Wheelchair racer Austin Smeenk of Oakville, Ont., led a strong Canadian performance at the Swiss Grand Prix in Nottwil on the weekend with a gold, two silver and two continental records as he continued a fiery start to the 2023 season.
Smeenk, a 26-year-old two-time Paralympian, topped a field of 17 racers for gold in the T34 400-m clocking 49.85 seconds. His two Americas records were in his silver medals performances in the 100-m in 15.09 and the 800-m in 1:39.43.
It was also the first major event of 2023 for Canadian wheelchair racing star Brent Lakatos of Dorval, Que. The multiple world champion and five-time Paralympian posted golden performances in the T53 800-m and 400-m which had 14 and 16 entries each.
‘’I’m so pleased with the result,’’ Lakatos told Sportcom after his decisive opening 800-m win. ‘’I didn’t think it would go that well. I’m really happy with the time (1:33.03).
Other Canadian victors included Zachary Gingras of Markham, Ont., in the T38 400-m, David Johnson of Victoria in the T12 400-m, national team rookie Jesse Zesseu of Toronto in the F37 discus and Renee Foessel of Orangeville, Ont., in the F38 discus.
The Canadians are tuning up for the Para athletics World Championships set for the Paralympic Games venue in Paris July 8-17.
Three top-three finishes in time trials for Canada at Para cycling World Cup
Keely Shaw of Midale, Sask., topped Canadian results in the time trials at the Para cycling World Cup stop in Huntsville, Alabama.
Shaw, a bronze medallist at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, was just over a minute behind Samantha Boscoe of the U.S. in the women’s C4 14.6 kilometre race clocking 21:20.24.
Two other Canadians took third place. Two-time Paralympian Charles Moreau of Victoriaville, Que., was third in the men’s H3 time trial clocking 35 seconds behind first place and only six seconds from second, also over a 14.6 kilometre distance.
‘’It feels really good,’’ said Moreau. ‘’Even if I hadn’t reached the podium I would have been very satisfied with my effort.’’
Shelley Gautier of Toronto added a third in both the women’s T1 time trial and road race.
Matthew Kinnie of Riverview, N.B., was fourth in the men’s H2 road race a mere four seconds from the podium.
The road races in the C and tandem categories are on Monday.
Three medals for Canada at Para swimming World Series
Teenager Katie Cosgriffe of Burlington, Ont., continued her emergence as one to watch in the Para swimming world this past weekend with a double medal performance at the World Series Paris stop.
Cosgriffe, an S10 swimmer who developed the neurological disorder Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT), took the silver in women’s 200-m individual medley and bronze in the 100-m butterfly. She reached five finals overall. The races were multi class therefore ranking was based on which times were closest to the world records in each category.
Two-time Paralympian Alec Elliot of Kitchener, Ont., also an S10 swimmer, added a bronze in the men’s 100 fly.
