Parapan Games: Nathan Riech leads Canada to gold in men's 1500-metre
Guillaume Ouellett tops men's 5,000m, Priscilla Gagne takes silver in Judo
Canada won its first gold of the Parapan Games on Saturday, after storming to a one-two finish in the men's 1,500-metre race.
Nathan Riech took gold with a time of four minutes, 3.72 seconds, while fellow Victoria, B.C., native Liam Stanley claimed silver.
Stanley's time of four minutes, 12.13 seconds put him ahead of third place finisher Jhonier Gomez Pinto of Colombia.
Congrats boys! 🇨🇦's first🥇Nathan Riech 4:03.72 & Liam Stanley wins🥈4:12.13 in the 1500 T38 👏 <a href="https://t.co/dURRBAPjwR">pic.twitter.com/dURRBAPjwR</a>
—@benhuotIn the men's 5,000-metre T13 event, Canada, once again, struck gold thanks to Guillaume Ouellett's winning performance.
The Quebec City native finished with a time of 15 minutes, 8.68 seconds, to edge Ecuador's Sixto Roman Moreta (15:33.23) and Brazil's Jacques Francisco Ortega (15:41.64), who finished second and third respectively.
Guillaume Ouellet wins GOLD in the 5000m 🥇 <a href="https://t.co/95BRB1Cb4U">pic.twitter.com/95BRB1Cb4U</a>
—@CDNParalympicsJudo
Earlier in the day, Priscilla Gagne won Canada's first medal of the Games. The Canadian Judoka and Sarnia, Ont., native claimed silver in the women's 52 kg competition.
Brazil's Giulia Pereira took home gold. While Argentina's Paula Gomez and Brazil's Karla Cardoso shared bronze.
We caught up with <a href="https://twitter.com/PGagne86?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PGagne86</a> after her🥈win, defending her Toronto 2015 placement. <a href="https://twitter.com/JudoCanada?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JudoCanada</a> <a href="https://t.co/bHaCe4ZbSA">pic.twitter.com/bHaCe4ZbSA</a>
—@CDNParalympicsTable tennis
A couple days after leading Canada in the opening ceremonies, flag bearer Stephanie Chan hoisted Canada to the podium in table tennis.
The 62-year-old Vancouver native won bronze in the women's singles class 7 competition.
Stephanie Chan wins the bronze in the Para table tennis women C7 classification 🥉 <a href="https://t.co/wbG4wEyfdX">pic.twitter.com/wbG4wEyfdX</a>
—@CDNParalympicsCanada would also take bronze in the men's singles class 8 event, thanks to Ian Kent's third place finish.
. <a href="https://twitter.com/IJKentTokyo2020?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@IJKentTokyo2020</a> wins the bronze in Para table tennis! 🥉 <a href="https://t.co/PoCd0Fa4qL">pic.twitter.com/PoCd0Fa4qL</a>
—@CDNParalympicsBasketball
The Canadian women's team got off to a flying start with a 83-6 win over Colombia in wheelchair basketball. Kathleen Dandeneau of Pender Island B.C. led the way with a game-high 21 points, followed by Legal Alta.'s, Arinn Young with 20.
If Canada can finish in the top two, the team will clinch a spot in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.
Rugby
Canada recorded two-straight wins on Saturday to improve to 3-0 in wheelchair rugby. The team began the day with a 58-43 win over Brazil, before downing Colombia 64-45.
Canada opened the tournament with a dominant 60-24 victory over Argentina on Friday.