Canada surpassed its medal total and gold medal haul from the Tokyo Paralympics on Friday, two days before the end of the Paris Games.
Wheelchair racer Cody Fournie won his second gold medal of the Games, while discus thrower Jesse Zesseu took silver, both at the Stade de France.
In the pool, Sebastian Massabie won gold, the 11the Canada’s swimming medal and its fourth gold.
Canada now has 23 medals, including eight gold, after winning 21 overall and five gold in Tokyo three years ago.
Fournie triumphed in the men’s 100 metres T51 event, lowering the Paralympic record with a time of 19.63 seconds.
Fournie, who also stood on the top step of the podium in the 200 metres on Tuesday, only started wheelchair racing a few years ago after leaving wheelchair rugby.
“I feel fantastic, it’s great to get two gold medals at the Paralympics,” he said. “I’m going to take everything I learned at this event and apply it to my training back home in Victoria.”
For Zesseu, a 25-year-old from Toronto, it was a redemption from his last performance in Paris a year ago.
He then committed a triple fault in the discus throw, a moment which was difficult for him according to his own words.
“It was a relief. I was here last year in the same city, Paris, at the Stade Charlety [pour les Championnats du monde] and I made a triple foul. It was the worst moment of my life and I cried, he confessed.
“I cried again in Paris, but for a different reason this time, a good reason.”
Zesseu threw the discus 53.24 metres in the men’s F37 discus throw to finish behind Tolibboy Yuldashev of Uzbekistan, whose gold-medal throw covered a personal best distance of 57.28 metres.
In the pool, Massabie set a world record in the men’s 50-metre freestyle S4 just hours after setting the Paralympic record in qualifying.
He set a Games record of 36.95 seconds earlier on Friday and then clocked 35.61 seconds in the final to beat Israeli Ami Omer Dadaon’s previous world record of 36.25 seconds, set in 2022.
“I feel really, really happy, excited and proud of myself,” said Massabie, who is one of 10 rookies on the Canadian Paralympic swimming team.
In women’s wheelchair basketball, Canada lost 72-61 to the Netherlands in the semi-finals.
Arinn Young led the Canadians with 29 points while Kady Dandeneau scored 24.
Canada will face China in the bronze medal game on Sunday.