Canada’s Nathan Clement cycles to silver in T1-2 road time trial for 1st career Paralympic medal | CBC Sports

Canadian cyclist Nathan Clement has won a silver medal at the Paralympic Games in Paris.

The 29-year-old from West Vancouver was second in the men’s T1-2 individual road time trial.

Clement held the second-fastest time throughout the race behind defending gold-medallist Chen Jianxin of China, finishing the 14.1-kilometre course in 22 minutes 53.36 seconds for his first career Paralympic medal.

Chen topped the podium with a time of 21:35.78, while Belgium’s Tim Celen took bronze in 23:27.64.

WATCH l Clement wins Paralympic silver in road time trial:

Clement swam for Canada in the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro before switching to cycling. He was making his Paralympic cycling debut.

The Canadian is the reigning world champion in the T1-2 classification, in which athletes ride three-wheeled bikes for stability.

He earned Canada’s fourth cycling medal in Paris after three bronze in track cycling.

Clement won time trial silver in his road world-championship debut in 2022 before capturing gold in the event at the 2023 worlds and Parapan American Games.

He is also set to compete in the men’s T1-2 road race on Saturday at 6:45 a.m. ET, with live streaming coverage available on CBC Gem, the Paris 2024 website and the Paris 2024 mobile app.

Clement began swimming at age 15 to help regain mobility in his left side after suffering a stroke caused by chicken pox at age two. He swam to a Canadian record in the 50-metre butterfly while finishing seventh in Rio.

Canadian women into wheelchair basketball semis

Canada built an early lead and never looked back, rolling to a 71-53 quarterfinal win over Germany at Bercy Arena.

Kady Dandeneau led all players with 33 points as the Canadians advances to face the reigning Paralympic champion Netherlands in Friday’s semifinals. The men’s team takes on the U.S. in their semi on Thursday.

Dandeneau, of Pender Island, B.C., also added 16 rebounds to complete the double-double, to go with six assists. Arinn Young chipped in with 18 points while Elodie Tessier was the only other Canadian in double-digits with 10 points.

Mareike Miller led Germany with 18 points.

“That [win] was the main goal to get out of the perpetual fifth place. It feels good to bring Canada back to that elite level,” Dandeneau said. “We executed well, we put a lot of pressure. We wanted to be five up as much as we could and make it really challenging to their sets.”

The Canadian women have not reached the Paralympic podium since 2004, when a bronze medal in Athens ended a run of three straight golds.

“Canada has lost in so many quarterfinals in the last 10 years, so it feels like a curse has been broken,” Young said. “I’m so proud of the team and all the work we put in this summer to finally get through these quarterfinals, and now it’s just on the up from there, right? I’m really looking forward to it.”

“This win means the world to us. Really, it’s a great win.” 

One more win, and Canada would be guaranteed a return to the podium. Either way, though, it’s now poised to play for its first podium appearance in 20 years on Sunday.

Other Canadian results:

• Boccia players Alison Levine and Iulian Ciobanu fell in the semifinals in the BC4 mixed pairs tournament, suffering a 6-4 loss to Hong Kong. They will face Thailand in the bronze-medal match on Thursday at 6:20 a.m. ET.
• Cyclist Keely Shaw was fifth in the women’s C4 individual road time trial. Kate O’Brien did not finish.
• The Canadian women’s goalball team finished fifth in Paris after edging Japan 1-0 in a classification playoff.
• Alexandre Hayward raced to a fifth-place finish in the men’s C3 individual road time trial with a time of 39:30.48 on the 28.3km course, while Charles Moreau was seventh in the H3 classification (47:15.72).
• Charlotte Bolton finished sixth in the women’s discus F41 final with a top throw of 28.53m, while Katie Pegg placed seventh in the women’s shot put F46 final after posting a mark of 10.72m.
• Mel Pemble finished 14th in the women’s C1-3 individual road time trial in 26:05.83.

Canada’s medal count: 17 (4 gold, 6 silver, 7 bronze)