Alexandre Dupont wins Commonwealth Games gold in men’s 1500m wheelchair racing

Canadian Flag (Wikimedia Commons)

Alexandre Dupont of Saint-Remi, Quebec won a gold medal for Canada in men’s 1500m wheelchair racing at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia on Tuesday. Dupont becomes the first Canadian with a disability to win a gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Dupont had a gold medal winning time of 3:11.75. Kurt Fearnley of Australia won the silver medal with a time of 3:11.92. Jake Lappin of Australia won the bronze medal with a time of 3:12.60.

Dupont earned a medal by 0.98 seconds. Nathan Maguire of England finished in fourth place with a time of 3:12.73.

Team Canada won five other medals at the Commonwealth Games on Tuesday. In the women’s 1500m wheelchair racing, Diane Roy of Sherbrooke, Quebec won the bronze medal. The other four medals came in swimming. Kylie Masse of LaSalle, Ontario won silver in the women’s 50m backstroke, Morgan Bird of Calgary, Alberta (who was born with cerebral palsy) won silver in the women’s 50m freestyle for athletes with a disability, and Abigail Tripp of Kingston, Ontario (who also was born with cerebral palsy) won bronze in the women’s 50m freestyle for athletes with a disability.

Canada’s other swimming medal on Tuesday was historic. The Canadian women won silver in the women’s 4x100m medley relay final. With the silver medal, Taylor Ruck of Kelowna, British Columbia won her eighth Commonwealth Games medal, tying her with Ralph Hutton of Ocean Falls, British Columbia for the most medals won by a Canadian at a single Commonwealth Games. Hutton won eight medals for Canada in swimming at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica.

Canada now has 44 medals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games (eight gold medals, 21 silver medals and 15 bronze medals) and sits third overall. Australia leads with 130 medals and England is second with 74 medals.

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