Aurelie Rivard of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec and Brent Lakatos of Dorval, Quebec won gold medals at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris on Thursday. In all, Team Canada won three medals on Thursday as Tess Routliffe of Caledon, Ontario won a bronze medal.
Rivard, who was born with no fingers and a partial thumb, won gold in the women’s 400 metre freestyle swimming in the S10 classification. Rivard had a winning time of 4:29.20. Alexandra Truwit of the United States won the silver medal with a time of 4:31.39, and Bianka Pap of Hungary won the bronze medal with a time of 4:35.63. Rivard reached the podium by 9.3 seconds. Oliwia Jablonska of Poland finished in fourth place with a time of 4:38.50. This was Rivard’s 13th Paralympic medal and third medal in Paris. She has won six gold medals, four silver medals and three bronze medals. In Paris, she also won silver in the the women’s 100 metre freestyle, and bronze in the women’s 50 metre freestyle.
Lakatos won gold in the men’s 800 metres with a T53 classification with a time of 1:37.32. Pongsakorn Paeyo of Thailand won the silver medal with a time of 1:32.26. Brian Siemann of the United States won the bronze medal with a time of 1:38.44. Lakatos reached the podium by 3.37 seconds. Pierre Fairbank of France finished in fourth place with a time of 1:40.69. This is Lakatos’s 13th Paralympic medal (two gold medals, nine silver medals and two bronze medals). His previous gold medal came in the men’s 100 metres at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Routliffe won bronze in the women’s 100 metre breaststroke in the SB7 classification with a time of 1:31.58. Maria Pavlova of the Neutral Paralympic Athletes won the gold medal with a time of 1:26.09. Iona Winnifrith of Great Britain won the silver medal with time of 1:29.69. Routliffe reached the podium by 1.9 seconds. Nahia Zudaire Borrezo of Spain was in fourth place with a time of 1:33.48. Routliffe suffers from Hypochondroplasia, also known as short-limbed dwarfism. This is Routliffe’s third Paralympic medal. She previously won silver in the women’s 200 metre individual medley at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.
Canada has now won 20 medals at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. They have won six gold medals, six silver medals, and eight bronze medals.
