The 2019 World Para Athletics Championships wrapped up Friday in Dubai, United Arab Emirates with Canada winning six medals over the eight day event. The Canadian star was Brent Lakatos of Dorval, Quebec who won two gold medals and one silver medal. Team Canada as a whole won three gold medals, two silver medals and one bronze medal.
Lakatos won the gold medal in the men’s 100 metre and 800 metre wheelchair racing competitions, and his silver medal came in the men’s 400 metre wheelchair racing.
In the men’s 100 metre wheelchair racing on November 8, Lakatos had a winning time of 14.59 seconds. Adbulrahem Alqurashi of Saudi Arabia on the silver medal with a time of 14.93 seconds. Pongsakorn Paeyo of Thailand won the bronze medal with a time of 14.97 seconds. Lakatos reached the podium by 0.41 seconds over fourth place finisher Pierre Fairbank of France, who had a time of 15.00 seconds flat.
In the men’s 800 metre wheelchair racing on Tuesday, Lakatos had a winning time of 1:40.59. Paeyo won silver with a time of 1:40.72. Byunghoon Yoo of South Korea won the bronze medal with a time of 1:41.53. Lakatos reached the podium by 1.04 seconds as Brian Siemann of the United States finished in fourth place with a time of 1:41.63.
In the men’s 400 metre wheelchair racing on November 9, Lakatos had a second place time of 48.33 seconds. Paeyo won the gold medal with a time of 48.08 seconds. Shaoqiao Yang of China won the bronze medal with a time of 49.52 seconds. Lakatos reached the podium by 1.3 seconds over Yoo, who had a fourth place time of 49.63 seconds.
In the men’s 1500 metre race for people with coordination impairments, Nate Riech of Victoria, British Columbia won the gold medal with a time of four minutes, 2.04 seconds with a World Para Athletics Championship record time on Friday. Abdelkrim Krai of Algeria won the silver medal with a time of 4:04.7 seconds. Deon Kenzie of Australia won the bronze medal with a time of 4:08.49. Riech reached the podium by 7.03 seconds over Michael McKillop of Ireland, who had a fourth place time of 4:09.07.
In the men’s shot put for arm amputees, Greg Stewart of Kamloops, British Columbia won the silver medal with a throw of 16.3 metres (a personal best) on Friday. Joshua Cinnamo of the United States won the gold medal with a world record throw of 16.8 metres. Nikita Prokhorov of Russia won the bronze medal with a throw of 15.54 metres. Stewart reached the podium by 0.87 metres over fourth place finisher Enlong Wei of China, who had a throw of 15.43 metres.
In the women’s discus for athletes with cerebral palsy, Renee Foessel of Mississauga, Ontario, won the bronze medal with a throw of 33.37 metres on Tuesday. Na Mi of China won the gold medal with a throw of 37.5 metres. Simone Kruger of South Africa won the silver medal with a throw of 33.91 metres. Foessel reached the podium by 0.37 metres over Yingli Li of China, who had a fourth place throw of 33 metres flat.
Canada finished in 20th place in the overall standings. China led with 59 medals (25 gold medals, 23 silver medals and 11 bronze medals). The medals for Lakatos, Riech, Stewart and Foessel will give them confidence as they prepare for the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo.
