Women's wheelchair basketball team remains optimistic despite gold-medal game loss to U.S.
CBC
The United States women's wheelchair basketball team defeated Canada 62-56 to win Parapan Am Games gold and in the process earned a berth to the Paralympics next summer in Paris.
For the Americans, it's sweet redemption having lost the title game to the Canadians four years ago.
For Canada, while the loss was disappointing, the team is already looking forward to a last-chance qualifier.
WATCH | U.S. wins gold over Canada:
"I'm just really fortunate to be here and have the teammates I do. Losing is a bitter pill to swallow but I wouldn't want to do it with anyone else. They're like sisters to me," Arinn Young said.
"We still have a repechage tournament to qualify for Paris. We have to look forward and we're going to win it. We have so much to prove and nothing to lose. I'm ready to win this."
For the first few minutes of the game both teams tried to find their rhythm on offence but couldn't get much going. They traded a couple scores, and then followed it up with a few misses.
It appeared there were some nerves on both sides with so much at stake.
With 1:34 left in the first quarter, Canadian superstar Kady Dandeneau, who led the team to victory at the last Games, entered the game for the first time with the score 14-8 USA.
Dandeneau, who was a difference maker four years ago in the championship game, missed her first couple of shots and was blanketed every possession by the American defenders.
Both teams brought undefeated records into the title game — they've met in important moments so many times in the past and once again for themselves locked in a battle to claim Parapan Am Games gold in Santiago.
Canada immediately cut down the USA lead from six to two points and kept the pressure on.
The Canadians had a chance to take the lead after tying the game at 22, but Young just missed. USA immediately responded with a couple of quick baskets to take a four point lead.
The United States would add one more basket at the buzzer to take a six-point lead into halftime, 28-22.
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.
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Canadian Para alpine skier Kalle Eriksson and guide Sierra Smith continued their impressive Paralympic debut on Monday by racing to bronze in the men's visually impaired super-G for their second medal.
Matt Dunstone won his first Canadian men's curling championship after knocking hard on the Brier's door in recent years.
Natalie Wilkie won Canada's first gold medal of the Milano-Cortina Paralympics, topping the podium in the women's standing biathlon on Sunday.
Most Paralympic athletes live relatively normal lives when they’re not competing.
Para alpine skier Kalle Eriksson and guide Sierra Smith took silver in the men's visually impaired downhill competition for Canada's first medal of the Milano-Cortina Paralympics on Saturday in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.
The Milano-Cortina Winter Paralympics officially opened Friday amid the tensions of war in the Middle East, and with some countries boycotting the opening ceremony because of the return of the Russian flag to the global sports stage.
Iran will not participate in the Milan Cortina Paralympics because its only athlete set to compete can't safely travel to Italy amid the intensifying Middle East conflict, the International Paralympic Committee said Friday.
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Canadian phenom Summer McIntosh had a chance to redeem herself against United States legend Katie Ledecky but came up short by nearly two seconds on Wednesday night at a Pro Swim Series meet in Westmont, Ill.
Her first real foray into the kitchen was back when she was barely a teenager. Zoë Rhooms knew the athlete in the family had a sweet tooth and she always looked out for her big brother, Aaron. When he was nine, Aaron told Zoë and their parents that when he grew up, he was going to be the next Batman. Then a few weeks later, Aaron came home from school and declared to everyone he had changed career paths — a basketball player he’d be.