– Canadian athletes claim a pair each of gold, silver, and bronze medals
– First-ever podiums for Canada in sports of Para canoe and sitting volleyball
Paris, September 7, 2024 – The Canadian Paralympic Team had its biggest day yet at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games on Saturday with six medals – two gold, two silver, and two bronze – won on the penultimate day of competition, including historic firsts in Para canoe and sitting volleyball. Canada has now tied its total of 29 podiums from Rio 2016.
There is one day of competition remaining at the Games, with just two sports on the schedule to close it out ahead of the Closing Ceremony on Sunday – Para canoe and wheelchair basketball.
MEDALS WON ON SEPTEMBER 7
GOLD – Austin Smeenk, Para Athletics, Men’s T34 800m
GOLD – Danielle Dorris, Para Swimming, Women’s 50m Butterfly S7
SILVER – Brianna Hennessy, Para Canoe, Women’s Va’a Single 200m VL3
SILVER – Nate Riech, Para Athletics, Men’s T38 1500m
BRONZE – Women’s Sitting Volleyball Team: Danielle Ellis, Anne Fergusson, Julie Kozun, Allison Lang, Jennifer McCreesh, Sarah Melenka, Jennifer Oakes, Heidi Peters, Felicia Voss-Shafiq, Jolan Wong, Katelyn Wright
BRONZE – Shelby Newkirk, Para Swimming, Women’s 100m backstroke S6
OVERALL MEDAL TOTAL
GOLD – 10
SILVER – 9
BRONZE – 10
TOTAL – 29
RESULTS SUMMARY
Para Athletics
Canada’s Para athletics team won two medals to close out its Paris 2024 meet.
Austin Smeenk is Canada’s newest Paralympic champion, capturing gold in the men’s T34 800m final. The world record holder in this event, he finished in a time of 1:39.27, just 0.19 seconds ahead of the second-place racer. Smeenk, at this third Games, adds the podium to his first Paralympic medal, a bronze won in the 100m earlier in the Games.
“It’s a good day for me, a good day for Canada, a good day for our program,” said Smeenk. “There was a lot that went into this, and a lot of people that contributed, so everybody here is celebrating. It’s a single person sport, but there’s a massive team behind me that has contributed to this.”
Nate Riech is now a two-time Paralympic medallist after a furious sprint at the end of a tightly contested men’s T38 1500m to take home silver. The Paralympic record holder from Tokyo 2020, Riech crossed the finish line in 4:13.12, behind champion Amen Allah Tissaoui of Tunisia and ahead of Reece Langdon of Australia.
“I had three plans: slow medium and fast,” said Riech. “I thought Reece was going to grab early control but he didn’t. I knew that I would drift up with 700 to go, if it was slow, and bake those guys. The plan worked great but I thought I would have more wheels at the end.”
“It sucks, but at the end of the day those guys were great to me when I won, and I have nothing but respect for Amen. He was the best guy out there, no doubt about it, and I’m just proud.”
In other results, Noah Vucsics, making his Paralympic Games debut, was fifth in the men’s T20 long jump and Sheriauna Haase was sixth in the women’s T47 200m final.
Para Swimming
Canada’s successful Para swimming squad added two more podiums to its tally on the 10th and final day of racing in the pool.
Danielle Dorris defended her Paralympic title from Tokyo in the women’s 50m butterfly S7, winning her second consecutive gold medal in the event. Finishing in 33.62 seconds, she claimed her first podium of the Paris Games and third career Paralympic medal.
“I’m very happy with how the results turned out tonight,” said Dorris. “I was faster than in the morning even by just a little bit, I’ll take it. Coming in I was hoping for a world record, but I cannot complain coming out with a medal in my favourite event on the last day of the competition.”
Shelby Newkirk captured her first Paralympic hardware, winning bronze in the women’s 100m backstroke S6. The two-time Paralympian took third with a time of 1:22.24, 2.8 seconds behind the silver medallist.
“I really just gave everything I could,” said Newkirk. “I was very excited as soon as I realized I got bronze. It’s been a goal for so long. It was a goal in Tokyo, I came in fourth, I came in fourth earlier this week. To finally be able to break onto the podium was such an amazing feeling.”
In the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay team event, Aurelie Rivard, Elliot, Maxwell, and Newkirk finished eighth.
In the morning heats, Alexander Elliot and Fernando Lu in the men’s 200m individual medley SM10, Katie Cosgriffe in the women’s 200m individual medley SM10, Reid Maxwell in the men’s 100m butterfly S8, and Clemence Pare and Hannah Ouellette in the women’s 200m individual medley SM5 did not advance.
Para Canoe
Brianna Hennessy captured Canada’s first-ever Paralympic medal in the sport of Para canoe with a silver in the women’s va’a single 200m VL2 final. Hennessy, who is competing at her second Games, finished with a time of 1:00.12. Para canoe joined the Paralympic program in 2016.
Also competing on the day was Erica Scarff, who crossed the line fifth in the women’s va’a single 200m VL3. She qualified for the final through the semifinals earlier in the morning. Scarff, also in her second Paralympic appearance, was a member of the first Para canoe team back in 2016.
Sitting Volleyball
Canada’s women’s sitting volleyball team has earned a historic Paralympic podium after vanquishing Brazil in straight sets 3-0 (25-15, 25-18, 25-18) in a superb performance from start to finish. For the Canadians, it was revenge after falling to the Brazilians in the same match at the Tokyo 2020 Games and settling for fourth; it is also a reversal of their loss to Brazil in the preliminary round earlier in the Games. This is Canada’s first Paralympic medal in the sport of sitting volleyball.
“It was really fast and exciting,” said team captain Danielle Ellis. “It was really comfortable, which seems like a crazy thing to say, we lost to them just a week ago. But today we came in, we had so much information, we knew what was happening, we were all in it together. We were playing hard, we were playing aggressive. It was fun.”
“It was about coming in and saying we trust in our game plan, we trust in our serving, and if we found that, we would find the results we wanted,” said longtime team member Heidi Peters. “And that’s what happened – the belief that our style of play would get us the medal today. We were prepared for any scenario, if it was going to be hard, if it was going to be a grind, if it was going to be to two points in a fifth set, we were ready for it. Obviously, I love winning in three, but I’m just proud of us.”
Wheelchair Basketball
The Canadian men’s wheelchair basketball team finished in fourth place following a 75-62 loss in the bronze medal game to Germany. It is still the team’s best result since London 2012. A strong second half for the Germans secured their podium finish. Pat Anderson, in his last Paralympic appearance after a legendary career spanning six Paralympic Games, led the scoring for Canada with 31 points with Nik Goncin adding 10.
“A bronze medal would’ve been the perfect ending to this run – not just this couple of weeks, but for me, coming back in 2017 and all of the ups and downs, but that’s not how life works,” said Anderson. “I’m still very proud to have gone on this journey with these guys. I’m really proud of them, and I look forward to seeing what they do going forward.”
Para Equestrian
Roberta Sheffield and Fairuza finished sixth in the Grade II individual freestyle event as Para equestrian competition wrapped up at Chateau de Versailles.
“It was an amazing experience to do the freestyle at the Paralympics,” said Sheffield. “This is my third Paralympics but it’s my first time doing a Paralympic freestyle. My personal ambition for the Games was to get into the freestyle; I needed to finish top eight in the individual [she was sixth]. To get to the freestyle, I’ve had a really good run at these Games.”
Para Cycling Road
Alexander Hayward, a bronze medallist on the track earlier in the Games, was fourth in the men’s C1-3 road race. He finished 1:50 behind third place in the 56.8 km race.
“In the back of my mind I really wanted to finish Top 5,” said Hayward. “I knew it was going to be a hard thing to do with how many strong riders we had out there … I’m super happy with my fourth place.”
Nathan Clement was ninth in the men’s T1-2 road race, but is also already going home from Paris with a medal thanks to a silver in the time trial.
CLICK HERE for the complete results on Friday September 7.
LOOKING AHEAD AT DAY 11
Para Canoe
Brianna Hennessy and Mathieu St-Pierre will be racing for Canada in Para canoe. First up will be Hennessy in the women’s kayak single 200m KL1 semifinals at 10 a.m. CEST / 4 a.m. ET. St-Pierre will then take his turn in the men’s va’a single 200m VL2 semifinals at 10:28 a.m. CEST / 4:28 p.m. ET.
The fastest three athletes in each semifinal will qualify for the final, taking place later in the morning.
Wheelchair Basketball
Canada’s women’s wheelchair basketball team is looking for its first Paralympic medal since 2004, taking on China in the bronze medal game at 10:30 a.m. CEST / 4:30 a.m. ET. The complete schedule for September 8 can be found on the Paris 2024 website HERE.