Brent Lakatos races to silver in the 100m final, his 3rd of Tokyo Paralympics
Swimmer Aurélie Rivard, shot putter Greg Stewart score golds for Canada on Day 8
Canada's wheelchair racer Brent Lakatos has added yet another medal to his growing haul at the Tokyo Paralympics.
The Dorval, Que., native captured silver in the men's T53 100-metre final on Wednesday in Japan, finishing with a time of 14.55 seconds.
Thailand's Pongsakorn Paeyo won the race with a blistering Paralympic record time of 14.20 seconds, while Saudi Arabia's Abdulrahman Alqurashi claimed bronze with a time of 14.76 seconds.
Lakatos, 41, was the defending champion in the event, having won gold at Rio 2016.
WATCH | What you missed on Day 8 in Tokyo:
It is the 10th Paralympic medal of Lakatos' career.
The Canadian cruised into the final after winning his heat by more than half a second with a time of 14.49 seconds.
Lakatos already won silver in both the 400m and 5,000m in Tokyo, and he's entered in the 800m and marathon over the final days of these Games.
Despite establishing a North American record at 27.72 metres, Canada's Charlotte Bolton missed out on the women's F41 standing discus podium.
Bolton, an 18-year-old from Tillsonburg, Ont., placed sixth. She was previously sixth in the F41 shot put.
The F41 category is for athletes with short stature.
The event completes Bolton's first Paralympics. She already owns Canadian records in shot put, javelin and discus as the only athlete from the country who competes in her classification.
WATCH | Brent Lakatos wins silver in men's T53 100m final:
Stewart wins gold with record-setting toss in shot put
Early on Day 8, shot putter Greg Stewart of Kamloops, B.C., won Canada's second gold medal of the Tokyo Paralympics.
The 35-year-old, who stands at a hulking 7-foot-2, completed a record-setting toss of 16.75 metres in the first round of throws in the men's F46 shot put.
The field wouldn't come close, as the distance allowed Stewart to comfortably finish atop the podium when the event concluded.
WATCH | Shot putter Greg Stewart's record-setting gold-medal toss:
"I can't even describe it yet. I don't have the words. It's been a very cool experience," Stewart said after the event. "I think it will really hit me when I talk to my family – my girlfriend, my parents – and get back to the Village and spend some time with the rest of the team."
Russian Nikita Prokhorov took silver at 16.29 metres, while American Joshua Cinnamo rounded out the podium with a throw of 15.90 metres.
The F46 category is for athletes with a single upper-limb amputation. Stewart was born without the lower part of his left arm.
Stewart previously played sitting volleyball, winning bronze at the Parapan Am Games in 2007 as a member of Team Canada, but never competed in the sport at the Paralympics.
Rivard repeats as champion (again)
Aurélie Rivard defended another Paralympic title from Rio 2016, winning gold in the S10 400m freestyle final.
She also beat her own world record by over five seconds in the pool, with a time of four minutes 24.08 seconds. Read more about her fantastic swim at the Tokyo Aquatic Centre here.
"My race went great. I really wanted to focus on the technical aspects, like I did in the 100 free," Rivard said following the race. "When I noticed I was ahead of the other girls, I just focused on the black line at the bottom of the pool and on finishing the race as fast as I could and see if I could lower the world record.
"I'm really happy to have lowered it and to have won the gold medal."
WATCH | Rivard dominates S10 400m freestyle final to take gold:
Canadian Alec Elliot made his second final in as many days, this time in the S10 400m freestyle.
Elliot, 25, finished in fifth place with a time of 4:10.29.
That was four seconds quicker than in qualifying, which had him touching the wall in 4:14.65 to finish second in his heat, but well behind leader Bas Takken of the Netherlands who ended up winning silver. Maksym Krypak of the Ukraine took the gold in 3:59.62.
Morgan Bird booked her ticket to the S8 50m freestyle final after squeaking into the eighth qualifying spot. Bird went on to claim sixth in the final with a time of 32.16 seconds.
In the women's SB7 100m breaststroke, 20-year-old Abi Tripp of Canada appeared to win her heat but was disqualified soon after the race ended.
The result denied the Kingston, Ont., native a shot at swimming for her first Paralympic medal.
Canadian Katarina Roxon failed to advance to the SM9 200m individual medley final.
Women's sitting volleyball through to semis
Canada wrapped up preliminary round play by completing a straight-sets sweep over host Japan.
The Canadians booked a spot in the semifinals after a clean 25-19, 25-15, 25-20 victory, claiming the No. 2 spot in Pool A.
"Getting to the semifinals of the Paralympics started as a dream back in Rio 2016 after our seventh-place finish and after five years of hard work and dedication, from every member of this team, we made it," said team captain Danielle Ellis.
"I believe in each woman here and I know how much they have put into competing at the Paralympics and I am so proud to sit next to them on the court. We're here and we're ready to push to be the best version of ourselves. One game at a time," Ellis added.
Canada will be pitted against China in the semifinals on Friday morning ET.
A berth in the semifinals means Canada has secured its best-ever result in sitting volleyball.
They've done it!<br><br>Canada defeats Japan in women's sitting volleyball to advance to the semis for the first time at the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Paralympics?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Paralympics</a> 🇨🇦<br><br>And how about this show of sportsmanship after the match? 👏 <a href="https://t.co/OsDdmyyZpm">pic.twitter.com/OsDdmyyZpm</a>
—@cbcsportsMen's wheelchair basketball bounced by Great Britain
Canada's only remaining wheelchair basketball team was eliminated from medal contention late on Day 8.
Great Britain dispatched Canada 66-52, booking a place in the semifinals.
The Canadian men's team faced an uphill battle against reigning world champion and Rio 2016 bronze medallist side, who finished with a 4-1 record in preliminary play.
WATCH | Men's wheelchair basketball defeated in quarter by Great Britain:
Despite being entrenched as underdogs, Canada (2-3) fought valiantly and entered halftime with a 4-point lead.
The lead was cut to a single point ahead of the final frame, where the favoured Great Britain took control and rallied with a 24-9 differential in the fourth quarter.
Canada was led in scoring by star Patrick Anderson, who came out of retirement to compete in Tokyo, scoring 22 points in the contest.
The Canadian women's wheelchair basketball team, who was eliminated in its own quarter-final matchup against the United States, was seen cheering on the men's team throughout the game.
Canadians take on road race
Three Canadians competed at the Fuji International Speedway on Wednesday in the men's H3 road race.
Joey Desjardins, of Hawkesbury, Ont., raced to eighth place. He completed the gruelling 79.2-kilometre course in two hours 48:04 minutes.
Charles Moreau, of Victoriaville, Que., finished in 10th with a time of 2:49:47. He earned bronze in this event in Rio 2016.
Fellow Canadian Alex Hyndman, Morpeth, Ont., was right behind him in 11th with 3:00:50.
Para shooting
A pair of Canadian shooting athletes competed in the qualifying round of the mixed SH2 10-metre air rifle prone on Wednesday. Doug Blessin of Port Coquitlam, B.C., recorded 627.5 points for 33rd place.
Meanwhile, Lyne Tremblay of Magog, Que., was 36th with 609 points. Only the top eight move on to the finals.
WATCH | What you missed on Day 7 in Tokyo:
With files from Myles Dichter, Christine Rankin, Dion Caputi
