Gold medallist Greg Stewart of Canada, silver medallist Sachin Sarjerao Khilari of India and bronze medallist Luka Bakovic of Croatia celebrate on the podium on Sept. 4.Umit Bektas/Reuters
Canada enjoyed its strongest single day so far at the Paralympics on Wednesday.
There were four podium finishes, with two golds and two silvers on Day 7 to bump Canada’s medal count to 17 and double the gold-medal number to four. Swimmer Nicholas Bennett and shot putter Greg Stewart earned gold, while road cyclist Nathan Clement and swimmer Reid Maxwell each took silver.
Maxwell became the youngest Canadian swimmer to win a Paralympic medal since Aurélie Rivard’s silver in 2012 when she was 16.
The 17-year-old from St. Albert, Alta., duelled with Alberto Amodeo in the 400-metre freestyle and touched the wall six-tenths of a second back of the Italian.
Stewart repeated as Paralympic champion in the men’s F46 shot put at Stade de France. The 38-year-old from Kamloops had retired after winning gold at the Tokyo Games but made a comeback to compete in Paris.
Stewart tossed the winner on his second-last throw of the final.
“Maybe in a day or two, I will be able to tell you how I feel,” Stewart said. “I am not really sure yet. It was a pretty fun competition. Our sport is growing a lot. We have three guys throwing over 16 [metres] in this final.”
Stewart, who was born without his lower left arm, was a silver medalist at the world championship earlier this year in Japan.
The 7-foot-2 thrower retired after the Tokyo Games, where he set the Paralympic record of 16.75 metres, but then returned because he missed the sport.
“I am going to go on to L.A. [the 2028 Games], this one is just halfway,” he said. “I wanted to come back and continue supporting the Paralympic movement, and support athletes any way we can.”
Stewart plans to celebrate his latest medal in a special way with his fiancée, Taylor Shantz, and said the timing couldn’t be more perfect
“I get married in 20 days, so I will probably celebrate by marrying my best friend,” he said. “And then maybe take some time off. I don’t recommend planning a wedding and preparing for the Paralympics at the same time.”
The road cyclist Clement is another medalist who had retired and returned to find glory in Paris.
The 29-year-old from West Vancouver, B.C., represented Canada in swimming at the 2016 Paralympics before switching to cycling and winning a silver medal in the men’s T1-2 individual time trial on Thursday. Although Clement retired from swimming in 2018, his competitive drive was reignited two years later.
“It means the world. It’s something I’m still really trying to process right now, to be a Paralympic medalist,” he said. “Along my journey as a stroke survivor at the age of two and a half, my parents were told very early on my chances at a normal life would not be possible.
“Organizations and centres like the B.C. Centre for Ability really gave me at four, five years old, the opportunity to play, have fun. Little did I know I was using my arms, using my legs, but more importantly for my parents, it gave them the hope of possibility.”
Canada will be playing for bronze in mixed pairs BC4 boccia.
The Canadians started the day with a 6-0 quarter-final win over Ukraine before losing 6-4 against Hong Kong in the semi-finals later Wednesday.
Canada will play Thailand in the bronze-medal game on Thursday.
In women’s wheelchair basketball, Canada defeated Germany 71-53 in the quarter-finals.
Kady Dandeneau paced Canada with 33 points, which will play in the semi-finals on Friday.
Canada defeated Japan 1-0 in women’s goalball in the fifth-place game. The Canadians fell 5-1 to Israel in the quarter-finals on Tuesday.