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.
The Canadian crossed the finish line in 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.
Lakatos has one race remaining in Paris, the T38 1,500.
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.
Other Canadian results:
- Charles Moreau of Victoriaville, Que., did not finish in the men’s H3 road race following a crash.