Paralympic newsletter: Canada adds 2 golds, plus what to watch on the final weekend
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Teenage swimmer Sebastian Massabie won his first-ever gold and wheelchair racer Cody Fournie sprinted to his second title of the Paris Games today as Canada surpassed its medal count from the previous Summer Paralympics.
Massabie, 19, captured his first Paralympic medal of any colour in style, smashing the world record to win the men's 50-metre freestyle S4 event. Fournie, a former member of the national wheelchair rugby team, completed a track sprint double by adding the men's 100m T51 title to his gold in the 200m. He set a new Paralympic record.
Those victories combined with discus thrower Jesse Zesseu's silver in his Paralympic debut brought Canada's tally to 23 medals — eight gold, seven silver and eight bronze. That's two more medals (and three more gold) than Canadians won in 2021 in Tokyo, with two days of competition still remaining before the closing ceremony on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET.
Here's the full medal table and here's a roundup of top Canadian performances on Day 9.
WATCH | Massabie breaks world record:
Here are some top contenders, in chronological order:
Track and field: Austin Smeenk in the men's 800m T34 final Saturday at 4:11 a.m. ET. The world record holder goes for his second medal of the Games after taking bronze in the 100m. Smeenk will once again battle Thailand's Chaiwat Rattana, who beat him for the 100m gold and had the 800m world record before Smeenk broke it in June.
Canoe/kayak: Brianna Hennessy and Erica Scarff in the women's va'a single 200m events on Saturday. A va'a is a canoe-like boat with an outrigger for stability. Hennessy, who has won three straight silver medals in the VL2 category at the world championships, won her heat Friday to advance to the final on Saturday at 5:52 a.m. ET. Scarff, a silver medallist in the VL3 category at last year's worlds, placed third in her heat but can still reach the final on Saturday 6:36 a.m. ET via the semifinals earlier in the day.
Road cycling: Nathan Clement in the men's T1-2 road race Saturday at 6:45 a.m. ET. The former Paralympic swimmer goes for his second medal of the Games after taking silver in the time trial. He earned a silver and a bronze in the road race at the past two world championships. Alexandre Hayward could challenge for the podium in the men's C1-3 road race at 3:30 a.m. ET after placing fifth in the time trial and taking bronze in a track cycling event earlier in the Games.
Sitting volleyball: Canada vs. Brazil in the women's bronze game Saturday at 9 a.m. ET. After getting a silver at the most recent world championships, the Canadian women will try to win the country's first Paralympic medal in this sport. They face a Brazilian team that went 3-0 in the group stage, including a win over Canada.
Wheelchair basketball: Canada vs. Germany in the men's bronze game Saturday at 10 a.m. ET. The Canadians got trounced 80-43 by the reigning Paralympic and world champion United States in the semifinals. But they have a great chance to salvage a bronze against a German team they beat 68-52 in the group stage. It would be Canada's first Paralympic wheelchair basketball medal since 2012, when the men won their third gold in four Games. Patrick Anderson, who played a part in all of those title wins plus a silver in 2008, is still going strong at age 45. The Canadian co-flagbearer ranks fourth in the tournament in scoring with an average of 19.0 points per game and is third in rebounding with 9.4. The gold-medal game between the U.S. and Great Britain is at 3:30 p.m. ET.
Swimming: Shelby Newkirk in the women's 100m backstroke S6 final Saturday at 11:53 a.m. ET. The 28-year-old has a great chance to win her first Paralympic medal after capturing the past two world titles in this event. Newkirk came close in the 50m freestyle last week, placing fourth.
Swimming: Danielle Dorris and Tess Routliffe in the women's 50m butterfly S7 final Saturday at 12:36 p.m. ET. Dorris has dominated this event, winning Paralympic gold in 2021 and back-to-back world titles in 2022 and '23. Routliffe joined her on the podium at both world championships, taking bronze and silver. She's trying for her third medal of these Games.
Raphaëlle Tousignant has spent her life beating the odds, first as a survivor of childhood bone cancer and later as a trailblazing Para hockey player.
Sarah Fillier spent her first two seasons with the New York Sirens accustomed to staring at empty blocks of seats across the bench during home games.
Canadian Paralympic Committee CEO Karen O'Neill acknowledges the team’s showing at the Milano-Cortina Winter Games wasn't the same as past years.
Canadian Para alpine skier Kalle Eriksson and guide Sierra Smith capped their memorable Paralympic debut with bronze in the men's visually impaired slalom on Sunday at the Milano-Cortina Games.
Canadian skip Kerri Einarson looked up Saturday and saw real people, instead of cardboard cut-outs, in the stands at Calgary's WinSport Event Centre. She heard the roar of the crowd instead of the sound of flushing toilets piercing the silence.
Aaron Judge doubled and Pete Crow-Armstrong and Brice Turang each had two hits as the United States beat Canada 5-3 on Friday night in Houston to reach the World Baseball Classic semifinals.
Canada's Natalie Wilkie captured her second biathlon gold of the Milano-Cortina Paralympics on Friday, winning the women's standing sprint pursuit for her fourth medal in as many events.
Canada made wheelchair curling history on Thursday as the first team at any Paralympics to complete round-robin play without a loss.
The winningest men's ski cross racer in history added to his total on Thursday.
Canada's Mark Arendz collected his 14th career Paralympic medal while teammate Brittany Hudak earned her fourth in Wednesday's standing cross-country skiing races at Milano Cortina.
Alphonso Davies covered his face with his shirt as he left the field with an injury in Bayern Munich's game against Atalanta in the Champions League on Tuesday in Bergamo, Italy, raising questions about the Canadian star's availability for the World Cup.
Canadian Para nordic skiing star Natalie Wilkie has now won a medal of every colour at the Milano-Cortina Paralympics, adding bronze in the women's standing sprint classic on Tuesday in Val di Fiemme.