The 2023 International Paralympic Committee World Para Athletics Championships concluded from Paris, France on Monday. Team Canada came away with 14 medals in all, as they had two gold medals, seven silver medals, and five bronze medals.
The Canadian gold medalists were Brent Lakatos of Dorval, Quebec, and Nate Reich of Victoria, British Columbia. Lakatos won the gold medal in the men’s 800m T53 wheelchair racing classification. Reich, who experiences paralysis after being hit in the back of the head by a golf ball, won the gold medal in the men’s 1500m T38 classification.
Lakatos also won a silver medal in the men’s 1500 metres and men’s 400 metres in wheelchair racing. The other silver medalists were Austin Smeenk of Oakville, Ontario (men’s 100 metre wheelchair racing in the T34 classification), Zachary Gingras of Markham, Ontario (men’s 400 metres in the T38 classification), Noah Vucsics of Calgary, Alberta (men’s long jump in the T20 classification), Bianca Borgella of Rockland, Ontario (women’s 200 metre in the T13 classification), and Renee Foessell of Orangeville, Ontario (women’s discus throw in F38 classification). Gingras and Foessell have cerebral palsy, Vucsics has an intellectual impairment, and Borgella has a visual impairment.
Smeenk and Borgella also won a bronze medal. Smeenk placed third in the men’s 400 metre T34 classification and Borgella placed third in the women’s 100 metre T13 classification. Marissa Papaconstantinou of Toronto, Ontario, who was born without a right foot, won bronze medals in the women’s 100 metre and 200 metre T64 classification. Canada’s other bronze medalist was Guillaume Ouellet of Sorel-Tracy, Quebec in the men’s 5000 metre T13 classification. Ouellet has a visual impairment.
