Wheelchair racer Austin Smeenk of Oakville, Ont., has medalled at a second straight Para athletics world championships, taking bronze in the men’s 400-metre T34 final on a hot and humid Monday in New Delhi.
Smeenk’s time of 49.43 seconds was nearly one second off his 48.50 season best but good enough to keep Ali Radi Arshid of Qatar off the podium by 9-100ths of a second for Canada’s first medal in India. Smeenk’s personal best is 48.06 and was a world record in June 2024.
Chaiwat Rattana of Thailand captured gold at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in 48.01, followed by Rheed McCracken of Great Britain (48.67).
In 2023, Smeenk earned his first career major championship medal with world 400 bronze in Paris. He also collected silver in the 100.
“Medals are symbolic tokens of significance, to say that we’ve done something sweet. I was third in the world today. That’s pretty good,” Smeenk told Athletics Canada. “These medals are really, really hard fought for. Conditions here are tough. The athletes have really brought it.”
WATCH | Smeenk holds off Qatar’s Arshid for world 400m bronze medal:
Austin Smeenk of Oakville, Ont., won a bronze medal in the men’s 400-metre T34 final, at the New Delhi 2025 World Para Athletics Championships.
The 28-year-old won two medals in the capital of France last year at his third Paralympics, bronze in the 100 and gold in the 800. The 400 wasn’t on the program.
“It’s very much an honour to do it for Canada and to do it for all the people that have helped individual sport. It takes a team to get us here,” said Smeenk.
Born with a hereditary form of paraplegia that causes stiffness in the lower limbs, Smeenk is able to walk short distances and ride a bicycle for longer distances.
He is among seven Paralympic medallists on the 26-member Canadian team.
Canada had its most productive world championships two years ago, grabbing 14 medals in Paris, its highest since earning 15 in 2013.
WATCH | Full replay coverage of Monday action on the track from New Delhi:
Watch the fifth session at the World Para Athletics Championships in New Delhi.
Hanes enters record book
With a 16.86-metre throw, Julia Hanes of LaSalle, Ont., improved her Canadian record and topped the Americas mark in the women’s F34 javelin final on her fifth of six attempts for a fifth-place finish.
“It’s tough to be mad about a personal best, so I’m pretty excited about that,” said the 30-year-old Hanes, whose previous best was 16.65 from June 22. “I was just searching for a little bit more. We’re inching closer and closer to that [16.99] world record [from 2019 by Lucyna Kornobys of Poland], so I’m hoping that I can pull that out at some point.
“I’m happy with today’s performance and I moved up in the world rank.”
The old Americas record was held by Wendis Mejias Viloria of Venezuela.
Other Canadian results Monday
- Addisyn Franceschini, Geraldton, Ont. — 6th, women’s discus throw F64 final (25.76m, personal best)
- Nick Neri, Brampton, Ont. — 7th, men’s 1,500-metre T13 heat (4:10.16)
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