PARIS, France –
Vincent Dallaire got a taste of what’s in store for him and his Canadian men’s wheelchair basketball teammates after arriving at the Bercy Arena in Paris.
The United States played Germany in the Paralympic preliminary round and the arena was buzzing. It only got louder when Canada played hosts France later on Friday.
“We knew it was going to be incredibly loud,” Dallaire said. “We got here, USA and Germany were playing and it wasn’t even a packed crowd and you couldn’t hear anything.
“We knew it was going to be super loud, we knew it was going to be super impossible to hear.
The Canadians decided the best way to counter the atmosphere was to stick to what they were doing in practice, and it worked. Colin Higgins of Rothesay, NB, had 38 points as Canada beat France 83-68.
“It’s amazing. I mean, it’s so hard to replicate that in practice when you can barely hear six feet in front of you,” said Quebec City’s Dallaire, who added four points and four rebounds.
“We came out the way we wanted to. We took the lead and we got the win and it’s a good start for us. We just tried to communicate between the five of us and just go for it.”
The result was part of a solid day for Canada, which won two more bronze medals in track cycling.
Keely Shaw of Midale, Sask., repeated her podium finish from Tokyo three years ago when she finished third in the women’s 3,000-meter individual pursuit and Alexandre Hayward of Quispamsis, NB, won bronze in the men’s pursuit in his Paralympic debut.
The medals gave Canada four bronzes in the first two full days of competition at the Games.
In men’s basketball, veteran Patrick Anderson of Fergus, Ont., had another big game for Canada, posting 31 points and 12 rebounds to start his sixth and final Paralympics.
Canada trailed 41-39 at halftime after being outscored 21-13 in the second quarter. But the Canadians bounced back with a brilliant second half and beat the home team 44:27.
“It’s a start. It’s the first step of where we want to be, right? Just one at a time and go from there.”
“The refs weren’t calling a lot of fouls, so we knew we could play — we could step it up,” Higgins said. “So we tried to be a little more physical, make it a little more difficult for their shooters.
Nicolas Jouanserre led France with 38 points and six rebounds.
Higgins said he felt nerves playing in front of loud crowds after his debut at the Tokyo Pandemic Games three years ago.
“Tokyo was my first Paralympics. There was nothing like it, of course, so I’ve never played in front of a crowd like that,” Higgins said.
“It’s a lot of goosebumps early on, but you come out and get that first shot and everyone really rallies behind you and to feel that team come together and get (the win) is huge.”
Canada will play Great Britain on Saturday.
In track cycling, Shaw beat Samantha Bosco of the United States with a personal best of 3 minutes 46.942 to Bosco’s 3:48.589 to win bronze.
“To be a good chaser, you have to be really good at turning off all your signals because my brain is screaming at me to stop,” Shaw explained. “It’s a mind game to say ‘no you’re not going to die’.”
Australia’s Emily Petric ended the fight for gold early when she overtook New Zealand’s Anna Taylor.
Hayward beat Spain’s Eduardo Santas Asensio by more than three seconds in 3:24.865. Jaco van Gass downed Finlay Graham for gold in the All-Britain match.
“I was proud of myself before I got here this morning,” Hayward said. “If I think about the feeling that has stuck with me the most in recent weeks, it’s pride.
“I feel like I set my expectations too high. But at the same time, you know, this team, I’m literally surrounded by Paralympic and Olympic legends. It’s easy to imagine when all your teammates are doing it like it’s no big deal.” I’m really proud of it all.’
In bocce, Montreal’s Alison Levine advanced to the singles quarterfinals with a 5-3 win over Ukraine’s Natalia Koneko. Levine went 2-1 in the preliminary round and will face Colombia’s Leidy Chica next Saturday. Levine defeated Chico in the gold medal match at the 2023 Parapan Am Games.
In para archery, Kyle Tremblay of Deep River, Ont., overcame rainy weather to advance to the round of 16 in the men’s individual team with a 140-135 win over Alisina Manshaezadeh of Iran.
“It felt really good. The heavy rain in practice ended before it lost my sight a little, so I had to adjust,” Tremblay said.
“You just have to be able to adapt on the fly, maybe compensate for where you’re releasing and things like that.”
Tremblay will face Austria’s Michael Meier on Sunday with a quarter-final spot on the line.
In wheelchair rugby, Canada bounced back from an opening loss to the United States with a 54-47 win over Germany. Zak Madell of Okotoks, Alta., was Canada’s leading scorer for the second straight game after posting 28 points against the Germans.
“Yesterday was a bit unusual for us. We didn’t play as cleanly as we normally do, so we wanted to regroup and redeem ourselves,” Madell said.
“Germany played a very strong game – of course the best teams in the world are here. They fought hard and made us work until the very end. They fought their way back into it, but we had to keep our feet on the gas and go up.”
Canada will finish the preliminary round against undefeated Japan on Saturday.
Canada’s women’s goaltending team fell to 1-1 after losing 2-1 to Japan. Ottawa’s Emma Reinke had the lone goal for Canada, which opened the contest with a 10-0 win over France on Thursday.
Canada will wrap up preliminary round play against South Korea on Sunday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on August 30, 2024.
