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Madell misses out on podium in Rio

A tournament of close-calls swung the wrong way on Canada’s wheelchair rugby team.
Okotoks’ Zak Madell and Team Canada finished fourth in wheelchair rugby at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Japan edged Canada 52-50 for the bronze.
Okotoks’ Zak Madell and Team Canada finished fourth in wheelchair rugby at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Japan edged Canada 52-50 for the bronze.

A tournament of close-calls swung the wrong way on Canada’s wheelchair rugby team.

Okotoks’ Zak Madell and the fourth-ranked Canadians saw their push to the podium crash to a halt as the upstart Japanese earned their first Paralympic medal in the sport in edging out the Canucks in a 52-50 bronze medal clash on Sept. 18 in Rio de Janeiro.

“We had a little run in the second and third quarters to try and tighten it up, but Japan wasn’t giving us anything to work with and played a clean game overall,” Madell told the International Paralympic Committee after the match. “It looks like we’ve got a long road ahead of us. Four years from now we could be on top of that podium, but we’ve got a lot of work to do in those four years.”

Madell, a 2012 graduate of Holy Trinity Academy, paced the offence with 35 points in the third place contest.

Team Canada, silver medallists four summers ago at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, missed out on a wheelchair rugby medal for the first time since the 2004 Games in Athens.

The Canucks started the competition brightly with a pair of victories.

First, in-front of a raucous, partisan home crowd the Canadians played the role of spoilers in outlasting the host Brazil 62-48 to kick-off pool play in style. Madell, one of the world’s top players and a three-time world championship MVP, was the go-to-guy on offence in a 38-point showing.

Canada then knocked off Great Britain 50-49 in an overtime thriller with Madell setting up teammate Trevor Hirschfield for the game winner in the final seconds.

The 22-year-old Okotokian again led the offence with 30 goals in the contest.

The final round-robin tilt was a gold medal rematch four years in the making.

The reigning Paralympic gold medallists from Australia again got the better of Canada in a 60-55 seesaw tilt.

Finishing second in its pool, Canada locked horns with the top team in Pool B – the Americans in the semifinal. Led by a 34-point showing from Chuck Aoki, Team U.S. built and early lead and held off Canada in a 60-55 triumph to advance to the championship.

Madell posted a team high 31 points.

Canada finished 14th in the medal standings, posting eight gold, 10 silver and 11 bronze for a total of 29 medals. Twenty-year-old swimmer Aurelie Rivard was named the nation’s flag bearer at the closing ceremony after picking up three gold medals and setting two world records in the process.

For more information go to paralympic.ca


Remy Greer

About the Author: Remy Greer

Remy Greer is the assistant editor and sports reporter for westernwheel.ca and the Western Wheel newspaper. For story tips contact [email protected]
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