Greg Stewart of Kamloops, B.C., captured a gold medal at the world Para athletics championships in the shot put event on Friday in New Delhi.
The Canadian won with a throw of 16.68 metres to secure the top of the podium.
This was Stewart’s first-ever world title. However, the 39-year-old is a two-time Paralympic gold medallists in this event.
WATCH | Stewart claims gold:
Greg Stewart of Kamloops, B.C. had the F46 gold medal winning shot put throw of 16.68-metres Friday at the World Para Athletics Championships.
After his Paralympic Games victory in Tokyo, Stewart announced his retirement from competitive sport in 2022, only to return over a year later after he admitted to felling a discomfort from being disconnected from the sport he loved and returned to the playing field.
“To come and compete at this level after the postponement was a big one for me, to show that you’re as good as you want to be, if you want to be it. I’ve finished second at two world championships now. This is my first one in gold. I’ve been wanting this one for a long time,” Stewart said.
After rain washed out several events yesterday and pushed them onto the Friday schedule, Stewart had to reset to throw for gold.
“I was kind of upset about the whole thing, because you get so psyched up. We’re training all year for last night, and then it’s ripped out from underneath us and we can’t do anything about it. Then we have to try to regroup and everything like that,” Stewart said. “One of the things that Team Canada’s focus has been over the last year is resiliency, and I think it showed today.”
WATCH | Stewart elated after gold-medal win:
Greg Stewart of Kamloops, B.C. threw for 16.68-metres in the F46 shot put event at the World Para Athletics Championships claiming the gold medal Friday.
On the women’s side, Julia Hanes earned her first world medal, launching a massive throw of 7.51 metres in the F33 shot put final to claim the bronze medal.
“One of the things that I take pride in is being able to be calm in a storm and settle and do what I need to be doing. After having to adjust my chair because of some protests, I was actually able to just settle and immediately after that come in and just throw big,” Hanes said. “I’m very excited that 7.51 cm was enough today and I’m happy that I was able to settle down and do what I know I’m capable of doing and throw within three centimetres of my personal best.”
WATCH | Hanes captures bronze:
Shot put athlete Julia Hanes of Windsor, Ont., takes bronze in the Women’s Shot Put F33 final with a fourth round throw, measuring 7.05, at the World Para Athletics Championships, New Delhi.
The two shot put medals today, coupled with Katie Pegg’s bronze medal in the women’s F46 shot put yesterday, make for a very successful couple of days for Canadian throwers.
Other Canadian results Friday
- Addisyn Franceschini threw a new personal best of 8.66m to finish in 5th in the women’s F64 shot put final.
- Charlotte Bolton finished 6th in the women’s F41 discus final with a throw of 27.47m.
- Jesse Zesseu jumped a season’s best 5.65m in the men’s T37 long jump final, good for an 11th place finish
- Sheriauna Haase and Chloe Dunbar both qualified for the women’s T47 200m semifinals.
- Nandini Sharma finished 9th with a time of 57.94 seconds in women’s T54 400 metres heats. She failed to qualify for the final.
- Michael Barber finished 14th in the men’s T20 1500m heats with a time of 4:14.33.
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