Canadian Paralympic Committee – Sept. 12, 2016 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – Today was a day of ”close but no medal” for Canada at the Paralympic Games, with nine top-eight finishes for Canada – including five top-five finishes and three top-four finishes.

Wheelchair racer Josh Cassidy of Port Elgin, Ont. did not have luck on his side. He was sixth overall in the T54 1500 qualifications, except the top six racers were all in his heat and only the top-three from each heat advanced.

”I didn’t want to get boxed in but the two Chinese racers controlled the race and we got all stuck in a pack,” said Cassidy. ”It is disappointing because I felt I still had something to give at the end.”

In athletics, Pamela LeJean of Cape Breton, N.S., delivered a self-admitted subpar performance, placing fourth in the women’s F53 shotput.

”It is below my expectation,” said LeJean. ”I was throwing further in training than the gold medal winner for the past four months. It is very frustrating and devastating.”

First-time Paralympian Austin Smeenk of Oakville, Ont., was disappointed about his sixth place finish in the men’s T34 100-m final but knows he must cast the result aside.

”I was hoping for a better outcome,” said Smeenk. “Moving forward I am looking at the 800 m starting tomorrow. The 100-m was a good race for me to break the ice.”

Six-time Paralympian Diane Roy of Sherbrooke, Que., advanced to Tuesday’s final in the women’s T54 1500-m, placing third in her heat and 10^th overall.

“I am very happy about my race,” said Roy 45, with five Paralympic medals in her career. “The objective is achieved. I wanted to finish in the group’s top-three to have a chance to be in the final. Now the challenge will be to do the same tomorrow and be even better.”

There were two more fourth place finishes for Canada in swimming. Nathan Stein of Surrey, B.C., and Alec Elliot of Kitchener, Ont., were fourth and fifth in the men’s S10 100-m butterfly; Sarah Mehain of Vernon, B.C., and Tess Routliffe of Caledon, Ont., were fourth and eighth in the women’s S7 50-m butterfly and Samantha Ryan of Saskatoon was fifth in the women’s S10 100-m butterfly.

Eighth-place finishes were also posted by wheelchair fencer Pierre Mainville of St-Colomban, Que., and by Karen Van Nest of Wiarton, Ont., and Kevin Evans of Jaffray, B.C., in archery in the mixed team compound.

The sailing competition got underway Monday and John McRoberts and Jackie Gay of Victoria are off to a great start in the 2-person keelboat (Skud 18). They were fifth in race one and first in race two. They are second overall after two of 11 races.

In goalball, both the Canadian men and women lost their matches Monday and are 1-2 heading into their final preliminary round game on Tuesday.

In wheelchair basketball, the Canadian women bounced back in the win column defeating Brazil 82-49 (see morning wrap). They finish the prelims with three wins and a loss and face the Netherlands in the quarterfinal on Tuesday.

The men’s wheelchair basketball team finishes the tournament 0-5, falling to Turkey in their final match 67-46. David Eng of Montreal scored 15 points.

After five days of competition, Canada has 12 medals (3-7-2) for 13^th in the country rankings.

What Canada did on Monday at the Paralympic Games in Rio (all distances in metres)

Archery

Mixed team compound open

In round of 16 Karen Van Nest, Wiarton, Ont., and Kevin Evans, Jaffray, B.C., defeated Spain 144-137.

In quarterfinal: Karen Van Nest, Wiarton, Ont., and Kevin Evans, Jaffray, B.C., lost to China 155-143.

Athletics

Women’s F53 shotput: Pamela LeJean, Cape Breton, N.S. finished fourth in final.

Women’s T54 1500:  Diane Roy, Sherbrooke, Que., 10^th in heats advances to final on Tuesday at 6:14 p.m.

Men’s T34 100 final : Austin Smeenk, Oakville, Ont., placed sixth in final

Men’s T54 1500: Josh Cassidy, Port, Elgin, Ont., Alexandre Dupont, St-Rémi, Que., and Tristan Smyth, Maple Ridge, B.C., sixth, 22nd and 23rd in heats. They do not advance.

Equestrian

Team Test Grade 1a: Robyn Andrews, St. John’s N.L., was 24^th. Canada is currently 12^th in the team standings.

Goalball

Men’s preliminary – Canada lost to Algeria 17-13 to drop to 1-2. Blair Nesbitt, Stony Plain, Alta., led Canada with six goals.

Women’s preliminary – Canada lost to China 8-3 to drop to 1-2.

Sailing

2-person keelboat (Skud 18): John McRoberts, Victoria and Jackie Gay, Victoria, were fifth in race one and first in race two. They are second overall after two of 11 races.

3-person keelboat (Sonar): Paul Tingley, Halifax; Logan Campbell, Saskatoon; Scott Lutes, Montreal were second in race one and eighth in race two. They are fourth after two of 11 races.

1-person keelboat (2.4mR): Bruce Millar, Victoria, sixth in race one and 10^th in race two. He is eighth after two of 11 races.

Swimming

Men’s S13 400 freestyle:  Devin Gotell, Antigonish, N.S. and Tyler Mrak, Aldergorve, B.C., were 11^th and 13^th in heats and did not advance.

Women’s SM4 200 IM Tammy Cunnington, Red Deer, Alta., was 11^th in heats and did not advance.

Men’s S10 100 butterfly:  Nathan Stein, Surrey, B.C., and Alec Elliot, Kitchener, Ont., were fourth and fifth in the final.

Women’s S10 100 butterfly : Samantha Ryan, Saskatoon, was fifth in the final.

Women’s S9 100 freestyle: Katarina Roxon, Corner Brook, N.L., was 14^th in heats and did not advance.

Men’s S7 50 butterfly:  Jean-Michel Lavallière, Quebec City, 10^th in heats and did not advance.

Women’s S7 50 butterfly:  Sarah Mehain, Vernon, B.C., and Tess Routliffe, Caledon, Ont., were fourth and eighth in heats and placed fourth and seventh in the final.

Wheelchair basketball

Women’s preliminary – Canada defeated Brazil 82-49 to improve to 3-1. Arinn Young, Legal, Alta., scored 22 points and Cindy Ouellet, Quebec City 20 points.

Men’s preliminary – Canada lost 67-46 to Turkey to finish the tournament 0-5·.

Wheelchair fencing

Men’s individual sabre category B preliminaries pool A

 Pierre Mainville, St-Colomban, Que., lost to Panagiotis Triantafyllou, Greece 5-1; lost to  Yanke Feng, China, 5-2; lost to Adrian Castro, Poland, 5-1; defeated Balwinder Cheema, Germany, 5-0.

Quarterfinal: Mainville lost 15-6 to  Triantafyllou.

Canadians in action on Tuesday September 13, 2016 at the Paralympic Games in Rio (all times Rio time)

Athletics

12:30 p.m.: Austin Smeenk, Oakville, Ont., men’s T34 800-m heats

6:05 p.m.: Jason Dunkerley, Ottawa and his guide Josh Karanja, Ottawa, men’s T11 1500-m FINAL

6:14 p.m.: Diane Roy, Sherbrooke, Que., women’s T54 1500-m FINAL

Boccia (preliminary round)

10 a.m.: Bruno Garneau, Montreal vs Jose Carlos Macedo, Portugal mixed individual BC3

5 p.m.: Alison Levine, Montreal vs Marco Dispaltro, St-Jérôme, Que., mixed individual BC4

5 p.m.: Éric Bussière, Verchères, Que., vs Kenneth Verwinp, Belgium, mixed individual BC3

6 :15 p.m. : Bruno Garneau, Montreal vs Ye Jin Choi, South Korea, mixed individual BC3

Equestrian

10 a.m.: Lauren Barwick, Reddick, Florida, Team Test Grade II

2 p.m.: Roberta Sheffield, Lincolnshire, UK, individual championship test Grade III

Goalball

2:15 p.m..: men’s preliminary – Canada (1-2) vs Sweden (2-1)

3:30 p.m.: women’s preliminary – Canada (1-1) vs Australia (0-2-1)

Sailing

1:05 p.m.: John McRoberts, Victoria and Jackie Gay, Victoria 2-person keelboat (Skud 18) – race 03 and 04

1:05 p.m.: Paul Tingley, Halifax; Logan Campbell, Saskatoon; Scott Lutes, Montreal 3-person keelboat (Sonar) – race 03 and 04

1:15 pm.: Bruce Millar, Victoria, 1-person keelboat (2.4mR) – race 03 and 04

Shooting

1 p.m.: Doug Blessin, Tri-City, B.C. Mixed 10m air rifle prone SH2 qualifier. Final at 3:15 p.m.

Sitting volleyball

6:30 p.m.: women’s preliminary round – Canada (0-2) vs Ukraine (1-1)

Swimming

10:15 a.m.: Tess Routliffe, Caledon, Ont., Sarah Mehain, Vernon, B.C., and Nydia Langill, Mississauga, Ont., women’s SM7 200-m IM heats. Final at 6:01 p.m.

10:27 a.m.: Alec Elliott, Kitchener, Ont., men’s S10 100-m freestyle heats. Final at 6:11 p.m.

10:33 a.m. Nathan Stein, Surrey, B.C., and Isaac Bouckley, Port Hope, Ont., men’s S10 100m freestyle heats. Final at 6:11 p.m.

10:43 a.m.: Aurélie Rivard, St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., and Samantha Ryan Saskatoon, women’s S10 100-m freestyle heats. Final at 6:17 p.m.

11:16 a.m.: Abi Tripp, Kingston, Ont., and Danielle Dorris, Moncton, N.B., women’s S8 100-m backstroke heats. Final at

11:20 a.m.: Sabrina Duchesne, Quebec City, women’s S8 100-m backstroke. Final at 7:21 p.m.

Table tennis

12:45 p.m.: Stephanie Chan, Richmond, B.C. women’s Class 7 singles bronze medal match vs Seong Ok Kim, South Korea.

Wheelchair basketball

11:45 a.m.: quarterfinal – Canada (3-1) vs Netherlands (3-1)

Wheelchair fencing

9 a.m.: Matthieu Hébert, Beauharnois, Que., preliminary round men’s epee category A

Hébert’s preliminary round schedule: vs Matteo Betti, Italy; vs Zainulabdeen Al-Madhkhoori, Iraq; vs Romain Noble, France; vs Gang Sun, China; vs Fabio Luiz Damasceno, Brazil.

11:25 p.m: men’s epee category A quarterfinals.

2:30 p.m.: men’s epee category A semifinals.

3:30 p.m. men’s epee category A bronze medal match

5:47 p.m. men’s epee category A gold medal match.

ABOUT TEAM CANADA IN RIO: Canada has a team of 162 athletes competing in 19 sports at the Paralympic Games, Sept. 7 to 18. For more information visit: http://paralympic.ca/team-canada-rio-2016 

About the Canadian Paralympic Committee: www.paralympic.ca 

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For more information, please contact:

Alison Korn

Senior Manager, Media Relations and Communications

Canadian Paralympic Committee

Rio cell: +55 (21) 99033-0131

Email: akorn@paralympic.ca

Martin Richard

Executive Director, Communications and Marketing

Rio cell: + 55 (21) 99031-7843