Aurélie Rivard won Canada’s first gold medal at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo.
The 25-year-old swimmer from Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu broke her own world record in the heats and final in the S10 100m freestyle on Saturday.
Quebec’s Brent Lakatos added a silver to the Canadian track record in the T54 5,000m.
“It’s probably one of the greatest swims of my life technically,” Rivard said. “Today is even more special than it should be, winning gold, especially coming from kind of a failure from me on Day 1. I was expecting to win gold (in the 50 free), I’m not going to lie, and I didn’t.
“So, to have been able to go through that and step up and give my best, especially with the year that we’ve had, with absolutely nothing in terms of competitions, it’s almost surreal that this moment is even happening.”
So Canada won eight medals in its first four days of activity in Tokyo.
Brent Lakatos, wheelchair racer from Dorval, Que., added a silver medal on the track, in the men’s T54 5,000-metre event.
Although he was edged out by Switzerland’s Marcel Hug in the final few metres, Lakatos’ silver remains a significant achievement as it marks the first medal finish for him in the 5,000-metre distance.
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