Santiago 2023 Day 5 Preview: Canada playing for medals in boccia, Para archery

SANTIAGO – The Santiago 2023 Parapan Am Games are at the midway point, and competition is heating up for Canada across many sports. The Canadian Parapan Am Team is playing in six medal matches on Wednesday in boccia and Para archery, with medals up for grabs in Para athletics and Para swimming as well. Preliminary play has also concluded in most team sports, with Canada’s goalball, wheelchair basketball, and wheelchair rugby teams moving into the elimination rounds. Action continues in CP Football and wheelchair tennis, with Para badminton also set for its first day.

Below is what’s on deck for Canada on Day 5, Wednesday November 22:

Boccia
Canada could win up to five medals in boccia as individual play wraps up on Wednesday. Three athletes are guaranteed a medal, with Alison Levine, Danik Allard, and Lance Cryderman all playing in gold-medal games.

Cryderman, who is enjoying a very successful comeback to international sport, is in the men’s BC1 gold medal match versus Mexican Eduardo Sanchez at 2 p.m. local / 12 p.m. ET. A Sydney 2000 Paralympian, this is his first multi-sport Games in 23 years.

Levine, a two-time Parapan Am medallist in pairs and set for her first individual podium, will face Colombian rival Leidy Chica Chica for the title at 3:10 p.m. local. At the same time, Allard will challenge Brazilian Maciel de Sousa Santos in the men’s BC2 final.

Canada is also assured a medal in the men’s BC4 event, with two Canadians who know each other well set to duel for the bronze medal. Marco Dispaltro and Iulian Ciobanu will face off against each other for the hardware at 9:30 a.m. local.

Kristyn Collins is also playing for bronze, and will take on Ecuador’s Joselyn Leon at 9:30 a.m. local in the women’s BC2 category.

Para Archery
Kyle Tremblay will play in the men’s compound open bronze medal match at 11 a.m. local / 9 a.m. ET, taking on Mexico’s Victor Sardina. Tremblay, who has earned Canada a quota spot for next summer’s Paralympic Games, is looking for his first multi-sport medal at his Parapan Am debut.

Para Athletics
A six-time Paralympian in the winter sport of Para ice hockey, Billy Bridges is his making his summer multi-sport Games debut as Para athletics competition continues in Santiago. A thrower, Bridges will feature in the men’s F55 shot put at 3:06 p.m. local.

Noah Vucsics is set for the men’s T20 long jump at 4:32 p.m. He was a silver medallist in this event at the 2023 world championships in Paris with a Canadian record leap of 7.35 metres.

Canada also has three runners set for Wednesday. Sheriauna Haase will race in the women’s T47 200m heats at 3:51 p.m. with hopes of advancing to the final at 6:18 p.m. Keegan Gaunt is in the women’s T13 1500m final at 4:38 p.m. and Natalie Thirsk is in the women’s T38 400m final at 7:15 p.m.

Para Swimming
Canada’s Para swimmers will have a busy day at the pool, with several athletes racing in heats and finals.

There are two finals in the morning session with Parapan Am gold medallist Ruby Stevens in the women’s 100m breaststroke SB5 final at 9 a.m. local, and Myriam Soliman in the women’s 50m butterfly S7 final at 10:04 a.m.

Many of their Canadian teammates will be aiming to make finals with heats running through the morning as well: Felix Cowan in the men’s 400m freestyle S9, Jordan Tucker in the women’s 50m freestyle S4, Soliman in the women’s 50m freestyle S8, Hunter Helberg in the men’s 100m freestyle S12, Justine Morrier and Emma Van Dyck in the women’s 200m individual medley, and Tyson MacDonald, Connor Bisset and Jesse Canney in the men’s 200m individual medley SM14.

Four Canadians are also in direct finals in the evening. Fernando Lu, already a silver medallist in Santiago, and Jagdev Gill will race in the men’s 100m butterfly S10 final at 5:19 p.m., Stevens is up again in the women’s 50m freestyle S6 final at 5:59 p.m., and Caleb Arndt in the men’s 50m freestyle S13 at 7:43 p.m.

Canada will also race in the 4x100m medley relay to close out the night.

Wheelchair Rugby
It’s down to the final four in wheelchair rugby, with a spot at next summer’s Paralympic Games the prize for the champion. Canada, a perfect 5-0 so far, will face Brazil at 5 p.m. local / 3 p.m. ET. In the preliminary round, Canada defeated the Brazilians (2-3 in Santiago) by a score of 62-41.

Goalball
The knockout stage has arrived in goalball, with both the men’s and women’s teams playing their quarterfinals. The women will take on Mexico at 12:45 p.m. local / 10:45 a.m. ET followed by the men against Chile at 5:15 p.m. local.

Wheelchair Basketball
Wednesday is quarterfinal day in the men’s wheelchair basketball tournament, with Canada set to take on Puerto Rico at 6:15 p.m. local / 4:15 p.m. ET. Canada enters with a 3-0 record from the prelims while Puerto Rico was 0-3 in its group.

Wheelchair Tennis
Barry Henderson and Thomas Venos will play in the men’s doubles quarterfinals, facing Americans Casey Ratzlaff and Conner Stroud not before 2 p.m. local.

CP Football
Canada returns to the pitch in CP Football action after a day off. With two games remaining in preliminary play, Canada is 0-3 and will look for a strong showing against 2-1 Argentina at 7:30 p.m. local / 5:30 p.m. ET.

Para Badminton
Preliminary play begins in Para badminton on Wednesday, with all nine Canadians in action: Mikhail Bilenky, Pascal Lapointe, Justin Kendrick, Bernard Lapointe, Wyatt Lightfoot, Yuka Chokyu, Olivia Meier, Colleen Cloetta, and William Roussy. Each will start their singles campaigns with round-robin matches.

The doubles tournament is also commencing, and all of Canda’s entries will play Wednesday: Cloetta and Kendrick in mixed doubles SH6, Pascal Lapointe and Meier in mixed doubles SL3-SU5, and Bernard Lapointe and Bilenky in men’s doubles WH1-WH2.

First matches are up at 9 a.m. local / 7 a.m. ET and run through the evening.

Please note schedules are subject to change. The complete schedule for November 22 can be found on the Santiago 2023 Parapan Am website HERE.

HOW TO WATCH

The free CBC Gem streaming service, cbcsports.ca, and the CBC Sports App for iOS and Android devices will be offering streaming feeds throughout the Games. Additionally, there will be broadcast on CBC TV as part of CBC Sports Presents weekend programming. For full details on broadcast and streaming schedules, please visit cbcsports.ca.The official broadcaster of Santiago 2023, the Pan Am Sports Channel, will also be available for free in Canada throughout the event, offering additional live feeds of sports coverage. Please note not all sports may be available each day.