Roxon taking gold back to The Rock
IN THE POOL: Canadian swimmer bursts into tears after winning gold in 100-metre breaststroke
RIO DE JANEIRO — Katarina Roxon touched the wall, looked up at the clock and dissolved into a puddle of tears.
The 23-year-old Corner Brook, N.L., native had just won the SB8 100-metre breaststroke final at the Paralympics. She’s taking gold back to The Rock.
“At first I didn’t want to look. I knew I was going to be happy with how I did. But I’m still in shock. It’s crazy.”
Roxon touched in 1:19.44, ahead of Claire Cashmore of Great Britain and Ellen Keane of Ireland.
Her gold is one of three produced by the swim team so far. Aurelie Rivard has the others. And it brings the swim squad’s total to five. Tess Routliffe swam to a silver on Tuesday.
The IPC website has been under attack by hackers, but so far there hasn’t been any breach.
The World Anti-Doping Agency wasn’t as lucky, or secure, as hackers believed to be affiliated with the Russian government recently accessed athlete records and have published sensitive information.
“We’re still trying to find out who had a go at our website on the opening ceremony,” said Spence. “In the last three months our website has been under attack daily. We have the highest form of security and we are optimistic that we can stand up to the threat.
“In addition to people trying to hack our website, we are getting regular emails, similar to those coming to WADA, asking IPC employees to click on them and open up our system. Our medical records are very difficult to access, even for IPC staff, so if you clicked on these emails, you would not get access to our systems. The hackers keep trying and hopefully they’ll never get near our medical data.”
Canadian para-dressage team member Ashley Gowanlock of Surrey fell from her horse on Wednesday after the conclusion of her test. Gowanlock was assessed by Rio 2016 medical staff and, while she did not have serious injuries, was taken to hospital for further testing.
The water underneath Christine Gauthier’s para-canoe hasn’t exactly been placid the last while.
Though the 46-year-old from Dorval won her semifinal and qualified for the first KL2 final in Paralympic history, which goes Thursday, she isn’t in the most confident state of mind. And she said her national sport body bears some of the responsibility for that fact, because a dearth of funding meant she didn’t have full-time coaching over the past two years.
“It has affected my progression and my readiness for this. If everything is right at the right moment, there is always a possibility of coming up in the top three, but realistically, I’m not sure.”
Erica Scarff of Mississauga, Ont., was third in her KL3 semifinal and will also paddle for a medal on Thursday.