William Roussy silver leads Canada's 3-medal badminton effort to end Parapan Am Games
CBC Sports | Posted: November 26, 2023 7:01 PM | Last Updated: November 27, 2023
Alex Hayward, Nathan Clement ride to silver, bronze on road in Santiago, Chile
William Roussy continued to make gains at his second Parapan Am Games.
On the final day of competition, the native of Maria, Que., pushed defending Para badminton champion Pedro de Vinatea of Peru, combining long rallies and strong retrievals in a 65-minute match, the longest of the tournament in Santiago, Chile.
De Vinatea prevailed 11-21, 21-18, 21-15 in the men's singles SL3 final on Sunday, with the 20-year-old Roussy improving on a fourth-place finish from the 2019 Games in Lima.
"I was expecting we would have long exchanges, so I knew it was important to warm up really well," Roussy, who is ranked 12th in the world, told the Canadian Paralympic Committee.
"This result was a big step in my career. I hope at the [2027] Games [in Barranquilla, Colombia] I can win the gold."
The longest rally of Sunday's contest lasted a mind-boggling four minutes 20 seconds in the third set. Roussy and de Vinatea had a four-minute rally in the second and battle for just under three minutes in an opening-set rally.
Canada also picked up two bronze on the court Sunday and finishes these Games with four medals after Winnipeg's Olivia Meier earned women's singles SL4 bronze on Saturday.
WATCH | Some of Canada's memorable performances from Saturday in Santiago:
Chokyu, 56, wins in straight sets
Two courts over from Roussy, Vancouver's Yuka Chokyu needed only 20 minutes to dispose of American Amy Burnett in straight sets by identical 21-5 scores.
"I'm proud to get the bronze medal," said the 56-year-old, a three-time Paralympian in wheelchair tennis and 2019 Parapan Am Games silver medallist in badminton. "The level of the players compared to 2019 is going up, every country is working hard, and we are going to have to keep up."
`'I was expecting we would have long exchanges, so I knew it was important to warm up really well," said Roussy. `'Still, this result was a big step in my career. I hope at the next Games I can win the gold."
Chokyu has spent over 25 years in competitive Para sport and will continue to pursue a Paralympic berth for next summer's Games in Paris.
"[The chances are] a little bit further away because I didn't win here," she said, "but I still have a chance if I play well at the world championships [in February]."
Bernard Lapointe of St-Leonard, Que., knocked off Jose Chaves of Brazil in 21 minutes for bronze in the WH2 match.
"I didn't sleep all night, I wanted that medal so bad," said the 39-year-old Lapointe, who collected doubles bronze at the 2019 Games. "I was in a great zone the whole game [Sunday and] could feel I was on."
Cyclists Hayward, Clement return to podium
Canada added silver and bronze in Para cycling on the road.
Alex Hayward of Quispamsis, N.B., will bring home four medals from Chile, the latest a silver in men's C1-3.
He also won gold in men's 3,000-metre C1-3 individual pursuit and men's C1-5 time trial on Sunday before taking bronze in the C1-5 1,000m individual time trial.
"I think being so new to cycling, the road aspect of it is the biggest learning curve," said Hayward. "Given the situation and how it played out I'm pretty happy with how I finished.
"Alejandro's been doing this for a long time, so he sprinted me at the end."
In August, the 26-year-old was fifth in the C3 road race at the Para world championships in Dumfries, Scotland after not expecting to compete following a month-long battle with mononucleosis.
Nathan Clement was third to the finish line in mixed T1-2.
"It was a great measuring stick to see where I was at as a rider and as a cyclist," said Clement. "There's still so much room I need to grow and expand, but overall, seeing my power and feeling throughout the race and from the start of my cycling to where I am now, this was my strongest performance."
Last weekend, the native of West Vancouver, B.C., won the mixed T1-2 race by nearly 90 seconds over his closest competitor.
The reigning world bronze medallist on the road was a swimmer at the 2016 Paralympics (he retired two years later) and made a sensational debut in cycling last year, capturing silver medals in the time trial and road race on the World Cup circuit in Quebec City.
Canada finished the Games with 52 medals — nine gold, 15 silver and 28 bronze. The 52 medals ranked sixth among all countries while the nine gold were eighth.
Brazil led all countries with 343 medals and 156 gold. The United States was second with 166 medals and 55 gold followed by Colombia, which earned 161 medals and 50 gold.
"Not only did we have much to celebrate on the field of play, this was also a superb showcase of the transformative impact sport can have in creating a more inclusive and accessible world," Canadian Paralympic Committee president Karen O'Neill said Sunday in a statement.
The para cycling and track and field teams led Canada's medal charge with a dozen medals in each sport ahead of para swimming with 10.
"The past nine days have truly been an outstanding display of athletic achievement and disability pride," said Canada's co-chef de mission Josh Vander Vies.