Nicholas Bennett swims to Canada’s first 2024 Paralympic gold medal

While many were at home resting on the last day of the long weekend, athletes overseas were back in action at the Paralympics as a trio of Canadians earned some hardware.

The star of Monday was Nicholas Bennett of Parksville, BC, who earned Canada's first gold medal at these games.

Nicholas Bennett has done it again! His golden swim in the men's 100m breaststroke SB14 wins the nation’s first gold medal of the #Paris2024 Paralympic Games and his second medal. 🥇

📷: Angela Burger/CPC pic.twitter.com/upg2nnmjWx

— CanadianPM (@CanadianPM) September 2, 2024

Bennett swam to gold in the 100m breaststroke men’s SB14 event, adding to the silver medal he won a few days ago in the 200m freestyle S14 event.

The win marked Bennett's first time reaching the top of a Paralympic podium.

“Being this young and just being able to throw down, it's just amazing,” he said to Canadian Paralympic Committee (CPC) staff.

“But this is a long road, so hopefully there's more to come.”

Leanne Taylor added to Canada’s medal tally with a bronze medal in the women’s wheelchair class in the para triathlon.

‘’I was really nervous,’’ Taylor told CPC staff.

‘’But when you’ve been training years for this, you really want to give everything you have on the day. When I was on the run, my coach told me I was third and I saw the gap and realized all I had to do was hold on.”

FIRST PARALYMPIC MEDAL FOR AUSTIN SMEENK! 🇨🇦🥉

Austin Smeenk clinched his first Paralympic medal, securing bronze in the men’s T34 100 meters. The Oakville, Ont., native finished in 15.19 seconds 😮‍💨

📸: Marco Mantovani / Gate3 pic.twitter.com/lxhHlexO67

— Athletics Canada (@AthleticsCanada) September 2, 2024

The third and final Canadian to reach the podium on Monday was Austin Smeenk in para athletics in the 100m T34 event.

The Ontario native claimed a bronze medal for his first career Paralympic podium finish.

“I'm satisfied with the result of today being that I got on the podium for the first time at the Paralympics, but I think that there's still room to grow,” said Smeenk to CPC staff.

“There's two more steps to climb on that podium, so I’m going to see what I can accomplish in the rest of the week with the remaining events I have.”

Team Canada now has 11 medals at the 2024 Paralympics.