Marissa Papaconstantinou sprints to 100m bronze at Para athletics worlds for Canada’s 2nd medal
An extended bus ride to the stadium due to heavy traffic didn’t cause Marissa Papaconstantinou to lose focus and keep her off the medal podium at the Para athletics world championships on Wednesday in India.
After qualifying third in her heat earlier in the day, the Canadian sprinter was third in the women’s 100-metre T64 final, clocking 13.06 seconds for a bronze medal in New Delhi.
It is Canada’s second medal at these championships, with wheelchair racer Austin Smeenk of Oakville, Ont., earning bronze in the men’s 400 T34 final on a hot and humid Monday.
Papaconstantinou also collected bronze in the event at her second of three Paralympics four years ago in Tokyo.
On Wednesday, the 25-year-old Papaconstantinou endured a two-hour bus ride to Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Despite the delay, she believed there was plenty of time to prepare for competition until the bus came to a stop and “I ran off the bus and put my [running] blade on.”
WATCH | Papaconstantinou earns bronze:
Sprinter Marissa Papaconstantinou of Toronto, Ont., takes bronze in the Women’s 100m T64 final in a time of 13.06, at the World Para Athletics Championships, New Delhi.
After the final, Papaconstantinou admitted it was not a clean race for her.
“It’s not a bad result, considering some of those variables,” Papaconstantinou told Athletics Canada, referring to the long bus ride. “[Being] back on the podium is always nice, so I can’t complain.”
The world record holder and two most recent athletes to own the world championship mark were the only runners to beat Papaconstantinou on this day.
Fleur Jong led a 1-2 finish for the Netherlands with a 12.29-second performance ahead of Marlene van Gansewinkel (12.86).
Jong’s 12.27 effort in the heats lowered her teammate’s championship mark of 12.78 that stood since Nov. 12, 2019. Jong has held the world record the past two months since running 12.02 in Hengelo, Netherlands.
Papaconstantinou improved her Canadian record at the end of July, stopping the clock in 12.84 in her qualifying heat at the national track and field championships in Ottawa. Her previous best was 12.90 from June 2023.
Papaconstantinou will race the women’s 200 T64 on Sunday, the final day of competition.
“It is nice that I do have a couple days between the two events so I can really get a little bit of a rest in between, fuel and hydrate,” she said. “I’ve been training really hard for the 200, specifically, all year, so I’m really excited to kind of finally put those pieces together.”
The 2028 Paralympics in Los Angeles is on Papaconstantinou’s radar. She made her debut in 2016 in Rio and competed last year in Paris.
Papaconstantinou, who was born without a right foot, began her Para athletic career at age 11 after being fitted with her first running blade.
Her international debut was four years later in Doha, Qatar, where the Canadian placed seventh in the 200 and eighth in the 100.
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