Lakatos wins Canada’s first two medals at World Para Athletics Championships

Canada’s Brent Lakatos scored Canada’s first and second medals at the Para World Championships in Dubai, first a gold in the T53 100m final on Friday in 14.59s, then silver today in the T53 400m. The 100m gold was Lakatos’s 17th WPA championship medal, 12th WPA title and fourth-straight gold medal in this event. (Lakatos is also the world record-holder in the T53 100m, in 14.10.)

Lakatos qualified for the 400m final with a 49.99 in the first round earlier today before taking silver in the final in 48.33. Lakatos lives and trains in the UK.

Liam Stanley of Victoria, who also plays on Canada’s national Para soccer team, broke his own Canadian record in the T37 400m with a 54.18 in the qualifying round (his previous record was 55.04, set at nationals in July). He finished fifth in the final, in 55.46.

RELATED: Para World Championships start Thursday in Dubai

?? @BrentLak wins Canada’s second medal of the WPA Championships ?; Stanley continues Canada’s record-breaking streak ?#Dubai2019

Day 3 RECAP: https://t.co/DQvLGHtLm7 pic.twitter.com/vOJOqjyM4p

— Athletics Canada (@AthleticsCanada) November 9, 2019

Daniel Romanchuk, fresh off his twice-in-a-row New York City Marathon victory last Sunday, won the T54 800m final in 1:32.81. Switzerland’s Marcel Hug, who finished second to Romanchuk in NYC, was only eight hundredths of a second behind Romanchuk in Dubai on Saturday. Yong Zhang of China was third, in 1:33.05.

In other Day 3 Canadian results, Austin Smeenk finished fifth in the T34 400m, and Diane Roy finished fifth in the women’s T54 800m. Jessica Frotten was seventh in the women’s T54 400m, after qualifying earlier today with a 1:00.10. In the men’s T47 400m final, Thomas Normandeau finished eighth, in 52.99. This was Normandeau’s first time representing Canada at the WPA championships. Amanda Rummery ran 1:04.35 in the women’s T47 400m heat but did not advance to tomorrow’s final.

On Sunday Smeenk and Luc Leclerc will run in the qualifying rounds of the men’s T34 100m, while Roy and Frotten will race in the women’s T54 1,500m qualifying round.

CANADIAN RECORD ?

?? Liam Stanley finishes the men’s 400m T37 qualifying round with a personal best time of 54.18, breaking his former Canadian record time of 55.04 ?

He will race in the final at 11:11am today at the 2019 World @ParaAthletics Championships #Dubai2019 pic.twitter.com/NM0mxZoz0f

— Athletics Canada (@AthleticsCanada) November 9, 2019

In Para athletics, athletes are classified according to the degree of limitation resulting from their impairment.

T/F51, T/F52, T/F53, T/F54, F55, F56, F57 refer to athletes who compete in a wheelchair. The lower the number, the higher the degree of activity limitation.

F40, F41 refer to athletes of short stature who compete while standing. T/F42, T/F43, T/F44 refer to athletes with a lower limb loss or limitation who compete while standing. T/F45, T/F46 and T/F47 refer to athletes with an upper limb loss or limitation who compete while standing.

F31, T/F32, T/F33 and T/F34 refer to athletes with athetosis, ataxia and/or hypertonia who compete in a wheelchair. T/F35, T/F36, T/F37 and T/F38 refer to athletes with athetosis, ataxia and/or hypertonia who compete in a standing position.

T/F11, T/F refers to athletes who are blind. T/F12 refers to athletes with very limited vision, and T/F13 refers to athletes with limited vision.

For more information on athlete classification, click here.

You can catch all the action in Dubai at the free CBC Gem streaming service, cbcsports.ca, the CBC sports app for IOS or Android, or the Canadian Paralympic Team Facebook page. For full results, click here.