OTTAWA – The Canadian track and field team won 6 medals at the 2008 Paralympic Games today to bring their total medal count to 10. Chantal Petitclerc from Montreal won gold, Diane Roy from Hatley, QC captured a silver and bronze medal while Dean Bergeron of St-Augustin-de-Desmautes, QC, Ilana Duff of Saskatoon, SK, and Kyle Pettey of Brampton, ON all won bronze.
Chantal Petitclerc led the track and field charge today by winning her second gold medal of the 2008 Games. She won gold in the women’s wheelchair 400-metres T54 by crossing the line in a seasonal best time of 52.02 seconds. Diane Roy finished third in the race capturing bronze in a time of 54.72, also a seasonal best. Petitclerc is looking to repeat her gold medal sweep of the 2004 Games in Athens where she won gold in every event she entered. She’s already accomplished the feat in the 100-metres and 400-metres, and now has her sights set on the titles in the 200-metres, 800-metres and 1500-metres.
Roy also lined up in the re-run of the 5000-metres T54 final and captured silver in 12:29.08, one-hundredth of a second behind the gold medalist. Tracey Ferguson from Holland Landing, ON finished 7th in the race in a time of 12:31.77, she failed to finish the race the first time the race was run having not been able to avoid the crash that took place in front of her. The race was won by Amanda McGrory of the United States with Shelley Woods of Great Britain rounding out the top 3. The top three finishers in the race were the same as the first final held on Monday, the only difference being the order they finished in. (First race – 1. Diane Roy CAN, 2. Shelley Woods GBR, 3. Amanda McGrory USA)
In the men’s wheelchair 400-metres T52 final, Dean Bergeron captured bronze by clocking in at 1:00.43. Earlier this week Bergeron took gold in the wheelchair 200-metres T52. André Beaudoin of Montreal was 8th in 1:05.58.
Ilana Duff won bronze in the women’s wheelchair 100-metres T53 finishing the race in 17.69 seconds. Lisha Huang of China won gold in the event in a new World Record time of 16.22.
Kyle Pettey won the first field event medal by finishing third in the men’s shot put. Pettey’s best throw of 11.04-metres earned him the bronze medal, and it also established a new pending Canadian Record in the F34 cerebral palsy classification group.
Jean-Paul Compaore of Sherbrooke failed to advance to the men’s wheelchair 800-metres T54 final. Compaore finished in 6th place in Heat 1 of the semifinal in a seasonal best of 1:35.43.
In the men’s wheelchair 200-metres T54, Colin Mathieson failed to advance finishing fourth in his heat with a time of 26.37.
Canadian Track and Field Medal Winners as of today:
- Gold – Dean Bergeron, St-Augustin-de-Desmautes, QC, Wheelchair 200m T52
- Gold – Chantal Petitclerc, Montreal, QC, Wheelchair 400m T54
- Gold – Chantal Petitclerc, Montreal, QC, Wheelchair 100m T54
- Gold – Michelle Stilwell, Nanoose Bay, BC, Wheelchair 200m T52
- Silver – Diane Roy, Hatley, QC, Wheelchair 5000m T54
- Bronze - Stefanie Reid, Windsor, ON, Amputee 200m T44
- Bronze – Diane Roy, Hatley, QC, Wheelchair 400m T54
- Bronze – Kyle Pettey, Cerebral Palsy Shot Put F34
- Bronze – Ilana Duff, Saskatoon, SK, Wheelchair 100m T53
- Bronze – Dean Bergeron, St-Augustin-de-Desmautes, QC, Wheelchair 400m T52
Competition continues through to September 17th.
For full results, athlete biographies and other information please visit Athletics.ca.
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