Brent Lakatos Wins Silver

Dorval’s Brent Lakatos won Canada’s third track and field and Canada’s 11th medal at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London.

Day three of the track and field competition saw two new Canadian records plus three additional top eight performances from Keira-Lyn Frie (Saskatoon) Alister McQueen (Calgary) and Mississauga’s Curtis Thom.

Lakatos took silver in the men’s T53 classification wheelchair 400-metres crossing the finish line in 50.71 seconds. “The last 100-metres hurt a lot, my arms were burning. A silver medal means a lot.” He adds, “It’s great to be able to share this with my wife (Stefanie Reid).”

Lakatos qualified for the final by winning his semi-final earlier in the day in a new Canadian record of 49.46 seconds.

In the men’s F44 amputee javelin throw final Alister McQueen placed seventh with a new Canadian record of 49.32-metres. Alister surpassed his personal best and former Canadian record by more than 4 metres. “It was a lot fun; I was a little bit more relaxed (after competing in the T44 200-metres yesterday).

Top eight was the goal and I achieved that. Hopefully there will be a lot more of these in my future.” McQueen now shifts his focus onto the T44 classification 100-metres.

In the final of the women’s T54 wheelchair 5000-metres Keira-Lyn Frie finished fourth in 12:28.26. “I was really comfortable out there, I was thrilled to be in the final and today I demonstrated that I deserve to be there.”

In the same race Diane Roy of Sherbrook finished ninth in 12:29.27. “I’m a little bit disappointed; my top speed just wasn’t there. I was in a good position; this stadium for some reason is not working for me. We’ll see tomorrow (where she will race in the heats of the T54 400-metres).”

In the men’s T54 wheelchair 100-metres final Curtis Thom placed sixth in 14.74 seconds. Thom however is not finished at these Paralympic Games; on Wednesday September 5 he’ll race in the men’s T54 400-metres alongside teammates Alexandre Dupont (Saskatchewan) and Colin Mathieson of Winnipeg.

Earlier in the day Éric Gauthier of St-Frautin Lac-Carré finished fourth in his heat of the men’s T53 wheelchair 400-metres. He did not advance to the final that saw Lakatos win silver. “It was ok, I had some issues with my chair in my lane and then it was too late. I’ll be ready for the next race.”