Paris Paralympics 2024: Nicholas Bennett wins first gold medal: Nicholas Bennett cried “everything” during O Canada at the Paralympic pool on Monday. Canada’s first gold medal of the 2024 Paralympic Games was won by the Parksville, B.C., swimmer in the 100-meter breaststroke. It’s a mix of everything,” Bennett remarked after the La Defense Arena medal ceremony. Competing against the world’s greatest athletes and being the best is fun. Relief at finally proving to the world I’m one of them, one of the greatest.”
Bennett is Canada’s first Paralympic swimming gold medalist since Benoit Huot in London 2012. Heavy,” Bennett said of his reward. “Man, it’s a beautiful piece of history with me.” He topped the podium two nights after winning the 200-meter freestyle silver. Bennett, the defending world champion and 200-meter individual medley world record holder, will race Wednesday.
Monday’s breaststroke final saw only one man under one minute four seconds, the Canadian in 1:03.98.
Jake Michel of Australia won silver in 1:04.27. Naohide Yamaguchi of Japan won bronze in 1:04.94. Yamaguchi won the breaststroke world gold last year in Manchester, England, over Bennett. I felt more confident. “We’ve practiced my breaststroke daily for a year,” Bennett added. “My breaststroke race is touchy. I had to cling on and race Yamaguchi. Nothing else mattered then.”
Bennett shook and needed time to compose himself after beating Yamaguchi. I’m having difficulty speaking. He claimed it was a surprise. I hunkered down the last few meters because I saw him in my peripherals. Bennett races in the S14 division for intellectually disabled athletes after being diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder at age three.
Sister/coach watches on
His older sister Haley Bennett-Osborne, his full-time coach since 2022, watched from the arena seats while her brother improved his breaststroke. He said that he was so excited he couldn’t watch. He sealed it in the final 25 meters. We worked on that last year because we thought he might improve from Manchester’s silver.”
Breaststroke is such a technical stroke, so we wanted to know how he would feel in that time of excitement, emotion, and exhaustion. The technique was a whole 25 meters. As Bennett-Osborne coached the Red Deer Catalina Swim Club at the Michener Recreation Centre last year, the siblings moved from Vancouver Island to Red Deer, Alta.
Bennett believes that we don’t have the typical sibling dynamic. She’s always been a good person and responsible for her age. I think of chemistry. She might be the only person I trust to get me here.
Osborne-Bennett, 24, said trust is important to the brothers’ coach-athlete connection. She stated it’s crucial to have someone who understands his training approach and behaviors, especially with his designation.
My familiarity with him makes it easy.
400th gold medal for Canada
Three-time Paralympian Sabrina Duchesne of St-Augustin, Que., finished sixth in the women’s S7 400m freestyle final on Monday, Nicolas Guy Turbide of Quebec City was seventh in the men’s S13 50m freestyle, and Canada ranked eighth in the 34-point 4x100m mixed medley
The Canadians won five pool medals in Paris. We swim until Saturday. Canada’s first Paris victory and 400th Summer Paralympic gold medal came from Bennett’s win. Bennett, 17, made his Paralympic debut in Tokyo three years ago as Team Canada’s youngest competitor. He told CBC Sports in March that it was a valuable learning experience despite not winning.
He said he learned how the call room works, how everyone prepares, and how everyone races at that really, really high level for that really little time. Bennett finished fifth, sixth, eighth, and ninth in four Tokyo races, reducing national records. A year later, he won two silvers at worlds. He won two gold and one silver at the 2023 World Championships.
Once a Paralympic champion, he’ll have two more opportunities to win in the 200m individual medley on Wednesday and the 100m backstroke on Friday.
