TOKYO – Looking ahead to Day 4 at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, Canada will be in contention for medals in several sports, including Para athletics, Para swimming, and Para triathlon, with competition also beginning for athletes in wheelchair tennis and boccia. Here’s what is on the calendar in 11 sports for Canada on Saturday August 28 in Tokyo:
• Jessica Tuomela (Sault Ste. Marie, ON) is making her return to Paralympic competition with the women’s PTVI Para triathlon race starting at 8:31 a.m. JST / 7:31 p.m. ET (Friday). Tuomela, who will compete with guide Marianne Hogan (Montreal), is a three-time Paralympian in the sport of swimming, including earning a silver medal at Sydney 2000. Tokyo is her first Games since 2008 and her first in the sport of Para triathlon.
• Canada will be competing in two finals in Para athletics. First up, runner Guillaume Ouellet (Victoriaville, QC) is in the T13 5000m final at 9:40 a.m. JST / 8:40 p.m. ET (Friday). Ouellet finished in fourth place in this distance at the 2019 world championships and 2016 Paralympic Games. In the evening, Brent Lakatos will be looking to add an eight Paralympic podium to his resume as he lines up in wheelchair racing for the men’s T54 5000m final set for 8:24 p.m. JST / 7:24 a.m. ET.
• Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Aurélie Rivard (St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC) will be back in the pool for her second event of the Games. Her heat for the women’s 100m freestyle S10 takes place at 9:29 a.m. JST / 8:29 p.m. ET (Friday). She was the gold medallist in this event at Rio 2016 and the 2019 world championships.
Danielle Kisser (Delta, BC) and Camille Bérubé (Gatineau, QC) will both be in the women’s 100m breaststroke SB6 heats while Nikita Ens (Meadow Lake, SK) and Tammy Cunnington (Red Deer, AB) are set for the women’s 150m individual medley SM4 heats. For Kisser and Ens, it will be their Paralympic debuts.
Rounding out Canadian entries in the pool on Saturday is Matthew Cabraja (Brampton, ON) in the men’s 100m backstroke S11. Swimming heats start at 9 a.m. JST / 8 p.m. ET (Friday) while finals commence at 5 p.m. JST / 4 a.m. ET.
• In wheelchair rugby, Canada is aiming for a fifth-place position in the tournament. The team will finish up its Tokyo 2020 campaign in the 5-6 classification match versus France at 8 p.m. JST / 7 a.m. ET.
• It will be the first day of boccia, with three Canadians in individual competition. Alison Levine (Montreal, QC), currently ranked No. 1 in the world in the BC4 classification, will take on Slovakia’s Martin Streharsky in her first match of pool play at 9:30 a.m. JST / 8:30 p.m. ET (Friday). Also in the BC4 tournament is Iulian Ciobanu (Montreal, QC), whose debut game is against Carla Oliveira of Portugal at 4 p.m. JST / 3 a.m. ET.
Danik Allard (Bois-des-Filion, QC), set for his first Paralympic appearance in the BC2 category, will face Portugal’s Cristina Goncalves in his opener.
• Canada’s women’s goalball team is set for its penultimate match of the group stage, taking on Australia at 9 a.m. JST / 8 p.m. ET (Friday). Canada heads into the game with a 1-1 record.
• Canada will be back in action in men’s and women’s wheelchair basketball for each of their third games in round-robin play. First up are the men at 2:45 p.m. JST / 1:45 a.m. ET, who are heading into their game against Japan with a 0-2 record looking for their first win. The 2-0 undefeated Canadian women will then face off opposite Germany on the same court at 5 p.m. JST / 4 a.m. ET.
• In Para rowing, Canada’s two boats will be racing in the repechages with hopes of making the final. First up are Jessye Brockway (Mill Bay, BC) and Jeremy Hall (St. Paul, AB) in mixed double sculls at 10:50 a.m. JST / 9:50 p.m. ET (Friday). Following that, the mixed coxed four – Kyle Fredrickson (Duncan, BC), Bayleigh Hooper (Chatsworth, ON), Victoria Nolan (Toronto, ON), Andrew Todd (Dartmouth, NS) and coxswain Laura Court (St. Catharines, ON) – will be in the water at 11:30 a.m. JST / 10:30 p.m. ET (Friday). The top two finishers in each repechage race will advance to Sunday’s final.
• Rob Shaw (North Bay, ON) will be making his Paralympic debut. The wheelchair tennis player is taking on the tournament’s No. 3 seed Andy Lapthorne of Great Britain in the quad division round of 16. For the 2019 Parapan Am Games champion, this is his first official match since fall of 2019. He is scheduled to play in the evening in Tokyo, as he is the fourth match on Court 1, which starts play at 3 p.m. JST / 2 a.m. ET.
• In Para equestrian, Canada will compete in the dressage team test to music, which starts at 5 p.m. JST / 4 a.m. ET.
• Wheelchair fencing competition wraps up for Canada on Saturday, with Ruth Sylvie Morel (Pincourt, QC) and Matthieu Hébert (Beauharnois, QC) in the foil competition. Pool play starts at 9 a.m. JST / 8 p.m. ET (Friday) with Morel in the women’s Class A division and Hébert in the men’s Class A.
COMPLETE SCHEDULE
CLICK HERE for the complete Canadian Paralympic Team schedule on August 28.
