Canada's Brent Lakatos wins 3rd gold at paralympic worlds
Brent Lakatos of Dorval, Que., earned his third gold medal at the world paralympic athletics championship on Friday.
The 33-year-old paraplegic clocked 14.51 seconds in the men’s T53 100-metre final in Lyon, France.
He also won gold in the T53 200 (26.00) and 400 (49.02) events earlier in the week, all championship records. He picked up a silver medal in the 800.
Lakatos said he coasted to his victory Friday, which was unexpected against a field of tough competitors.
"It turned out to be much easier than I expected," he told Carol Off on CBC Radio's As It Happens. "I'll take it, though."
Lakatos was referring to beating out Mickey Bushell of Great Britain, the 100m gold medallist from the 2012 London Paralympics. Bushell raced with a shoulder injury against Lakatos in Lyon to cross the line in 15.12 seconds for the silver medal.
Lakatos earned his first Paralympic medal in his third Games last September in London, finishing second in the T53 400.
The Quebec-raised computer analyst from Dallas became a paraplegic as a result of a hockey accident when he was six.
Lakatos’s wife, Stefanie Reid, is a single-leg amputee who also competed at the 2012 Paralympics.
The world paralympic athletics championship continues through the weekend. Lakatos competes in the 4x400-metre relay semifinals Saturday and he said he is optimistic his squad will advance in the event.
"If we make it, we've got the finals in the afternoon and we should because we've got a really strong team."
