Paralympic viewing guide: A 2016 Olympian could win Canada’s first gold | CBC Sports

Canada’s medal contenders on Day 3 include Chernove, former Olympic cyclist Kate O’Brien and flag-bearer Priscilla Gagné. Also, wheelchair racing star Brent Lakatos hits the track for his first event.

Here’s what to watch in the Paralympics on Thursday night and Friday morning.

Canada’s first gold medal could arrive on Day 3

Three athletes in two different sports look to have the best shot at it:

Track cycling

Tristen Chernove in the men’s C1-3 1,000m time trial at 12:20 a.m. ET: The silver medallist in Thursday’s men’s C1 individual pursuit won gold in the men’s C1 time trial at the 2016 Paralympics. This time, his competition will include athletes with less-severe impairments. Chernove, 46, owns a total of 10 world titles in various track and road cycling events along with his four Paralympic medals.

Kate O’Brien in the women’s C4-5 500m time trial at 1:29 a.m. ET: The year after competing in track cycling at the 2016 Olympics, O’Brien was nearly killed by a horrible crash that resulted in a serious brain injury along with a punctured lung, cracked ribs and broken clavicle. Doctors feared she’d never walk, ride a bike or even speak properly again, but O’Brien worked her way back and turned to Para track cycling. At the 2020 world championships in Milton, Ont., she won gold in the women’s C4 500m time trial and broke the world record. Friday’s race is her Paralympic debut. Read more about O’Brien and her remarkable comeback here. 

Judo

Priscilla Gagné in the women’s 52-kg division: Canada’s flag-bearer for the opening ceremony is ranked second in the world in her weight class. The 35-year-old from Sarnia, Ont., placed fifth in her Paralympic debut in 2016, then went on to take bronze at the 2018 world championships. Gagné has a bye to the quarter-finals, where she’ll face Russian Alesia Stepaniuk. Matches begin at 9:30 p.m. ET, and Gagné’s is 10th on the docket. The medal bouts in the four tournaments taking place today start at 3 a.m. ET, and the women’s 52-kg matches are third in the order. Read more about Gagné here.

WATCH | What you missed from the 2nd day of competition in Tokyo:

While You Were Sleeping: 2 more Paralympic medals for Canada

Canada won two silvers in Tokyo on Day 2 of the Paralympics Games as Para cyclist Tristen Chernove and swimmer Nicolas-Guy Turbide both landed on the podium. 2:48

Other top Canadians to watch on Thursday night/Friday morning

In chronological order:

Swimming: Day 3 qualifying heats begin at 8 p.m. ET. None of the five Canadians competing have won a Paralympic or world-championship medal. Three of them are still teenagers — including 17-year-old Nicholas Bennett, who is the youngest Canadian swimmer at these Games. He’s competing in the men’s S14 200m freestyle — one of the three events he won gold in as a 15-year-old at the 2019 Parapan Am Games. His qualifying heat is at 8:07 p.m. ET, and the final goes at 4:28 a.m. ET. Danielle Dorris, 18, became Canada’s youngest Paralympic swimmer ever when she competed in Rio as a 13-year-old. Her women’s SM7 200m individual medley heat is at 9:13 p.m. ET, and the final is at 6 a.m. ET.

Women’s wheelchair basketball — Canada vs. Japan at 8 p.m. ET: Kady Dandeneau will try to follow up a spectacular Paralympic debut that saw her pile up 32 points, 20 rebounds and 11 assists in Wednesday’s 73-54 win over Great Britain.

Men’s wheelchair basketball — Canada vs. Turkey at 10:15 p.m. ET: Canada will try to rebound from last night’s 78-41 opening loss to Spain, which dropped the team’s record to 0-6 over the last two Paralympics.

Women’s sitting volleyball — Canada vs. Brazil at 5:30 a.m. ET: This is the tournament opener for the Canadians, who are ranked fifth in the world. They placed seventh at the 2016 Paralympics.

Wheelchair rugby — Canada vs. New Zealand at 7 a.m. ET: Canada’s loss to the United States last night dropped its record to 0-2 and ensured the Canadians will not advance to the semifinals. After facing New Zealand, they’ll play in the classification round.

Track and field — Brent Lakatos in the qualifying round of the men’s T54 5,000m event at 7:54 a.m. ET. The 41-year-old wheelchair racing star has won seven medals at the Paralympics and 16 at the world championships, but none in the 5,000. This is Lakatos’ first of five track events (he’s the defending champ in the 100m and will also race the 400, 800 and 1,500). He’ll also compete in the marathon. The 5,000m final is Saturday.

See the full schedule of Canadians competing here.

How to watch live events

A variety of Day 3 events will be streamed live on CBC Gem, the CBC Sports app and CBCSports.ca starting at 8 p.m. ET. 

You can also watch Paralympic action on the CBC TV network from 3-5 p.m., 7-8 p.m. and 12:30-2:30 a.m. in your local time. These shows will be streamed on the platforms mentioned above from 2-4 p.m. ET, 6-7 p.m. ET and 11:30 p.m.-1:30 a.m. ET.

See a detailed streaming schedule with links to watch live events here.

More on the Paralympics

Have you seen the Egyptian table tennis player Ibrahim Hamadtou? After losing both his arms in an accident when he was 10, Hamadtou learned to play by holding the paddle in his mouth and serving with his right foot. Watch him in action here.  

If you’re wondering what T54, S13, C1 and the other letter/number combinations listed with each event mean, read this explainer on impairment classifications. 

For round-the-clock updates from Tokyo, follow CBC Sports reporter Devin Heroux on Twitter.

You’re up to speed. Talk to you tomorrow.