Wheelchair athlete Austin Smeenk from Oakville, Ontario, secured a bronze medal at the Para athletics world championships for the second consecutive time by finishing third in the men’s 400-meter T34 final in New Delhi on a hot and humid Monday. Smeenk clocked a time of 49.43 seconds, slightly slower than his season best of 48.50, but it was enough to edge out Ali Radi Arshid of Qatar by a mere 9-100ths of a second, marking Canada’s first medal at the event. His personal best time of 48.06 set a world record in June 2024.
Thailand’s Chaiwat Rattana clinched the gold with a time of 48.01, followed by Rheed McCracken from Great Britain who took silver with a time of 48.67.
In the previous year’s competition, Smeenk had earned his first major championship medal, securing the bronze in the 400 meters in Paris. Reflecting on his success, Smeenk expressed his pride in achieving a podium finish, emphasizing the significant effort required to reach that level of competition.
At the age of 28, Smeenk had won two medals in the prior Paralympics in France, claiming bronze in the 100 meters and gold in the 800 meters. Notably, the 400 meters was not part of his previous achievements.
Born with a hereditary form of paraplegia that causes stiffness in his lower limbs, Smeenk can walk short distances and cover longer distances on a bicycle. He is one of seven Paralympic medalists representing Canada in the 26-member team.
Canada enjoyed a successful outing at the world championships two years ago, securing 14 medals in Paris, marking the nation’s highest medal tally since 2013.
Julia Hanes from LaSalle, Ontario, made her mark in the women’s F34 javelin final by setting a new Canadian record and surpassing the Americas record with a throw of 16.86 meters on her fifth attempt, securing a fifth-place finish. Hanes expressed her excitement over achieving a personal best and mentioned her aspirations to break the world record set by Lucyna Kornobys of Poland at 16.99 meters in 2019.
Additionally, other Canadian athletes achieved commendable results on Monday, with Addisyn Franceschini from Geraldton, Ontario, finishing sixth in the women’s discus throw F64 final with a personal best throw of 25.76 meters, and Nick Neri from Brampton, Ontario, placing seventh in the men’s 1,500-meter T13 heat with a time of 4:10.16.
