Canadian wheelchair racer Brent Lakatos wins silver in 400m final, second of Games

Wheelchair racer Brent Lakatos continued building on an impressive start to his Tokyo Paralympics.

The 41-year-old from Dorval, Que., secured a silver medal in the T53 men's 400-metre final on Sunday, setting a personal best time of 46.75 in the process.

It was Lakatos' second silver of the Games after finishing as the runner-up in the men's T54 5,000-metre final on Saturday, and his ninth Paralympic medal overall.

"I didn't really ever think [winning nine medals] would be possible," Lakatos said after the race. "I was considering retiring after Beijing, and my wife [Paralympic long jumper Stefanie Reid of Great Britain] and I, we decided to go for one more to try and get a medal, try to get one medal.

"I thought I'd retire after London [2012], I thought I'd retire after Rio [2016] and somehow I'm still here and that number is slowly growing. And so, it doesn't really seem real ... it's nice."

WATCH | What you missed on Day 5 of competition in Tokyo:

While You Were Sleeping: 3 more Canadian medals after controversy in the pool

3 years ago

Duration 4:38

Brent Lakatos won his second silver medal on the track, while Stefan Daniel took bronze in the Para triathlon. Meanwhile, Canadian swimmers got a surprise medal after a whirlwind relay.

Lakatos and Thailand's Pongsakorn Paeyo were well beyond the field as they crossed the finish line, with the latter clinching gold with a blistering world-record time of 46.61.

Paeyo, who entered the race as the reigning gold medallist in the distance, set a Paralympic record in his qualifying heat with a time of 47.31 seconds.

Russian Paralympic Committee's Vitalii Gritsenko took bronze.

Also in athletics, Canada's Austin Ingram placed fourth in his qualifying heat in the men's T13 100-metre race. He had a season-best time of 11.21 seconds, but didn't advance to the final. 

The 19-year-old from Petawawa, Ont., was making his Paralympic debut in Tokyo.

Ingram holds the Canadian record in the event — he dropped the mark to 10.99 seconds in a fourth-place finish at the 2019 IPC World championships in Dubai.

Canada's Jessica Frotten, 33, also failed to advance to the finals of the women's T53 800-metre race in her first Paralympics. She had a season-best time of one minute 56.79 seconds and placed fourth in her heat.

WATCH | Canada's Lakatos takes silver in T53 400m final:

Canadian relay swim team awarded bronze after DQs

For a moment, it seemed Canada's women's relay team would place fifth — but then came the disqualifications. 

In a moment of confusion on the pool deck, the United States — who touched first — and Great Britain were disqualified from the women 4x100-metre freestyle relay event due to early takeoffs in the second exchange.

That meant Canada was awarded bronze.

Swimmers' jaws dropped as the news of the disqualifications spread. The Canadian swimmers crowded together with faces of disbelief and cautious celebration.

WATCH | Canadian swimmers awarded bronze following disqualifications:

The United States protested the race, resulting in a tense two-hour wait before the disqualification was upheld — assuring Canada third place and the 11th medal of the country's Games.

Due to the protest, the medal ceremony was postponed.

Canada finished its race in a time of four minutes 30.40 seconds. Morgan Bird went out for Canada first, followed by Katarina Roxon and Sabrina Duchesne.

Aurélie Rivard, who had claimed Canada's first and only gold, closed out the race.

"The race was pretty exciting, it was a lot of fun," Rivard said afterward. "It was a nice moment to share with the girls, I'm really proud of them, and I'm also really happy to have contributed to Morgan and [Sabrina's] first Paralympic medals."

Italy became the new champions and Australia was upgraded to second place.

The medal ceremony took place on Monday, where the Canadians received their bronze medals.

WATCH | Canadian relay swimmers receive their bronze medals:

Canadian Para triathlete races to bronze

Canada's Stefan Daniel has won bronze in Tokyo.

The Calgary native placed third in the men's Para triathlon PTS5 event on Sunday in Japan with a time of 59 minutes 22 seconds.

Daniel, 24, won silver in the category reserved for athletes with mild impairments at the 2016 Rio Paralympics. The Canadian was born with bilateral radial club hands, leaving his right arm seven inches shorter than his left.

"Overall I probably had a much better race than in Rio and I came away with a worse result. It just shows [the fact that] the sport and the athletes grow [and improve] every year," Daniel said.

WATCH | Daniel claims bronze medal in Para triathlon:

Germany's Martin Schulz, who won gold five years ago, repeated the feat with a time of 58:10, while Great Britain's George Peasgood took silver at 58:55.

Daniel edged out American Chris Hammer by six seconds to take the final spot on the podium.

"I'll come to cherish this, but it'll take time. I gave everything I had today," Daniel, who has four world championships to his name, told CBC Sports's Devin Heroux after the race.

At the Odaiba Marine Park, Daniel was consistently third, emerging in the position after the 750-metre swim and after the 20-kilometre bike. He was able to make up some time on Peasgood in the 5-km run, but his deficit was ultimately too large to overcome.

WATCH | Daniel accepts bronze medal:

Once again, heat was a factor in Tokyo, with temperatures nearing 30 C to go along with a thick humidity.

But Daniel was prepared. In anticipation of the weather, he used steaming kettles in his treadmill room at home to increase heat for training, sometimes up to 38 C.

It paid off on Sunday, with Daniel's endurance appearing not to waver as the race stretched to nearly an hour long.

"I really tried to stay within myself, tried to manage the heat. The heat is the real deal here. That was definitely a factor and everyone was definitely suffering out there," Daniel said.

WATCH | Canada's Daniel reflects on his achievement:

After collapsing to the ground immediately after finishing the race, the Canadian was ushered on a wheelchair into a medical tent, where he received some form of treatment before re-emerging.

Meanwhile, Canada's Kamylle Frenette just missed the podium in her Paralympic debut, placing fourth in the women's PTS5 Para triathlon.

It's the same position in which Frenette finished at both her world championship appearances, in 2018 and 2019. But despite both the increased pressure and humidity, the 25-year-old from Dieppe, N.B., posted a better time than in either of those events.

She crossed the finish line in 1:10:09.

"I'm overwhelmed right now. So proud," she told Heroux.

Frenette emerged third from the swim but quickly fell back into fourth, where she'd remain throughout the race. Ultimately, the Canadian — a pharmacy student who has worked in vaccination clinics throughout the pandemic — finished over two minutes out of the podium but over three minutes clear off fifth.

Women's sitting volleyball tops Italy

It was the Heidi Peters show once again.

Canada defeated Italy 3-1 (25-16, 25-14, 15-25, 25-18) behind a virtuoso performance from the athlete from Neerlandia, Atla., who accounted for 34 points.

The Canadians bounced back from a heartbreaking tiebreaker loss to Brazil in its tournament opener.

"That was just fricking magic," Peters said following Sunday's victory. "We really went balls to the wall today, we just hit the ball hard.

"Every day in practice, we serve harder than that at each other, so we know that nobody can do that back to us as hard as we do it ourselves."

WATCH | Heidi Peters leads Canada past Italy in sitting volleyball:

Canada cruised through two sets before Italy mounted a strong third-set victory.

"There definitely was a drop there in the third set, you can see for sure the momentum shift that's reflected in the score," Peters said.

But Canada quickly recovered and dispatched its opponent in the final set.

"We're not the team that's the favourite to win, but we know that we can," Peters said.

Canada has a few days break until it plays Japan, its last opponent in the group play stage, on Wednesday at 7:30 ET.

Men's, women's wheelchair basketball teams score wins

After a thrilling game against Korea, the Canadian men's wheelchair basketball team has notched its first win in Tokyo. 

With 1.6 seconds left, Nik Goncin secured one more bucket to bring Canada to a 74-64 win. The Canadians had led for the majority of the game, and despite pressure from the Koreans, took it home.

Patrick Anderson was brilliant with 29 points, nine rebounds, and six assists. Goncin had 23 points to his name, four rebounds and 10 assists. 

Canada is in fifth place of Group A, having lost its three other games. The team has one must-win game left in the preliminaries against Colombia scheduled for 8 p.m. ET on Sunday.

WATCH | Men's wheelchair basketball earns 1st win at Tokyo Games:

Later on Sunday, the Canadian women's team completed a rout over Australia in its final preliminary round game.

Powered by a 17-point performance from Tamara Steeves — one of three Canadian women in double-digit scoring — the team capped its preliminary round on a high note, winning 76-37.

The Canadian women finished the preliminary round with a record of 3-1 and will take on the United States in a quarter-final matchup at 11:30 p.m. ET on Monday.

National records shattered in Tokyo

Canada's Nicolas-Guy Turbide, Nicholas Bennett, and Sabrina Duchesne broke national records in the pool.

Turbide, of Quebec City, touched the wall in 24.54 seconds in a men's S13 50-metre freestyle qualifying heat at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.

The time was just enough for Turbide, 24, to squeak into the medal race, where he placed eighth with a time of 24.59 seconds.

Turbide previously won silver in the S13 100-metre backstroke. The S13 category is reserved for the least severely visually impaired swimmers.

Canada's youngest Paralympian in Tokyo, the 17-year-old Bennett, came fifth in the men's SB14 100-metre breastroke final on Sunday. The Parksville, B.C., athlete put up a time of 1:06.94. 

Like Turbide, Bennett entered the final in style after breaking the Canadian record with his time of 1:06.73, which placed him third in his heat.

Duchesne also placed fifth in the women's S7 400-metre freestyle with her Canadian-record breaking time of five minutes 20.59 seconds. She earned automatic entry into the final. 

The 20-year-old athlete came out strong and fast, holding the third-place position throughout the first 100 metres. But she was unable to keep the pace, with two Americans managing to pass her. 

Despite a personal best, Canada's Nikita Ens joined Angela Marina and Aly Van Wyck-Smart in failing to advance out of qualifying.

Canadians in boccia

Canada's Iulian Ciobanu was victorious in his boccia match against China's Lin Ximei, posting a 6-4 win on the court.

Ciobanu gained three points in the first and fourth end to take the match at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre. It's his first win in the BC4 class in Tokyo. 

Meanwhile, Canadian Alison Levine was dealt her first loss in Tokyo against Lau Wai Yan Vivian of Hong Kong (3-2). Despite gaining a point in the first two ends, Levine's opponent grabbed two in the third and another in the fourth to come out on top. 

Levine is ranked No.1 in the world among BC4 players. 

Also competing, but in BC2, was Danik Allard of Canada.

Allard was defeated 6-4 by Japan's Hidetaka Sugimura.