The Canadian para athletics team arrived in the French capital, the City of Lights, and the next Paralympic host city, with a daunting challenge and great expectations.
This World Para Athletics Championships was the first since 2019 and represented the best chance to earn crucial qualification spots at the Paralympic Games next summer, and a rare chance to measure themselves against the world’s best.
Challenge: accepted.
Expectations: surpassed.
Monday’s Medallists
Finishing strong is the hallmark of a strong athletics performance and Canada certainly did that, registering four medals on the final day of competition: 1 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze.
For the second time in a row, Nate Riech was crowned world champion, pulling away from the field in the last 50 metres for a convincing T38 1500 metre title, with a time of
“I was up front way harder than I thought, so I tried to really crank up that pace. Thankfully, it opened up for me in the last 100 metres and I may have lost my mind with a few metres to go. It’s one of the most fun experiences I’ve ever had as part of Team Canada,” Riech said. “I can’t wait for Paris 2024!”
Not long after, Renee Foessel secured a silver medal in the women’s F38 discus final – with her best throw of 37.01 metres bested only by a world record performance.
“It was a representation of what my coach and I have manifested the past few years and we put our plan into execution,” Foessel said. “There are no words to explain the feeling right now. I’m beyond proud of what my coach and I have done. I’m getting emotional because of how much we have put into this over the years and I cannot wait for Paris next year.”
Noah Vucsics got the Monday medal parade started by scoring silver in the men’s T20 long jump in the morning session. His jump of 7.35 metres was a new Americas record, and only 5 cm short of the gold medallist.
“To be here and compete with these guys – my first World Championships – and walk away with a medal … I’m pretty excited about that,” Vucsics said. “I’m just a bit disappointed because I wasn’t consistent getting over 7 metres, but I did really well on my first one, stayed in the mix and pushed to the podium.”
Marissa Papaconstantinou earned her second bronze medal this week, stepping onto the podium when her time of 27.23 seconds in the women’s T64 200 metres stood up after the 3rd-place finisher was disqualified.
“It feels great to be bringing home another medal for Canada, but I am really bummed for my competitor. She fought hard to the finish. I got disqualified with the relay team last night, so I know how tough it is,” Papaconstantinou said. “I think I put out the best race I could have. I fought hard to the finish line and I gave everything I had.”
Team Canada By The Numbers
The Canadian team won 14 medals (2 gold, 7 silver, 5 bronze), won by nine different medallists, representing our country’s best World Para Athletics Championships since 2013. In so doing, the team also nailed down 10 qualification spots for Paris 2024 and cemented their status as a team to watch next summer.
Canadian athletes set four Americas Records and 12 Canadian Records in Paris. The 14 medals won this year is the most won by Canada since Lyon 2013 (15 medals) and the nine different medallists is the most since Beijing 2008 (10 medallists).
Canadian Medallists
GOLD – Brent Lakatos, T53 800 metres
GOLD – Nate Riech, T38 1500 metres
SILVER – Bianca Borgella, T13 200 metres
SILVER – Austin Smeenk, T34 100 metres
SILVER – Zach Gingras, T38 400 metres
SILVER – Brent Lakatos, T54 1500 metres
SILVER – Brent Lakatos, T53 400 metres
SILVER – Noah Vucsics, T20 Long Jump
SILVER – Renee Foessel, F38 Discus
BRONZE – Guillaume Ouellet, T13 5000 metres
BRONZE – Bianca Borgella, T13 100 metres
BRONZE – Austin Smeenk, T34 400 metres
BRONZE – Marissa Papaconstantinou, T64 100 metres
BRONZE – Marissa Papaconstantinou, T64 200 metres
Final Day Results
Austin Smeenk just missed out on his third podium of the meet by six one-hundredths of a second, finishing 4th in the men’s T34 800 metres and clocking in with a time of 1:40.19.
“I ended up getting overpowered at the end,” said Smeenk. “Now it’s back home to analyze the film from this Championships, break down areas we can improve and create a plan to attack them.”
Amanda Rummery’s season’s best time of 26.61 seconds was good for 6th place in the women’s T47 200 metre final.
“That felt really good. It felt like a great race. I gave it my all, I had a good start, and I felt like I was really moving,” Rummery said. “Sixth place in the world is great, so I’m definitely happy with that.”
Cody Fournie completed his first World Para Athletics Championships with a 6th-place finish in the men’s T51 200 metre final, after registering a personal best time of 42 seconds flat.
“I’m realizing that this is more work than rugby,” said the former national wheelchair rugby star. “It’s 100 percent of your energy, all-out, for 200 metres, so I’m trying to learn how to do that.
Nathalie Thirsk wrapped up her first World Para Athletics Championships with a 6th-place finish in the women’s T38 400 metres final in a personal best time of
“It was really amazing. I ran a really big personal best. It was exciting out there, feeling the energy of the crowd,” Thirsk said.
Liam Stanley finished 7th in the men’s T38 1500 metres, with a time of 4:08.28.
“It was OK. I knew what I wanted to do. I just didn’t have the wheels in the final 80 metres. Other than that, I ran the way I wanted to,” Stanley said.
Michael Barber scored a top-10 finish in the men’s T20 1500 metres. His time of 3:58.64 was good for 9th place.
“It was a good race. It was a little bumpy out there in the second lap. I got bumped and banged around a little bit, but it’s my first World Championships and I can’t complain,” Barber said.
Jenn Brown took 9th place in the women’s F38 discus final with a best throw of 25.18 metres.
“We knew that I would be in the fight for 8th and unfortunately fell just short of that,” Brown said. “This is a team that I’m very proud to have made – one of the most high-performing teams Athletics Canada has had in the past 10-15 years.”
