Canada’s Stanley, Lakatos race to pair of Paralympic silver medals on track

RIO DE JANEIRO — Liam Stanley was a promising runner, but an outstanding soccer player. And his goal was to get Canada’s para-soccer team to the Rio Paralympics.

Track coach Bruce Deacon made him a deal. Focus on soccer, and if the team didn’t qualify for Brazil, start training for track.

And on Sunday, the 19-year-old from Victoria chased Irish veteran Michael McKillop over 1,500 metres to claim silver in a stunning Paralympic debut.

“What a thrill,” Deacon marvelled. “Quite amazing.” 

Wheelchair racer Brent Lakatos won silver in the 400 metres for his second medal of the Games to make it a two-medal morning for Canada.

Question of the Week

With B.C. moving to end the time change, do you prefer permanent Daylight Savings Time, permanent Standard Time, or the status quo?

Mar 02, 2026

1000 WAYS TO HEAL

1000 WAYS TO HEAL: What are we doing with the land in Kamloops?

Mar 02, 2026

LOOPED IN

LOOPED IN WITH NIKKI OMEN: March 2, 2026

Mar 02, 2026

In front of a noisy Olympic Stadium crowd that rivalled some Olympic sessions a month ago, Stanley, who has cerebral palsy, stuck with McKillop through the first two laps, and when the four-time Paralympic gold medallist made his move with 800 metres to go, the fearless young Canadian went with him.

“This is a case of a teenager racing full-grown men, guys in their late 20s and 30s,” said Deacon, a two-time Olympian in the marathon. “So the thing that really impressed me is that he’d never competed at this level, and he delivered just as we’d planned. We knew that McKillop was going to go hard on the third lap, and nobody else in the field could cover his move. And Liam did.”

McKillop pulled away from Stanley over the final 200 metres, but Deacon said the Canadian’s strength down the homestretch will improve with experience and training.

The lower half of Olympic Stadium was noisy and full, and fans had stood in a long, snaking security lineup to get in more than an hour before the doors opened. 

If Stanley was feeling any first-time nerves, he definitely didn’t show it. 

“And most if not all of the other athletes had raced at that level before, either at the Paralympic Games or the world championships. And Liam hadn’t,” Deacon added. “I was very impressed with how composed he was.” 

Deacon and Stanley’s teammates with the Prairie Inn Harriers club watched the race live on a theatre-sized screen, at an early-morning viewing party in Victoria.

Stanley has twice been named the Canadian para-soccer player of the year, joining the national team when he was just 14. He played on Canada’s seven-a-side squad at the Parapan Ams last summer in Toronto.

He was disappointed, he said, when the team failed to qualify for Rio — it had been the goal since the 2012 London Games.

But he wore a wide smile when he passed through the interview area after his silver-medal performance Sunday morning.

“I liked it, it was fun,” he said. “(McKillop) was a good battle. I like to do battles and I like to be first.”

Lakatos, a five-time Paralympic medallist, had first in his sights as well after capturing the 100-metre title two days earlier.

But Thailand’s Pongsakorn Paeyo, who’d never beaten the 36-year-old from Dorval, Que., pulled away down the homestretch to win in 47.91 seconds. Lakatos crossed in 48.53.

“Obviously I would have loved to have won the gold, but I can’t be disappointed with a time like that. It’s my second fastest time ever, and so to do that on this stage, it’s great,” Lakatos said. “It’s just the Thai guy, he’s surprising everybody this week, he’s pushing so fast.”

Lakatos, who will also race the 800 in Rio, won three Paralympic silver medals in London four years ago. He’s also a seven-time world champion.

He’s been a paraplegic since a skating accident when he was six. He and some friends were playing tag and he slid and crashed into the boards. The injury seemed innocuous enough. He got up, got a hug from his mom, and continued playing.

Lakatos woke up the next morning with pain in his legs, that turned to numbness that worked its way up his body. He’d broken a blood vessel inside his spinal column and the pooling blood put pressure on his spinal column.

The Canadian is married to Stef Reid, who won silver in long jump in Rio. Reid competed for Canada at the 2008 Paralympics, but switched to Britain, where the couple lives and trains.

The two shared a sweet moment after Lakatos won the 100 metres. He was wheeling through the interview area when a BBC broadcaster put a set of headphones on him. On the other end was his wife. He tearfully told her he’d won gold.

“Congratulations. I’m so proud of you. . . Are you crying?” asked Reid, who met Lakatos at a track meet in Regina. 

“Maybe,” he replied.

“I love you,” she said, “and I’m really proud of you.”

Lori Ewing, The Canadian Press