Canadian great Brent Lakatos fell short of a 12th Paralympic medal, finishing seventh in a wild men’s T54 5,000m final Saturday in Paris.
The decorated wheelchair racer from Dorval, Que., is currently tied with swimmer Aurelie Rivard for the most medals among Canadians competing at the Games.
Lakatos was in second position for most of the contest, behind fellow six-time Paralympian and defending champ Marcel Hug of Switzerland.
The final few laps intensified as a swarm of racers glided past the Canadian, leading to a thrilling and chaotic finish in front of roughly 80,000 supporters at the Stade de France.
When the dust settled (and two of the racers had coilided within metres of the finish line, spilling them to the track), it was American Daniel Romanchuk who captured the gold, clocking at 10:55.28. Hug (T54) took home the silver and Kuwait’s Faisel Alrajehi (T54) won bronze.
Only 1.60 seconds separated the top eight finishers. Lakatos clocked at 10:56.73, just three quarters of a second from the podium.
The legendary racer advanced to the final by placing second in the qualifying heat Friday, with a season-best time of 10:35.15.
Lakatos is coming off a fractured rib, an injury he suffered while training, and was forced to miss the Grand Prix and Paralympic trials earlier this summer.
The 5,000m was the first of four Para Athletics events for the Canadian, who will seek redemption in the T53 400m, 800m and T54 1,500m. Lakatos is the current world-record holder in the 800.
