Canada’s Lakatos lands 2nd silver medal at Para athletics worlds in Paris | CBC Sports

Canada’s Brent Lakatos is no stranger to the podium.

But even he may never have experienced a closer call than his latest silver medal, won in the men’s T54 1,500-metre wheelchair race at the Para athletics world championships in Paris on Friday.

Lakatos, who’s earned 10 career Paralympic medals, snuck into Friday’s final by one-hundredth of a second in Thursday’s heats, taking the final spot in the slower of the two qualifying races.

And so the Dorval, Que., native knew a change was necessary for the medal race. He said he had as many as nine different plans in mind.

“The plan that fell in was that I was in the pack and it was moving, so then the strategy was to attack with 500 metres to go,” he said. “And there was a headwind with 500 metres, so I thought this plan was especially good because most people aren’t going to want to get out in the headwind, so I’ll get the jump on them and I got lucky and it worked.”

WATCH | Lakatos surges to silver medal:

Brent Lakatos scores another medal at the World Para Athletics Championships

Brent Lakatos of Dorval, Que., was edged out at the line by Switzerland’s Marcel Hug, in the men’s 1,500 metre T54 race. It’s his second silver medal at the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships in Paris.

The mid-race decision landed Lakatos in second place, crossing the finish line in two minutes 52.07 seconds — nearly 30 ticks faster than his qualifying time.

Switzerland’s Marcel Hug won gold in a championship-record time of 2:51.32, while Thailand’s Prawat Wahoram scored bronze at 2:52.18.

Lakatos, 43, now can claim 21 career world championship medals, including 13 gold, six silver and two bronze.

Fellow Canadian Amanda Rummery, of Sherwood Park, Alta., placed fourth in the women’s T47 400m, missing the podium by about half a second despite her personal-best time of 59.06 seconds.

Thomas Normandeau, the Peace River, Alta., native, placed seventh in the men’s version of the discipline with a season-best clocking of 50.25 seconds.

Morocco’s Ayoub Sadni set a world record of 46.78 seconds to win gold.

WATCH | Lakatos speaks with CBC’s Athletics North:

Brent Lakatos ‘encouraged’ after capturing silver at worlds | Athletics North

Though it wasn’t the colour he was hoping for, 5-time Paralympian Brent Lakatos was relieved that he’s still in medal contention after taking time away from racing after the Tokyo Paralympics. We spoke to the wheelchair racer after his men’s 400m T53 silver medal win on his comeback, and what excited him about the new generation of Para athlete.

Watch live coverage of the World Para Athletics Championships on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem. Coverage from Paris continues Thursday at 3 a.m. ET with the Day 5 morning session.