also the 2023 world champion in this event, Clement is making his first Parapan Am appearance in the sport of Para cycling after having competed at Toronto 2015 in Para swimming.
“I’m overall really happy, really thrilled with the race, and with the medal,” said Clement. “It’s been a quick turnaround getting down here, but I’ve had a lot of support and help getting to this medal and getting through from world championships in August to here. So overall I’m thrilled, excited, and now looking forward to being in the Village and experiencing the Games the next few days before the road race.”
In the same mixed T1-2 race, Canada’s Opening Ceremony flag bearer Shelley Gautier was fifth in 18:42.12, racing in her third Parapan Am Games.
A fourth medal was won by Charles Moreau, a bronze in the men’s H1-5 time trial. He secured his third career Parapan Am medal in a time of 31:46.65.
“It feels really great to represent Canada and be able to be on the podium in the first event of the week,” said Moreau. “I feel really grateful to be here and to have a medal for Canada.”
Keely Shaw just missed the podium in the women’s C1-5 time trial, finishing less than half a second behind bronze medallist Daniela Munevar of Colombia, while Mel Pemble was seventh.
Para Swimming
Tyson MacDonald and Emma Van Dyck secured back-to-back medals at the pool on Sunday night, in the men’s and women’s S14 100m backstroke.
For MacDonald, who raced to third place in a time of 1:03.57, it’s his second bronze in as many nights. Teammate Jesse Canney was sixth in the same final.
“I’m super happy to win bronze, second medal of the meet,” MacDonald said. “I had a great race, I was faster than this morning [in the heats], so I couldn’t be happier.”
Van Dyck’s time was 1:13.34 in her race. Justine Morrier finished fifth.
“It feels good to win a medal here,” said Van Dyck, at 21 years old already in her second Parapan Am Games. “Overall I dropped two seconds from this morning, so it’s a great swim.”
In other results, Fernando Lu was fourth and Jagdev Gill fifth in the men’s S10 200m individual medley; Hunter Helberg was sixth in the men’s S12 100m butterfly; Alisson Gobeil eighth in the women’s S5 50m backstroke; and Felix Cowan eighth in the men’s S9 200m individual medley.
Boccia
Canada’s BC4 boccia players, all experienced Parapan Am and Paralympic Games athletes, each earned opening victories to start their individual campaigns, led by Alison Levine’s resounding 13-0 victory in the women’s tournament over Chilean Alfonsina Urrejola Toro.
“It’s important to always start your competition strong,” Levine said. “In the past my first game used to always be my weakest game. I think maybe it still is a little bit, you’ve got a bit of the nerves going on and getting used to the environment, breaking the ice. But I’ve been able to step up this past year in being able to secure a win in my first game.
“And because I’m in a pool of three [players], each game is super important. If I win my pool I get a bye directly into the semifinals, so this game was super important.”
Levine’s BC4 teammate Marco Dispaltro secured a win over Brazil’s Andre Martins Costa, as did Iulian Ciobanu, taking down Mexican Edgar Mora Cano in extra ends.
In men’s BC1 action, Lance Cryderman, a Sydney 2000 Paralympian, made his return to multi-sport Games play after more than 20 years with a win, coming back from 0-5 down after the first end. Joelle Guerette also picked up a victory in BC3 play, as did Danik Allard in the BC2 competition.
“It’s a true honour anytime I can wear Canada on my chest, it feels absolutely phenomenal,” Cryderman said of his return to international competition. “I have a tremendous support team cheering me on back home, and I couldn’t be happier to be here and represent my country.”
To round out the Canadian results, BC3 player Ryan Rondeau dropped his two opening matches.
Para Judo
In the women’s 57kg category, Para judoka Christina Mowatt lost her opening round bout in the morning before also dropping her repechage match, missing out on competing for the bronze medal.
Goalball
After an opening loss, the Canadian men’s goalball team rebounded strongly with an 11-1 victory over Venezuela to bring their preliminary record to 1-1 with one game remaining prior to the quarterfinals. Mason Smith led the squad in scoring with six goals against the Venezuelans, while Ahmad Zeividavi had 16 blocks.
Wheelchair Rugby
Canada is 2-0 in wheelchair rugby preliminary play following a 62-41 victory over Brazil on Sunday. Rio Kanda Kovac, the youngest member of the team at age 21, led the way in scoring with 15 tries in a game that saw Canada lead from start to finish. Canada now has three round-robin games remaining with the top four nations moving into the semifinals.
“I think we came out fired up,” said Zak Madell. “We had a friendly match against these guys a couple days ago, just an exhibition where we had a bit of a rough start. So today’s goal was to come out, have a strong start, be focused, take care of the ball, and we managed to meet all those goals.”
Para Archery
In the men’s individual compound open ranking round, Canada’s Kyle Tremblay finished second with a score of 683. He now moves right into the quarterfinals on Monday. Tremblay is making his Parapan Am debut.
“Competing at my first Games is definitely a milestone I am proud of,” he said. “To be representing my country in such a prestigious event is why I train so hard and sacrifice so much, so in these moments, I am the best I can be.”
Wheelchair Basketball
The Canadian men’s wheelchair basketball team took down Venezuela 82-42 to remain undefeated through two days of play. Colin Higgins and Nik Goncin each scored 17 points to lead Canada to the victory.
“That was the plan coming into the tournament to start out 2-0 – hopefully finish up 3-0 tomorrow,” said Higgins. “But it was awesome to jump on these guys early, get a good push in, get some reps and everyone was involved and it’s a big team win. Nice to check the box and we’re on to tomorrow.”
The women’s team also pulled off a straightforward win, 69-17 over El Salvador in the evening match, including keeping their opponents scoreless in the fourth quarter. Arinn Young was the star of the game for Canada with 28 points and 11 rebounds.
CP Football
Canada was no match for soccer superpower Brazil in CP Football action, falling 11-1. Samuel Charron was Canada’s lone goal scorer as the team drops to 0-2 in preliminary play with two games remaining.
Wheelchair Tennis
Canadians Thomas Venos and Natalia Lanuncha both won their opening matches in wheelchair tennis action.
Venos, in his second Parapan Am Games, clinched a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Gerardo Chomba Caja of Peru 6-1, 6-1 and moves into the round of 16 in men’s singles where he will face American Connor Stroud.
“It’s good to get the win, but there’s definitely some things I need to improve on for my next match,” said Venos. “The guy I’m going to play next, I’ve played probably 22 times and I’ve only won once so it’s going to be a good match tomorrow.”
In the women’s tournament, Lanucha posted a 6-4, 7-5 triumph opposite Costa Rica’s Valeria Valverde to move into the quarterfinals.
“There was a lot of things happening, I was stressed, happy, concentrated, and everything like that,” said Lanucha. “I had all the emotions I could have, but I’m happy I could manage it and everything went really well.”
“I love the experience, it’s really beautiful, the people, the organization, everything is really nice. I’m so happy to be here and I’m really grateful I won my first match.”
In other action, Barry Henderson and Anne-Marie Dolinar dropped their openers. All four Canadian athletes will also compete in doubles on Monday.
Para Table Tennis
Para table tennis competition officially came to a close for Canada on Sunday. Following a morning triumph, singles bronze medallist Stephanie Chan and partner Asad Syed advanced to the mixed doubles class XD14-17 quarterfinals. They were stopped there though following a straight set loss to Chileans Ignacio Torres and Florencia Perez.
In other action, Syed and Ian Kent fell in their first match in men’s standing doubles, as did Peter Isherwood and Muhammad Mudassar in men’s wheelchair doubles.
CLICK HERE for the complete results on Sunday November 19.
