Canada has named three athletes and the USA will travel with two paddlers for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
Brianna Hennessy will lead the Canadian team as Paracanoe competition at Paris 2024 runs from September 6 to 8 at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.
Hennessy is a five-time world medallist in the VL2 and KL1. At Tokyo 2020, she finished fifth in the VL2 200m and eighth in the KL1 200m.
Joining her is Erica Scarff, who won her first major international medal at the World Championships last year, when she claimed the VL3 200m silver.
Having competed in nine worlds, Scarff has plenty of experience in her bag and will be up against Great Britain’s Hope Gordon, the reigning VL3 world champion.
Heading to his second Paralympic Games, Mathieu St-Pierre will aim to better his fifth-place finish in the men’s VL2 in the French capital.
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“The level of competition will be high in Paris,’’ St-Pierre was quoted as saying by Le Nouvelliste.
“The two Brazilians are extremely strong (defending Games champion Fernando Rufino de Paulo and Igor Tofalini, 1-2 at the 2023 World Championships). I still think I’ll be able to catch them one day, but they’ve got a good tick on the rest.
‘’I’d really like to go for a medal.’’
Jillian Elwart and Blake Haxton will be the two American paddlers in Paris, with the duo making the Paralympic cut at the 2023 Paracanoe World Championships in Duisburg.
Haxton won silver in the VL2 200m at Tokyo 2020 and Paris will be his third Paralympic Games. He has also competed as a rower for the USA at Rio 2016.
Elwart finished fourth in the VL3 200m at the World Championships last year, and will hope to convert that into a podium spot in France.
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