A bronze medal for Canada at the Paralympics occurred briefly in the controversy at the Tokyo Aquatics Center.
It happened in exceptional circumstances – two disqualifications kept the Canadian women’s relay swimming team waiting on Sunday.
Great Britain and the United States were disqualified from the early start in the women’s 4x100m freestyle in the second sprint swap. The last country protested the race, but the decision was upheld, and Canada was awarded third place and a bronze medal – 11 matches.
Team Morgan Bird, Katrina Roxon, Sabrina Duchesne and O’Reilly Rivard all looked at each other and on deck when news of the post-race disqualification broke, apparently afraid to celebrate too early.
Due to US protest, the medal ceremony for this event was postponed.
Read more about Tokyo Swimming Mode and the other athletes on Day Five here.
Here’s more of what you missed on Sunday:
Lakatos achieves silver again
Around the same time as the swimming mayhem, Canadian wheelchair racer Brent Lakatos took another silver in Tokyo, this time in the men’s T53 400m.
Finishing second again, the 41-year-old from Dorval, Kew, rushed to the finish in a personal best of 46.75 seconds. But that wasn’t enough to catch up with Thai Pongsakorn Baio, who broke Lakatos’ world record with 46.61 points.
Canada Famous for Bronze in Para Triathlon
While this didn’t happen overnight in Canada, it’s impossible not to forget Stefan Daniel’s stunning bronze medal in the men’s PTS5 Para Triathlon.
The 24-year-old finished in 59 minutes 22 seconds and adds it to his silver medal in the Para Triathlon PT4 at Rio 2016.
“I definitely fought for this,” CBC Sports’ Devin Herrocks said. “I am really proud of my efforts today.”
The athlete added that he wanted to show that hostile sports had the same legitimacy as the Olympic side.
“I think we are doing a good job proving it here… I am really excited about where the sport is; I really hope to inspire Canadians back home and maybe some people go cycling or running today.”
View | Canadian Stephen Daniel for his bronze medal:
Stephan Daniel of Calgary says he is very proud of his efforts and hopes they will inspire Canadians. 1:49
Canada’s Camille Frenet finished fourth outside the medals with a time of 1 hour 10:09 minutes in the Women’s PTS5 Para Triathlon.
Frinet, 25, also works on the front lines as a pharmacy student, helping people administer the COVID-19 vaccine at Nova Scotia clinics.
Tribute to the former captain
The Canadian men’s wheelchair basketball team won its first win in Tokyo. She came against Korea in a 74-64 match at Ariac Arena on Sunday.
In addition to great skill, there is a lot of heart in this team.
Men wore Superman tattoos in honor of former Captain David Inge, who carries one over his shoulder.
Engineer won three Paralympic medals, two of them gold, and was the flag bearer at the 2016 Rio Opening Ceremony. Bureaucratic wrangling over rankings, athletes were reevaluated and Engineer was ineligible to join the team.
The athlete posted a “thank you” message on Instagram, saying he was touched by the emotion while working as a commentator for the Radio Canada game.
Football and archery kick off in Tokyo
Two other sports started in Tokyo on Sunday – futsal and archery.
While one of the five players – the goalkeeper – can be seen, the Para football is only played by the visually impaired. While fans are not allowed to play these games, fans must remain silent until a goal is scored – players use their hearing to track the ball and make noise.
For more information on playing futsal, check out this explanation of some of the unique sports.
The shooting athletes participated in training sessions at the Asaka Shooting Range. But football matches have already begun, with hosts Japan defeating France 4-0 at home.
gold centimeter
Jarrah Tanayash was kicked out of Iraq after throwing his life at the National Stadium in Tokyo and scoring 11.15m in an F40 men’s shot.
It was a world record – but only for a moment.
Also in attendance was Denis Genezdilov of the Russian Paralympic Committee, defeating the athlete by throwing another inch to win the world record title and gold medal.
The athletes hugged each other after a fierce battle. Portugal’s Miguel Monteiro, the former world record holder, took the bronze.
Swimmers make a splash
Canadian swimmers break national records in the pool.
On Sunday alone, three athletes – Nicholas Jay Torpedo, Nicholas Bennett and Sabrina Duchesne – swam fast in their own events to score new Canadian points.
Despite not winning any medals, the pioneers are making a statement in Tokyo.
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