Katarina Roxon claims gold for 1st career Paralympic medal

Katarina Roxon came back in the second half of the women's 100-metre breaststroke SB8 final to win gold on Wednesday in Rio. The medal is the first of her Paralympic career.

The Kippens, N.L., native trailed Great Britain's Claire Cashmore by 0.95 seconds at the turn, but closed the gap to win with a time of one minute 19.44 seconds. Cashmore took silver in 1:20.60 while Ireland's Ellen Keane won bronze.

During qualifiers, Roxon recorded a time of 1:21.27 to shatter the previous Americas record in the women's 100 breaststroke SB8 heats, finishing first. 

Chernove completes medal treble

Canada's Tristen Chernove has now collected a medal of each colour at the Rio Paralympics after taking gold in the men's road cycling time trial C2 on Wednesday morning. 

The 41-year-old from Cranbrook, B.C., raced to the top spot on the podium with a time of 27 minutes 43.16 seconds to beat Ireland's Colin Lynch and China's Liang Guihua. 

''Time trial is never easy — if you're doing it right, it hurts,'' said Chernove. ''There was quite a strong headwind. Wind means pushing harder, it can be mentally discouraging to see your speed start to drop even though you're putting out a lot of wattage. I just tried to grind through it and I'm just delighted."

It is Chernove's third medal in Rio, having already claimed silver in the track cycling 3,000-metre individual pursuit and bronze in C1-2-3 1,000 time trial. 

Ross Wilson, of Sherwood Park, Alta., also won his second silver medal of the Games in the men's time trial C1. The 34-year-old clocked a time of 28:47.34 behind Germany's Michael Teuber. Italy's Giancarlo Masini won bronze. 

Charles Moreau added a bronze to Canada's morning medal haul. The Victoriaville, Que., native raced to a third-place finish in the men's time trial H3 in a time of 29:26.91. Italy's Vittorio Podesta won gold and Austrian Walter Ablinger was second. 

In the afternoon races, Calgary's Michael Sametz also earned a bronze in the men's time trial C3. The 20-year-old came in behind Ireland's Eoghan Clifford and Japan's Masaki Fujita in 39:41.28. 

Shelley Gautier from Toronto closed out the day's road cycling events with another bronze for Canada in the women's time trial T1-2 in 26:50.87.

Canada wins behind Madell's massive performance 

Zak Madell scored 38 points as Canada opened its wheelchair rugby tournament with a 62-48 win over Brazil.

Madell, who didn't play in the fourth quarter, was also a defensive force on the floor, doling out big hits on the court.

The Canadians' tournament continues Thursday against Great Britain at 11:45 a.m. ET.

Goalball falls in 2OT thriller

The Canadian men's goalball team fell one goal shy of a shot at a first podium finish since 1996 on Wednesday night at the Rio Paralympics, falling to Lithuania 5-4 in the second overtime period.

Canada entered the game as the underdog, qualifying fourth from a five-team Pool A. Lithuania, on the other hand, went undefeated in preliminary round play and was the No. 1 seed crossing over from Pool B.

Brendan Gaulin energized the crowd in Brazil before the game even began, but even when it ended in a loss, the three-time Paralympian wanted to cherish every moment he could on the Paralympic stage.

"I didn't want to leave the court there," Gaulin said. "I just wanted to soak in every second of it I could get because it's a feeling I didn't want to see end. I didn't want to feel that end."

Paddlers make strong debut

A new sport is making waves at the Paralympic Games and a pair of Canadians are off to tomorrow's finals, as para-canoe made its highly anticipated debut in Rio this morning.

The crowd was buzzing at Lagoa Stadium when Christine Gauthier was the first of two Canadians to punch their ticket to Thursday's final. 

Her teammate Erica Scarff, from Mississauga, Ont., started paddling in 2013 and is competing in just her fourth international competition. 

Canadians finish in 11th

In the last four Paralympic Games stretching back to 2000 in Sydney, the final buzzer of the Canadian men's wheelchair basketball tournament has signalled the end of the gold medal game.

The men's team captured gold in three of four opportunities, but on Wednesday morning in Rio, Canada's tournament-ending win only earned it 11th place in a classification game against Algeria.

Canada's roster will now go their separate ways following months of full centralization for training in Toronto. Two-thirds of the roster has been together since the 2015 Parapan Am Games, and that demanding personal commitment will be at the forefront of conversations that head coach Steve Bialowas has with veteran players like David Eng, Adam Lancia, Abdi Dini, and Bo Hedges.