Preliminary play wraps up in three events for Canada at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games on Monday August 30, with the men’s wheelchair basketball squad, women’s goalball team, and individual boccia players hoping to finish strong for a chance to advance. Canadian athletes will also be in action in Para athletics, Para swimming, Para archery, and Shooting Para sport.
Para Athletics
Austin Smeenk (Oakville, ON) is direct to the men’s T34 100m final set for 10:43 a.m. JST / 9:43 p.m. ET. The 24-year-old finished sixth in this event at the Rio 2016 Games.
Brent Lakatos (Dorval, QC), already a two-time silver medallist in Tokyo, is back for more action at the track, racing in the men’s T54 1500m heats at 12:44 p.m. JST / 11:44 p.m. ET (Sunday). He is the current T53 world record holder in this distance, set in 2017. Also competing in heats are Zachary Gingras (Markham, ON) in his first-ever Paralympic event in the men’s T38 400m heats at 12:19 p.m. JST / 11:19 p.m. ET (Sunday) and Jessica Frotten (Whitehorse, YT) in the women’s T54 1500m at 9:34 p.m. JST / 8:34 a.m. ET. The finals for each would take place on Tuesday.
Wheelchair Basketball
The Canadian men will conclude round-robin play against Colombia at 9 a.m. JST / 8 p.m. ET (Sunday) and a victory would advance the squad into the quarterfinals. The team currently sits fifth in Group A with a 1-3 record after picking up their first win on Sunday. The top four teams in the group will advance.
Para Swimming
Canada will have four swimmers at the pool on Monday, with Aly Van Wyck-Smart (Toronto, ON) and Nikita Ens (Meadow Lake, SK) both set for the women’s 100m freestyle S3 heats at 10:30 a.m. JST / 9:30 p.m. ET (Sunday). Camille Bérubé (Gatineau, QC) and Danielle Dorris (Moncton, NB) are also straight to the final in the women’s 100m backstroke S7, set for 5:07 p.m. JST / 4:07 a.m. ET.
Boccia
The preliminary round wraps up in the boccia individual tournament, with all three Canadians hoping to finish strong. In the BC4 category, Iulian Ciobanu (Montreal) will look to go up 3-0 opposite China’s Zheng Yuansen at 4 p.m. JST / 3 a.m. ET while 1-1 Alison Levine (Montreal) will face Davor Komar of Croatia at 9:30 a.m. JST / 8:30 p.m. ET (Sunday). The third Canadian in competition is BC2 player Danik Allard (Bois-des-Filion, QC), heading into his match against RPC’s Diana Tsyplina at 1:20 p.m. JST / 12:20 a.m. ET with a 0-2 record.
Goalball
Canada’s women’s goalball team wraps up preliminary play with a game against China at 2:45 p.m. JST / 1:45 a.m. ET. With a 1-2 record, Canada is currently fifth in Group A and needs a top 4 finish to advance to the quarterfinals, making this a must-win game to keep their hopes alive.
Para Archery
Karen Van Nest (Wiarton, ON) will face China’s Lin Yueshan in the 1/8 elimination round of the women’s compound open at 10:25 a.m. JST / 9:25 p.m. ET (Sunday) with a place in the quarterfinals on the line. Van Nest was ranked 11th after the ranking round while Lin was sixth. The women’s compound open will conclude with the medal rounds on Monday, so if Van Nest defeats Lin, she will play again later in the day.
Shooting Para Sport
Doug Blessin (Port Coquitlam, BC) and Lyne Tremblay (Magog, ON) will compete in their first event of Tokyo 2020 – the mixed 10m air rifle standing SH2 in Shooting Para sport. The qualifying round starts at 1:15 p.m. JST / 12:15 a.m. ET with the top eight finishers then advancing to the finals, also to take place on Monday. This is both Blessin and Tremblay’s third Paralympic appearance but for Tremblay her first in Shooting Para sport after making the switch from archery.
COMPLETE SCHEDULE
CLICK HERE for the complete Canadian Paralympic Team schedule on August 30.
Tristen Chernove withdraws from road events at Paralympic Games
Tristen Chernove, with the full support of Cycling Canada and the Canadian Paralympic Committee (CPC), has made the decision to withdraw from further competitions at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
Chernove had already announced that he would retire from Para cycling after these Games. Being officially reclassified from C2 to C1 after the Individual Pursuit was a clear indication to him that it was time to shift his focus from elite sport back to his family and led to his decision to retire with immediate effect.
Athlete well-being remains Cycling Canada and the CPC’s number one priority during these Games and we will continue to support any athletes who withdraw from competition to protect their physical and emotional health.
Para cycling competitions are scheduled to resume on August 31 with the Time Trial for athletes of all categories.
