Tokyo 2020 Day 2 Preview: Canadian men’s team starts wheelchair basketball campaign

After opening the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games with a strong two-podium performance, Canada will be looking for more hardware on day two. Canada will be represented in six sports on Thursday August 26, with medals awarded in Para swimming, Para cycling, and wheelchair fencing, and preliminary round action continuing in wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby, and goalball.  

•    Two of Canada’s Rio 2016 medallists in the pool will hit the starting blocks for their first races of Tokyo 2020 – Paralympic champion Katarina Roxon (Kippens, NL) and bronze medallist Nicolas-Guy Turbide (Quebec City, QC). Both will be racing the same events in which they captured those medals five years ago. Heats for Turbide in the men’s 100m backstroke S13 take place at 10:38 a.m. JST / 9:38 p.m. ET (Wednesday) while Roxon will be in the women’s 100m breaststroke SB8 at 11:01 a.m. JST / 10:01 p.m. ET (Wednesday). At the 2019 world championships, Turbide and Roxon each picked up a silver in these races. Finals will start at 5 p.m. JST / 4 a.m. ET.

Other swimmers at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre are Matthew Cabraja (Brampton, ON), racing in the men’s 400m freestyle S11 heats at 9:55 a.m. JST (8:55 p.m. ET Wednesday), his first-ever Paralympic appearance, and James Leroux (Repentigny, QC), who is direct to the men’s 100m breaststroke SB9 final, taking place at 6:38 p.m. JST / 5:38 a.m. ET. 

•    After a close opening defeat, Canada’s wheelchair rugby team looks to get its first win in group play against their American rivals at 11:30 a.m. JST / 10:30 p.m. (Wednesday). The United States were silver medallists at the last Paralympic Games. 

•    Para cyclist Tristen Chernove (Cranbrook, BC) takes his turn in the track individual pursuit, an event in which he won a silver medal five years ago. A triple medallist in Rio with one of each colour, Chernove will compete in C1 qualifying at 10:30 a.m. JST / 9:30 p.m. ET (Wednesday). 

•    Canada will take on Spain in its first game of the men’s wheelchair basketball tournament at 11:15 a.m. JST / 10:15 p.m. (Wednesday). Silver medallists at the Lima 2019 Parapan Am Games, Canada finished 11th at the Rio Games. 

•    Canada will be looking for its first win in women’s goalball after an opening loss. The team continues round-robin action versus Israel at 8:30 p.m. JST / 7:30 a.m. ET. 

•    In wheelchair fencing, it will be the epee tournament, with Canadians Pierre Mainville (St-Colomban, QC) and Ryan Rousell (Saskatoon, SK) set to see action in the men’s A and B categories, respectively. Pool play begins at 9 a.m. JST / 8 p.m. ET (Wednesday). 

COMPLETE SCHEDULE 
CLICK HERE for the complete Canadian Paralympic Team schedule on August 26. 

HOW TO WATCH
Livestream and on-demand broadcasts can be found on Paralympic.ca/Tokyo-2020/live-stream-video-demand, cbc.ca/tokyo2020 and Radio-Canada.ca/jeux-paralympiques, the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android devices, the free CBC Gem streaming service, and the Radio-Canada Sports app. 

August 26 Canadian TV Broadcasts: 
Sportsnet One (CBC Late Night Replay) – 7 a.m. ET 
CBC Daytime – 3 p.m. local
CBC Primetime – 7 p.m. local
CBC Late Night – 12:30 a.m. local (August 27)
Radio-Canada Afternoon – 1 p.m. ET 
Radio-Canada Late Night – 11:05 p.m. ET 

Click here for the complete broadcast schedule.