August 26, 2021 – Canada’s Wheelchair Rugby Team loses its second Paralympic match to rival USA in Group Stage, 58-54; Canada is no longer in medal contention. USA (ranked 2^nd internationally) picked up two points and is ranked first in Group B with 2 wins. Zak Madell led Canada with 31 tries, Charles Aoki led the Americans with 30.

(Megumi Masuda/World Wheelchair Rugby)

“It’s always a pleasure to be on the court with world class athletes like Zak”, said linemate, Mike Whitehead. “The guys make my job easy. All The boys battled and it’s an honour to be on Team Canada.”

A loss in Game 2 and a 0-2 record signifies Canada will be playing in a classification match August 27 or 28 against an undetermined opponent. Canada (ranked 5^th) plays its final game in Group Stage against New Zealand tomorrow.

“They are a big, strong team. You know they are always going to compete hard; they are one of the favourites going in, you know you’re in for a battle every time you play against them”, said coach, Dave Willsie. “We matched up well, I don’t remember a Team creating that many turnovers against them. If we just took care of the balls a little better, I think the outcome would have been different.”

“The boys aren’t in a good mood, I think their disappointed, a little angry, but this is the perfect sport to get rid of your frustration,” continued Dave on the Team’s mentality heading into Game 3. “[The team] is going to come out hard, there should be a lot of big hits and a lot of energy, our guys got a lot of pride.”

Match Statistics

Match 3 begins August 27 4:00am PT; 5:00am MT; 6:00am CT; 7:00am ET; 8:00 AT

Livestream and on-demand broadcasts will offer an additional 1000+ hours of competition coverage, and can be found on Paralympic.ca/Tokyo-2020, cbc.ca/tokyo2020 and Radio-Canada.ca/jeux-paralympiques, the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android devices, the free CBC Gem streaming service, and the Radio-Canada Sports app.

The full broadcast schedule can be found here.

The Paralympic Games take place from August 24 to September 5.

ABOUT WHEELCHAIR RUGBY CANADA

Wheelchair Rugby Canada is the national governing body for the Canadian Heritage Sport of wheelchair rugby. Wheelchair Rugby Canada strives to be a world-leader in wheelchair rugby, a respected advocate for wheelchair athletes and a visionary organization committed to excellence in programs from recruitment to retirement.

MEDIA CONTACT

Nathan Lederer
Communications and Marketing Coordinator
Wheelchair Rugby Canada
nathan@wheelchairrugby.ca or 905-531-742