Canada's Nicolas-Guy Turbide swims to silver at Tokyo Paralympics
Canadian cyclist Tristen Chernove captures silver in individual pursuit
- Swimmer Nicolas-Guy Turbide of Quebec City wins silver medal in men's S13 100m backstroke
- Cyclist Tristen Chernove of Powell River, B.C., wins silver medal in men's men's C1 3,000m
- Canada earns its first goalball win of Tokyo 2020 after defeating Israel 6-2 in preliminary round
Nicolas-Guy Turbide is Canada's latest medallist at the Tokyo Paralympic Games after securing a silver in the men's S13 100-metre backstroke final.
The 24-year-old from Quebec City had a fantastic race, placing second with a time of 59.70 seconds.
Belarus' Ihar Boki took the gold, notching a world and Paralympic record of 56.36 seconds. Vladimir Sotnikov of the Russian Paralympic Committee won bronze.
"I feel pretty emotional tonight actually, it's not my usual self, but I had a year and a half filled with injuries that actually made me doubt that I would come here today at these Games," said Turbide, who also placed second behind Boki in London in 2019 to claim his first career world championship medal.
"Going back home with a medal is the best result that I could have hoped for, and it shows that being resilient during the year and believing in myself made the difference tonight."
Turbide is competing at his second Paralympics after winning bronze in the event during his 2016 debut.
"Getting back to this level where I was in London in 2019 and finishing in the same position is just a full circle that closed itself."
He earlier won his qualifying heat in one minute 1.08 seconds.
Two swimmers in the second heat beat Turbide's time, with Boki being the only man to break one minute at 57.67 seconds.
Turbide was born with impaired vision, once comparing his eyes to "a camera that does not have a zoom." He says he used to be afraid of water, and only took up swimming as a safety measure if his top sport, golf, did not work out.
Eventually, Turbide says his love of competition outstripped his fear of water. He'll also race in the S13 50-metre freestyle in Tokyo.
Canadian Para cyclist takes silver
Canada's Tristen Chernove also won a silver medal in the men's C1 3,000-metre race.
Chernove, 46, was overtaken by his opponent, Mikhail Astashov of the Russian Paralympic Committee, in the gold-medal race at the Izu Velodrome on Thursday.
"The qualifying ride went fairly well and I was super thrilled to make it into the final," Chernove said. "The final was not so great; I knew he [Astashov] would go out fast and I probably started too fast and was having some breathing issues, which added to my blowing up that much sooner."
Astashov was coming off a world record in his qualifying heat earlier in the day, where he posted a time of three minutes 35.954 seconds.
"It's a pretty emotional Games for me because I am retiring from Para cycling after these Games and devoting much more of my time to my family," Chernove said. "So it's going to be a Games of highs and lows, but I'm really excited to move on to the next phase."
Chernove, now a four-time Paralympic medallist, had posted a time of 3:40.591 in the qualifying race.
He won silver in the event in Rio 2016, when he also took bronze in the C1-3 1,000-metre time trial as well as gold in the road cycling C2 time trial.
The Powell River, B.C., native has impaired muscle power, which mainly affects his lower legs.
Though he began biking at age five, he only took up the sport competitively in 2015, quickly rising through the ranks.
Li Zhangyu, the 2016 gold medallist in the event, won the bronze medal with a time of 3:39.273.
More Canadian swimmers compete in finals
Canada's James Leroux swam to a sixth-place finish in the SB9 100-metre breaststroke final.
The 23-year-old from Repentigny, Que., started off strong, but fell back in the later stages. He clocked a race time of one minute 11.49 seconds at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.
All competitors in the event received automatic entry to the medal race. Leroux placed seventh in Rio 2016, but followed it up with silver at the 2019 worlds.
Matthew Cabraja of Canada also swam to a seventh-place finish in the men's S11 400-metre freestyle — his first-ever Paralympic finals race.
The first of multiple Canadian swimming finalists on Thursday, Cabraja recorded a time of four minutes 57.63 seconds.
The 19-year-old athlete from Brampton, Ont., qualified for the final after posting the sixth-best qualifying time of 4:56.42.
Katarina Roxon fell just shy of the podium in the women's SB8 100-metre breaststroke final, swimming to a time of 1:25.73, good for fourth place.
WATCH | Roxon narrowly misses podium in 100m breaststroke final:
Roxon originally advanced to the breaststroke final after placing second in her heat with a time of 1:26.62, but just fifth overall.
The Corner Brook, N.L., native won gold in the event in 2016 — her only medal over three previous Paralympic Games.
Roxon, 28, was born with a condition that resulted in her left arm being amputated below the elbow.
WATCH | Paralympic medals won in Tokyo, celebrated in Canada:
Goalball team earns 1st victory
Canada's goalball team bounced back after falling to the Russian Paralympic Committee in its Tokyo 2020 opener by defeating Israel 6-2 on Thursday morning.
23-year-old Emma Reinke of St. Thomas, Ont., led the way once again, scoring four points in a commanding performance for the Canadians.
Both sides put forth a strong defensive effort early, as Canada went into halftime with a narrow 1-0 lead.
Emma Reinke (<a href="https://twitter.com/e_lrein?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@e_lrein</a>) is doing it all<br><br>She makes the save, then finds the gap to extend Canada's lead with her 2nd goal of the match <br><br>Watch <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CAN?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CAN</a> vs <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ISR?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ISR</a> goalball: <a href="https://t.co/4e8Q9PnrUb">https://t.co/4e8Q9PnrUb</a> <a href="https://t.co/3PBbTUSZkM">pic.twitter.com/3PBbTUSZkM</a>
—@cbcsportsWheelchair fencing action continues
Canadian wheelchair fencer Pierre Mainville started off his performance in the men's épée individual event with a 5-4 win over France's Yohan Peter, but was defeated in his other five bouts.
Meanwhile, Ryan Rousell lost his six bouts of the men's épée individual event. The 24-year-old made his debut at the Games the day prior in Tokyo.
WATCH | 5 Canadian Paralympians you should know:
Canadian wheelchair basketball
Canada's men's wheelchair basketball team lost to Spain in its opening game on Thursday.
Despite the return of star Patrick Anderson, the Canadians weren't able to keep pace with the Spaniards, who defeated them 78-41.
Rebounding was key for Canada's opponent — the Rio 2016 silver medallists scored a total of 49 rebounds throughout the course of the game.
Nikola Goncin, 29, led Canada with 15 points and had eight rebounds. Anderson, returning to competition at age 42, played about 22 minutes and had an eight-point game.
The men next play Turkey on Friday.
WATCH | Canada defeated by Spain in Paralympic opener:
Canadian wheelchair rugby 2nd loss
Despite a strong showing from the Canadian wheelchair rugby team, players were unable to prevent the United States from gaining its second win of the group pool play.
The Americans beat Canada 58-54 in an even match at the Yoyogi National Stadium, with fouls hurting the Canadians throughout the game.
It wasn't until the third quarter that the United States managed to get a lead of three tries. It's the second loss for Canada, after dropping a close match on Wednesday to Great Britain.
Zak Madell, 27, delivered again for the Canadians, making 31 tries.
WATCH | Canada records second loss in wheelchair rugby:
With files from Christine Rankin, Myles Dichter, Dion Caputi
