13 years after last Paralympics, Canada’s Jessica Tuomela takes 5th in triathlon | CBC Sports

Tuomela’s latest race comes 21 years after her only Paralympic medal — silver, won as a swimmer in the 50-metre freestyle in 2000.

Spain’s Susana Rodriguez won gold in 1:07:15, while Italy’s Anna Barbaro took silver at 1:11:11 and Frenchwoman Annouck Curzillat brought home bronze with a time of 1:11:45.

Tuomela, the Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., native, who now resides in Victoria, competed in three Paralympics from 2000 to 2008 as a swimmer, only ever earning that one podium finish.

WATCH | What you missed on Day 3 of competition in Tokyo:

While You Were Sleeping: Kate O’Brien’s dynamic debut, Priscilla Gagné takes silver in judo

Track cyclist, Kate O’Brien, and judoka, Priscilla Gagné add two Paralympic silver medals to Canada’s collection in Tokyo. 3:26

But she felt as though she had unfinished business.

“Instead of training for one sport, I thought, ‘Why not [train] for three?’,” she told the Times of India recently.

“That’s how I got into triathlon. I went from a sport where I won medals for myself. Now I entered a sport where I am tied to another human being the entire race. That totally changes the dynamic of the race. It’s about teamwork now.”

Hogan, a 31-year-old from Montreal, became Tuomela’s guide in 2019 and quickly earned a trio of third-place finishes, including bronze at that year’s world championships in Switzerland.

But it wasn’t to be on Saturday. Tuomela looked to be in good shape early, emerging from the 750-metre swim in second place and maintaining that position over 20 kilometres on a tandem bike with Hogan. It was the 5k run where Tuomela fell back at the Odaiba Marine Park on another stiflingly hot day in Tokyo.

Ouellet falls of in men’s T12 5,000m

Canada’s Guillaume Ouellet led for much of the men’s T12 5,000m on Saturday, but faded over the final kilometre to place fifth.

Ouellet, of Victoriaville, Que., made his move early to lead the pack, but was slowly overtaken by athlete after athlete over the final 1,200 metres or so.

The 34-year-old finished with a time of 14:47.47. He placed fourth in the event for the partially blind five years ago in Rio.

Spain’s Yassine Ouhdad El Ataby took gold at 14:34.13, with Australia’s Jaryd Clifford claiming silver (14:35.52) and Russian Aleksander Kostin earning bronze (14:37.42).

Ouellet won the event at the 2015 world championships and took third in 2017, but has never reached a major international tournament podium otherwise.

Canadian goalball women edged by Australia

The Canadian goalball team fell to 1-2 with its 4-3 loss against Australia on Saturday.

Emma Reinke, coming off a four-goal performance in Canada’s lone win, scored another pair in the loss.

Australia’s Meica Jayne Horsburgh was responsible for all of her side’s goals, including a penalty tally that ultimately stood as the winner.

The top four teams in each pool reach the quarter-finals. Canada now sits fourth in its group, tied with an Australian team that previously lost by 11-1 and 6-0 margins.

Canada’s final match comes against China on Monday at 1:45 a.m ET.