Charlotte Bolton (Tillsonburg, Ont.) finished 10th in the women’s shot put F41 finals on a rainy Friday at Stade de France, in Paris.
A rising star on the para athletics team, Bolton holds all three Canadian records in the F41 throwing events including shot put, javelin, and discus.
But Friday was not her day — the 7.92m best throw was well short of her national record of 9.05m.
Legendary Tunisian thrower Raoua Tlili won her seventh Paralympic gold – fifth in shot put – with a 10.40m throw in her second attempt, four centimetres ahead of silver medalist Kubaro Khakimova. Raoua’s throw was 0.15 metres short of the world record she set in Tokyo.
Antonella Ruiz Diaz won bronze with a 9.58m throw.
Bolton made her Paralympic debut in 2021 at the Tokyo Paralympics, placing sixth in both shot put (8.73m) and discus (27.72m). She still has the discus event ahead at Paris.
The 21-year-old York University biology student’s career in Para Athletics began after she was discovered at a Paralympian search event in 2017, and made the decision to switch from skiing to throwing events.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Bolton began to train with national coach Richard Parkinson at the East Hub in Toronto.
Her best career finish was a bronze medal in the Women’s F41 discus at the 2023 Para Pan Am Games.
