Canada's Brent Lakatos speeds to gold medal, outracing Thai rival in 800m
Quebec native claims 2nd gold medal of decorated Paralympic career
At long last, Canada's Brent Lakatos is back atop the podium.
The 44-year-old from Dorval, Que., won gold in the men's T53 800 metres on Thursday at Stade de France, his second podium appearance in Paris and 13th all-time. It's also the second career gold medal for Lakatos.
The Canadian clocked a time of one minute 37.32 seconds, while Thailand's Pongsakorn Paeyo, the reigning champion, took silver in 1:38.26 and American Brian Siemann earned bronze at 1:38.44.
"It feels absolutely amazing," Lakatos said after the race. "It has been eight long years and so many silver medals. It's so good to be finally back and get to sing 'O Canada'."
WATCH | Lakatos wins gold medal:
In the early going, it seemed as though Paeyo, who won gold ahead of silver for Lakatos three times at Tokyo 2020 and again in the 400m in Paris, was poised for a repeat.
But the Canadian, who holds the 800m world record, moved ahead of his Thai rival to begin the bell lap, and only increased his lead from there.
By the final few metres, Lakatos was able to let off the gas and cruise past the finish line.
"This has taken a lot of planning. The Canadian support staff have been great. We had a great strategy, taking control of the race. We executed the plan and it worked out really well," he said.
Now, he'll hear O Canada following a Paralympic victory for the first time since 2016.
WATCH | Lakatos discusses gold medal, athletics future:
Lakatos is the reigning world champion in the event, but broken rib earlier this year affected his training and left him unsure about his fitness heading to Paris.
"This is the first Games where I've had an injury, a serious injury, coming in," Lakatos said after his silver medal. "The preparation wasn't perfect, and I had to come back with lots of questions in my head about, could I do it? Could I come back? What would my form be like? And so now I'm lucky to be able to answer them, and it's going quite well."
On Thursday, things couldn't have gone any better. And to cap it all of, he received the honour of ringing the ball that's stood inside the track-and-field venues since the Olympics.
"That was something really cool. The lady asked me if I wanted to ring it. I was like, 'Hell yeah, I do.' I put all my weight into that. I was rocking back and forth with the momentum."
Lakatos carried Canada's flag in Tokyo's closing ceremonies mere hours after placing fourth in his fifth event, which was the men's marathon. He'd won the London marathon in 2020.
Lakatos dialled back his workhorse schedule somewhat by leaving the marathon off his Paris program. He admitted racing the 5K on Saturday and the 400 on Sunday "was a bit too much", and a few days off before the 800 was beneficial.
"The 800 is a really fun race. It takes a little bit of everything. I've got good stamina from doing marathons and five thousands and the speed it takes in the start," Lakatos said.
He's married to Britain's Stefanie Reid, who won Paralympic long-jump silver in London in 2012. The couple live in Loughborough, England.
Reid is a CBC co-host for the Paralympic Games with Scott Russell, and her husband said he couldn't wait to hear what she said about his race.
Whether the 800 was his Paralympic swan song, Lakatos wasn't ready to say given his track record.
"I said after every Games since 2008 I was going to retire. It hasn't happened yet," he said. "I don't think I'm going to say anything right now."
Women's sitting volleyball to play for bronze
Canada's women's sitting volleyball team fell 3-0 (16-25, 22-25, 18-25) against China in the semifinals at North Paris Arena.
Seeking its first-ever Paralympic podium, Canada fell short against the reigning silver medallists, with the match tilting in the Chinese favour during a tense 25-minute second set.
Sarah Melenka led Canada with 12 points, while veterans Danielle Ellis and Heidi Peters each added 11.
"It obviously wasn't the outcome we wanted. We're still in the medal match, and we still have a lot of work to do," Canada's Jolan Wong said.
Canada will face Brazil on Saturday at 9 a.m. ET in a rematch of the bronze-medal match from Tokyo in which the South Americans emerged victorious.
Brazil also beat Canada in four sets during group play in Paris.
"I don't know why, but we haven't played our best volleyball yet. We have another gear, and we can't wait to compete in the bronze-medal game [against Brazil]," Wong said. "We always seem to meet them in a really tough match, but we're ready."
China will meet the U.S. in the battle for gold.
Canada's Levine, Ciobanu fall short of boccia bronze
The first Canadian medal opportunity of the day saw the boccia duo of Alison Levine and Iulian Ciobanu suffered a 6-1 loss to Thailand in the mixed pairs BC4 bronze-medal match.
Nuanchan Phonsila and Pornchok Larpyen scored in all four ends with pinpoint accuracy, including three points in the third, to deny the second-ranked Canadians a spot on the podium at South Paris Arena.
Levine and Ciobanu, both competing in their third Paralympics, are the reigning Parapan American Games champion pairing in the event.
Montreal's Levine finished fifth in the individual women's tournament in Paris. The 34-year-old is a four-time Parapan Am Games medallist, including an individual gold medal last November.
Colombia will face Hong Kong for the mixed pairs gold medal at 1:15 p.m. ET.
Gagné loses bronze-medal bout
Canada's Priscilla Gagné came up short on her quest for a second career Paralympic judo medal.
The blind judoka from Sarnia, Ont., lost her bronze-medal match in golden score overtime on Thursday after receiving her third shido penalty against Argentina's Paula Karina Gomez.
Gagné was penalized twice for non-combativity before a false attack penalty gave Gomez an 11-1 win, ending the grueling match that lasted nearly ten minutes at Champ-de-Mars Arena.
Gagné opened the day with a 10-0 quarterfinal win over Larissa Oliveira, defeating the Brazilian by ippon in just over a minute with a Okuri-eri-jime choke.
But the 38-year-old Gagné was beaten by the same margin in the semifinals, as world No. 1 Shi Yijie of China executed back-to-back seoi-nage throws for two waza-ari scores.
Two bronze medals are awarded in each weight class, with the semifinal losers squaring off against the winners from the repechage round.
Gagné, a three-time Paralympian, won silver in the women's 52kg division at the Tokyo Games in 2021. She is currently ranked fourth in the world.
WATCH | What to watch on Friday at the Paralympics:
Borgella out of Games
Canadian sprinter Bianca Borgella will not continue to compete in Paris after pulling up during her 100m race with a right leg injury.
The visually impaired runner eventually crossed the finish line, but not before tumbling to the ground in seeming pain.
Athletics Canada said doctors have now ruled her out of the 200m, while Canada was forced to withdraw from the universal 4x100 relay as there is no backup racer for Borgella in Paris.
Other Canadian results:
- Charles Moreau of Victoriaville, Que., did not finish in the men's H3 road race following a crash.
- Julia Hanes threw a personal-best 7.15 metres to place seventh in the women's F33 shot put.
- Marissa Papaconstantinou eked into the women's T64 100m final with a time of 13.24 seconds. Papaconstantinou, who won bronze in the event at Tokyo 2020, will race for another medal on Friday at 1:11 p.m. ET.
- Wheelchair racer Anthony Bouchard rolled into the men's T52 400m final, qualifying with a time of 17.43 seconds. He'll race for a spot on the podium on Friday at 5:38 a.m. ET.
- Keegan Gaunt missed out on the women's T34 400m final with her qualifying time of 1:03.16.
Canada's medal count: 20 (6 gold, 6 silver, 8 bronze)
With files from The Canadian Press
