Canadian track cyclists Shaw, Hayward race to Paralympic bronze in 3,000m individual pursuit
Canadian flag-bearer Katarina Roxon places 8th in SB8 100m breaststroke final
Keely Shaw and Alexandre Hayward had big hockey dreams early in their lives.
Their ambitions on skates dealt devastating blows when they were 15 years old, the two Canadians channelled their competitive drives into bikes to land on the podium Friday at the Paralympic Games in Paris.
Shaw of Midale, Sask., repeated as a bronze medallist in track cycling's women's 3,000-metre individual pursuit after she was third in Tokyo three years ago.
"Winning a medal is hard," Shaw said. "To do it in two consecutive Games is a whole other level."
WATCH l Shaw wins 2nd career Paralympic bronze medal in individual pursuit:
Hayward of Quispamsis, N.B., earned bronze in men's pursuit in his Paralympic debut.
"I've been dreaming of going to the Paralympics ever since I had my injury 12 years ago," said the 27-year-old. "To add a medal to that dream was almost unrealistic and to do it in my first event of three is as special as it gets."
Canadians won three bronze medals the first two days of track cycling, including Calgarian Kate O'Brien's in the women's time trial.
In pursuit, two riders start on opposite sides of the track aiming to post the fastest time and hunt down the other cyclist.
Shaw and Hayward went deep into their reserves Friday, with morning qualifying followed by afternoon medal matches.
WATCH l Hayward claims bronze for 1st career Paralympic medal:
Shaw beat Samantha Bosco of the United States with a personal best time of three minutes 46.942 to Bosco's 3:48.589.
"In order to be a good pursuiter, you need to be really good at turning off all your signals because my brain is screaming at me to stop," Shaw explained. "It is a mental game to say 'no, you will not die."'
Australia's Emily Petricola ended the gold-medal bout early by overtaking New Zealand's Anna Taylor.
Shaw suffered partial paralysis on her left side when she fell off a horse on family's southern Saskatchewan farm.
"Para cycling slotted in so nicely to fill this hole in my heart that hockey left behind," she said. "Growing up, I was a hockey player. I got hurt when I was 15 and tried to go back to playing hockey, but I was no longer in the same body.
"I was really frustrated trying to play hockey because I was constantly trying to compare myself to the athlete I once was. ... When I got on the start line for my first bike race, I suddenly felt like myself, I started to feel like an athlete again."
WATCH | 'Honour' for Shaw to win 2nd straight medal:
The 30-year-old competes in the C4 classification for athletes with lower-limb impairment.
Hayward broke his neck playing midget triple-A hockey just weeks before the QMJHL draft.
"That's what I was hoping to do was play in the QMJHL," Hayward said. "Things changed pretty quickly."
He has use of arms and legs, but all limbs are impaired. Hayward's C3 classification is for athletes with moderate upper or lower limb dysfunction.
"I spent awhile there where I couldn't even scratch my own nose," he said. "I eventually got enough mobility back to even start talking about the Paralympics and got really excited about it because sport played a huge role in my life. It was a huge motivator for me over the last 12 years."
WATCH | Hayward hopes to inspire with bronze medal:
Shaw combined Paralympic preparation with defending her doctoral thesis in exercise physiology. She's now Dr. Keely Shaw, who teaches at Mount Royal and researches iron deficiency in athletes at the University of Calgary.
"This past year has meant so much to me, from defending my PhD and starting a new job in Calgary, and there were a lot of questions in my mind whether that was the right move ... whether I was giving up cycling, whether I was not going to be able to do it," Shaw said.
"I showed today, just the resilience I have, I can chase these two birds."
Hayward is a University of New Brunswick engineering graduate. Shaw and Hayward get on their road bikes next week in Paris in the time trials and road races.
"I got a fourth in the time trial in Tokyo. I would love to upgrade that to a podium, but at this point in time that's a cherry on top," Shaw said. "I'm excited to have another opportunity in a few days."
Canada is sitting on four medals — all bronze — through two days of competition. In addition to the three cyclists, Quebec's Aurélie Rivard reached the podium in the pool.
WATCH | Setting up an action-packed weekend with Stefanie Reid:
Roxon 8th in 100m breaststroke final
Canadian Para swimmer Katarina Roxon placed eighth in the women's SB8 100m breaststroke final.
Though the Rio gold medallist missed the podium, by competing she became the first Canadian woman to compete in the sport at five Paralympics.
The Kippens, N.L., native touched last in a time of 1:27.39 at La Defense Arena as Spain's Anastasia Dmytriv Dmytriv ran away with gold at 1:19.75.
"Thank you all from the bottom of my heart" ❤️<br><br>An incredibly emotional interview from <a href="https://twitter.com/Katarina_Roxon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Katarina_Roxon</a>, who is feeling the love from Canada and especially from her hometown of Kippens, N.L. 🇨🇦 <a href="https://t.co/FUNwLYGie0">pic.twitter.com/FUNwLYGie0</a>
—@cbcsportsRoxon, who was born missing her left arm below the elbow, is searching for her third Paralympic medal after also helping Canada claim bronze in the women's 4x100m relay three years ago in Tokyo.
She served as one of Canada's flag-bearers in the opening ceremony alongside wheelchair basketball legend Pat Anderson and will return to the pool on Thursday to contest the women's SM9 200m individual medley.
Sebastian Massabie, of Toronto, placed fifth in the men's 100m freestyle S4 final later on Friday, finishing just 0.2 seconds off the podium in 1:22.53 — breaking his own Canadian record for the second time of the day.
The 19-year-old previously lowered it to 1:23.80 with a second-place finish in his qualifying heat, the fourth-fastest overall time.
Humboldt's Wassermann makes debut
Humboldt bus crash survivor Jacob Wassermann made his Paralympic debut in the men's PR1 single sculls rowing event, less than two years into competing in the sport.
The 24-year-old Humboldt, Sask., native didn't directly qualify for the final, finishing last in his heat, but he will have another chance to advance in Saturday's repechage round.
“It’s just the beginning”<br><br>🇨🇦 Jacob Wassermann is fiercely competitive and he told me just now this is only firing him up for future races.<br><br>His first Paralympic rowing race complete. And more to come from the 24-year-old from Humboldt, Saskatchewan. <a href="https://t.co/FSD0ZtnkU3">pic.twitter.com/FSD0ZtnkU3</a>
—@Devin_HerouxWassermann clocked a time of 11:22.35 in the 2,000m race at Vaires-sur-Marne Stadium, drawing cheers and applause as he crossed the finish. He will compete in the first of two repechage races on Saturday at 4:10 a.m. ET, with the fastest two rowers in each advancing to the Sunday's final.
The 24-year-old is one of 13 survivors of the 2018 tragedy, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.
WATCH | Wassermann finds freedom on the water:
Canadian men open wheelchair basketball tournament with win
The Canadian men's wheelchair basketball team is off to a strong start in Paris, beating host France 83-69.
After trailing by two points at halftime, Canada turned it on for the final 20 minutes and outscored the French 44-27 to claim the tournament-opening victory.
Team Canada co-flag-bearer Patrick Anderson of Fergus, Ont., paced the team with a triple-double, scoring 31 points while adding 12 rebounds and 13 assists. Colin Higgins of Rothesay, N.B., tied France's Nicolas Jouanserre with a game-high 38 points.
Higgins, 33, is playing at his second Paralympics and first with fans in the stands.
"A lot of goosebumps and butterflies to start, but you come out and get your first shot, and everyone really rallies behind each other and to feel the team come together and get the W is huge. Great start," he said.
Canada won four consecutive medals in the sport between 2000 and 2012, including three gold, but missed the medal matches entirely at each of the past two Games.
It returns to the court on Saturday at 6:45 a.m. ET to face Great Britain.
Wheelchair rugby team bounces back
Canada is back to all-square in wheelchair rugby.
After a tight opening loss to the U.S., the Canadians upended Germany 54-47 on Friday to even their record at 1-1.
For the second straight game, Zak Madell led Canada with 28 tries.
"Yesterday was a little uncharacteristic for us. We didn't play as clean as we normally do, so we wanted to regroup and redeem ourselves," Madell said.
Through two pool-play games, Japan leads the group at 2-0, while Canada and the U.S. are tied at 1-1 and Germany is last at 0-2. The top two teams advance to the semifinals.
Canada wraps preliminary action against Japan on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. ET.
"We have got to come out hard. They're a tough team. We've beaten them before. They've beaten us before. So we're going to fight and try to come out on top. That game means a lot to us," he said.
Other Canadian results:
- Eleven-time Paralympic medallist Brent Lakatos cruised into the men's T54 5,000m final after placing second in his heat with a season-best time of 10:35.15. The Dorval, Que., native will race for a medal on Saturday at 2:39 p.m. ET.
- Wheelchair racer Anthony Bouchard advanced to Friday's final in the men's 400m T52 event, scheduled for 1:12 p.m. ET.
- Canadian record holder Amanda Rummery rolled into the women's T47 400m final with a time of 59.24 seconds and will race for gold on Saturday at 3:19 p.m. ET.
- Alison Levine reached the quarterfinals of the women's BC4 boccia tournament, defeating Ukraine's Nataliia Konenko 5-3 in her final group-stage match for a 2-1 record. She will compete against world No. 1 Leidy Chica Chica of Colombia on Saturday.
- Fellow boccia player Iulian Ciobanu defeated Malaysia's Abdul Razzaq Abdul Rahman 6-4 for his first win in the men's BC4 tournament, Danick Allard lost 11-1 to Indonesia's Felix Ardi Yudha and 9-0 to China's Zhiqiang Yan in the BC2 classification and Lance Cryderman dropped a 5-1 decision against Hong Kong's John Loung in BC1 action.
- Kyle Tremblay advanced to the 1/8 round in the men's individual compound archery competition with a 140-135 win over Italy's Matteo Bonacina. He will face Austria's Michael Meier on Sunday at 10:04 a.m. ET.
- Canada's women's goalball team lost 2-1 to Japan, falling to a 1-1 record in Pool D.
- Charlotte Bolton finished 10th in the women's shot put F41 final.
With files from CBC Sports
