Brent Lakatos continued to build on his impressive medal haul at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.
The Canadian wheelchair racer placed second in the men’s T53 100-metre final on Wednesday, giving him his third silver medal of these Games.
Lakatos, who was the defending Paralympic champion in the event, clocked in with a time of 14.55 seconds.
He was satisfied with his performance, considering a recent concentration on longer distances.
“My time was fine. It is what I would expect right now,” Lakatos said after the race. “With my focus on the longer distances, I haven’t been able to focus on the 100 metres as much as I have in years past.”
The Dorval, Que. native got off to a good start but was overtaken by Thailand’s Pongsakorn Paeyo at the 50-metre mark. Paeyo would go on to win gold, finishing with a time of 14.20, while Saudi Arabia’s Adbulrahman Al-Qurashi rounded out the podium and claimed bronze.
With Paeyo coming just one-tenth of a second away from tying Lakatos’ world record time of 14.10, the Canuck understands the rest of the field is catching up.
“It’s nothing stellar, but I’m satisfied with the time (14.55),” Lakatos said. “The world has gotten a lot faster and that time doesn’t win gold anymore.”
The silver gives the 41-year-old his 10th medal of his Paralympic career, putting him in a tie with André Viger on the Canadian all-time Summer Paralympic medal list.
Having already competed in four events, Lakatos will be back on the track Thursday, in what he thinks might be his best chance to reach the top of the podium.
“Tomorrow is the 800 metres and that’s probably my strongest shot (at a gold medal),” he said. “I’m pretty fired up for that race already.”
Although he’s earned three of the five Canadian medals in the Athletics category, Lakatos told Devin Heroux of the CBC he has one thing on his mind:
“I just want a gold medal.”