Canadian wheelchair racer Brent Lakatos earns Paralympic silver in men’s 400m

Canadian wheelchair racer Brent Lakatos has captured a silver medal at the Paralympic Games.

Lakatos, a 44-year-old from Dorval, Que., finished with a season-best time of 47.24 seconds in the men’s T53 400-metre final behind Paralympic and world-record holder Pongsakorn Paeyo of Thailand who struck gold in 46.77 seconds.

It’s his 12th career Paralympic medal and first in Paris after picking up four silvers at the Tokyo Games in 2021.

“At the end of the corner, he was slowing down and I could sense that I was going at the same speed,” Lakatos said. “I was thinking down the final 100m, ‘I’m going to catch him, I’m going to catch him’. But the line came up too soon. It often does that in the 400m.

“He’s a really strong starter and a really good competitor. I think my best shot will be in the 800m.”

Lakatos, who was the leading qualifier in Heat 2 earlier Sunday with a then-season best of 49.04 seconds, had entered the Games having dealt with a rib injury this season.

“This is the first Games where I have had a serious injury coming in and so my preparation wasn’t perfect,” he said. “There were lots of questions in my head about whether I could do it, and what my form would be like. So I’m glad to say I can answer those questions. It’s going quite well so far.

“You’re always chasing the gold but a silver in those circumstances – I can’t complain too much about it.”