Canadian shot putter comes out of retirement to win Paralympic gold

Greg Stewart of Kamloops, B.C., captured gold on Wednesday morning at the 2024 Paralympic Games in the F46 men’s shot put. The 38-year-old threw a season-best 16.38 metres on his penultimate attempt, successfully defending his Paralympic title from Tokyo 2021.

🇨🇦🥇Gooooood morning folks — it’s gold for Canada.

At 38 years old, Greg Stewart takes the victory in the men’s F46 shot put to defend his Paralympic gold medal, becoming the first Canadian shot putter to do so.

pic.twitter.com/bM3CemPbW9

— Ben Steiner (@BenSteiner00) September 4, 2024

Stewart’s winning throw was just shy of his Paralympic record of 16.75 metres, set when he first won gold three years ago. He is now the first Canadian para-athlete in athletics to successfully defend a Paralympic gold.

After initially retiring following the Tokyo Games, Stewart decided to come out of retirement in 2023, driven by his love for competition. His best throw of the day surpassed those of Sachin Sarjerao Khilari of India and Luka Bakovic of Croatia, who recorded throws of 16.32 and 16.27 metres, respectively.

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This victory is particularly special for Stewart, who is set to get married in three weeks in his hometown of Kamloops. Standing 7-foot-2, Stewart was born without the lower portion of his left arm. Despite this, he excelled in able-bodied sports, notably basketball and volleyball, thanks to his towering stature. He played varsity basketball at Thompson Rivers University before taking up shot put in 2017.

Earlier this year, Stewart won silver at the 2024 Para World Athletics Championships in Kobe, Japan.

Stewart’s gold is Team Canada’s second in athletics at the 2024 Paralympics, following Cody Fournie’s victory in the men’s T51 200m on Tuesday morning. The Paralympics continue until Sunday, Sept. 8.