Canadian wheelchair racer Austin Smeenk wins Paralympic gold in men's T34 800m
CBC
Austin Smeenk rang the bell with gusto.
The Canadian wheelchair racer won the men's T51 800 metres Saturday at the Paralympic Games in Paris.
Track and field victors at both the Olympic and Paralympic Games rang a bell engraved with "Paris 2024" at Stade de France.
The bell will be installed in a tower at Notre Dame Cathedral when the iconic edifice is restored from a 2019 fire.
Smeenk coveted the rite after watching other Canadian athletes grab the rope for a satisfying clang.
"Fantastic," the 27-year-old from Oakville, Ont., declared.
"I've been looking forward to doing that since Ethan Katzberg and Camryn Rogers did it about a month ago."
WATCH l Smeenk races to 800m gold at Paris Paralympics:
Katzberg and Rogers won hammer throw gold at the Olympic Games.
Smeenk produced Canada's fifth Paralympic gold and eighth medal in track and field.
Victoria's Cody Fournie won a pair of sprint gold medals in T51 wheelchair racing and Brent Lakatos of Dorval., was a victor in the T53 800.
Greg Stewart of Kamloops, B.C., defended his title in men's F37 shot put.
Smeenk set world records in both the 400 (48.06) and 800 (1:35.59) earlier this year, and followed up with the first Paralympic gold of his career.
He's a double medallist in Paris with a bronze in the 100 metres. The 400 wasn't on the program.
