Simply days after profitable Canada’s first gold medal on the 2024 Paralympic Video games in para athletics, Victoria’s Cody Fournie discovered himself again atop the rostrum on Friday night time. Fournie received his second gold of the Video games within the males’s T51 100m, setting a brand new Paralympic report of 19.63 seconds.
TWICE AS NICE FOR CODY! 🥇🥇
Cody Fournie smashes the sphere to win his second Gold Medal of @Paris2024, profitable the Males’s 100m T51 in a Paralympic report!#GreatnessMovesUs #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/0rsiZAb653
— Canadian Paralympic Group (@CDNParalympics) September 6, 2024
This victory not solely marked Fournie’s second gold, but additionally set a brand new Canadian T51 report. His achievement introduced Canada’s para athletics medal tally to seven, together with 4 golds.
Earlier within the week, the 35-year-old athlete clinched gold within the T51 males’s 200m, crossing the road in a private better of 37.64 seconds.
Fournie’s path to changing into a Canadian Paralympic star isn’t a shock. He has been a aggressive wheelchair athlete most of his life, competing for the Canadian nationwide para rugby staff earlier than transitioning to wheelchair racing in the course of the pandemic. He determined to modify to para athletics after a turning level in his rugby profession left him unsure about his future. With steerage from former Canadian Olympian Geoff Harris, Fournie has embraced wheelchair racing, and the choice has paid off along with his Paralympic gold medal depend rising to 2.
This was Cody Fournie’s first ever Paralympic race — and he took dwelling the #Gold for 🇨🇦
Congratulations, Cody! 🥇
pic.twitter.com/ch00nO5vQd— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) September 3, 2024
Earlier this 12 months, Fournie received a silver medal within the T51 100m on the World Para Athletics Championships in Kobe, Japan. The T51 classification consists of athletes with numerous disabilities, together with spinal wire accidents and cerebral palsy. Fournie grew to become a quadriplegic following an accident at age 11.
The Paralympic Video games will proceed till Sunday, Sept. 8.
