Through exactly half of the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games, Canada has claimed 12 medals — including one gold. Over the final six days in Japan there will be plenty of chances to increase that total.
Through exactly one half of the Tokyo Paralympics, Canada has claimed 12 medals — including one gold.
It’s slightly below the pace set at Rio 2016, when the country came away with 29 medals and topped the podium five times.
But over the final six days in Tokyo there will be plenty more opportunities for Canada to match or exceed that total, including in the pool, on the track and across the hardwood.
WATCH | What you missed on Day 6 of competition in Tokyo:
While You Were Sleeping: Canada gets medal No. 12 in the pool, plus a surprise final
Danielle Dorris swims to a silver, Para equestrian Lauren Barwick makes a last-minute final and updates on Canada’s boccia, goalball and wheelchair basketball teams. 3:30
Here are the sports you should keep an eye on in the final days of the Paralympic Games:
Swimming
Aurélie Rivard is Canada’s lone gold medallist in Tokyo. She’s also captured a pair of bronze medals so far.
Rivard, 25, also stepped to the podium four times in Rio, winning three gold medals on her own. She has one title defence remaining in Tokyo: the women’s S10 400-metre freestyle. The final for that event is scheduled for Wednesday morning.
The St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., native will also swim in the 100m backstroke and 200m individual medley in Tokyo. She came away with silver five years ago in the latter.
Rivard has high expectations of herself, too. She earned bronze in her first event, but said it was a colour she didn’t want to add to her collection after exclusively taking golds and silver in Rio. She then went out and broke her own world record twice en route to her 100m freestyle victory to get back on top of the podium.
WATCH | Rivard claims gold in 100m freestyle:
Aurélie Rivard swims to another world record en route to Canada’s 1st gold in Tokyo
The St-Jean-Sur-Richelieu, Que., native breaks her own world record set earlier in the day with a time of 58.14 seconds in the women’s S10 100-metre freestyle final. 3:45
Also aiming for another medal is Danielle Dorris, who took silver in the women’s S7 100m backstroke. It was the first career Paralympic medal for Dorris, who debuted in Rio as a 13-year-old.
She’ll compete in the 50m butterfly, with the final set for Friday morning. The Moncton, N.B., native’s strength thus far has been her starts, meaning the one-length event should be right up her alley.
Athletics
Rivard also finds herself in another race in Tokyo. It’s against Brent Lakatos for who can emerge with more total Paralympic medals at the conclusion of these Games.
Lakatos, in his fifth Games, has nine medals to Rivard’s eight. He’s already won silver in the 400m and 5,000m in Tokyo. He’ll also have three more opportunities to increase that total in Tokyo.
Despite missing the 1,500m final, the wheelchair racer is still entered in the 100m, 800m and marathon. Lakatos is a strong contender for gold in both as he holds each world record. Though that was also true of the 1,500m, Lakatos’ recent results in his remaining distances are more promising.
He also has recent marathon victories in Berlin in 2018 and London in 2020. Topping the podium in the 100m and marathon is the stuff of which legends are made, and Lakatos is looking to become a legend in Tokyo.
WATCH | Lakatos snags silver in Tokyo:
Wheelchair racer Brent Lakatos adds another silver to Tokyo Paralympics medal haul
Dorval, Que., native Brent Lakatos captures silver in the men’s 400-metre T53 at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. 2:50
The next generation of Canadian Para track stars will also be on display.
Nate Riech is making his Games debut after lowering his own T38 1,500m record to three minutes 47.89 seconds in May. It’s his only event in Tokyo. The International Paralympic Committee eliminated two other events in his classification in which he would have been favoured prior to the Games.
Meanwhile, Marissa Papaconstantinou, 21, returns for her second Games following a tumultuous quadrennial in which she suffered multiple torn hamstrings. Her recovery will be tested in the T64 200m.
In discus, Renee Foessel looks to improve upon her fourth-place finish in Rio.
Wheelchair basketball
Canada’s men’s and women’s teams took different routes to the quarter-finals.
The women’s team stormed out of the gates with two straight blowout victories. A two-point defeat to Germany at the buzzer separated another lopsided win.
Canada’s reward? A date with the reigning champion American team in a single-elimination match on Monday night.
The men’s team, on the other hand, dropped its first three games before rallying to win two to reach the knockout stage.
The return of Patrick Anderson, considered the greatest of all time in the sport, has reinvigorated the team and they’re now seeking an upset against Great Britain, which won Group B, on Tuesday.
WATCH | Canadian men down Colombia to reach quarters:
Canada books ticket to Paralympic men’s wheelchair basketball quarters
The Canadian men’s wheelchair basketball team beat Colombia 63-52 to clinch the fourth and final spot from Group A. 0:54
Boccia
Canada failed to qualify a single athlete through to the elimination rounds in individual events, including the top-ranked Alison Levine.
But Levine will return alongside Iulian Ciobanu and Marco Dispaltro in the pairs event as they seek retribution. Medal matches are scheduled for Saturday.