Brent Lakatos did it again, winning yet another silver medal on the Tokyo athletic track.
The Canadian wheelchair racer placed second in the men’s T53 800-metre final on Thursday, finishing with a time of 1:36.32.
As the rain poured down at the Japan National Stadium, Lakatos got off to a great start, taking the lead at the end of the first lap.
The Canuck slowed his pace to begin the second lap, looking for another competitor to compromise Thailand’s Pongsakorn Paeyo’s position.
“I was really hoping that, when I slowed it down, someone would come up from the back and they would be boxing (Paeyo) in and then I would match their speed,” Lakatos said after the race. “The only thing I would have done differently was, when I saw no one was coming, I might have just gone for it and taken the chance of holding on for that last lap.”
It was not until the 500-metre mark that Paeyo overtook Lakatos and it became a two-man race.
The Dorval, Que. native gave a valiant effort in the final 200 metres, trying to catch Paeyo, but it was not to be. Paeyo crossed the finish line first to capture his third gold medal of these Games, breaking a Paralympic record in the process.
Pierre Fairbank of France claimed bronze.
The silver is Lakatos’ fourth in Tokyo, leaving him slightly disappointed in the moment.
“It’s been a lot of silver and I really wanted to bring home a gold,” he said. “I really wanted to have our anthem played. I’m sure that, in a couple days, it will feel absolutely great.”
The medal is Lakatos’ 11th of his Paralympic career, surpassing André Viger on the Canadian all-time Summer Paralympic list. Viger was the one who introduced Lakatos to wheelchair racing.
Competing in his fifth of six events, the 41-year-old will finish his Tokyo Paralympics in the marathon, which will take place over the weekend.
“I’ve got the marathon to focus on,” he said, “so I’m going to think about that over the next couple of days and just try to come out and do my best in the marathon.”