Moncton — The Ottawa Lions got off to a great start at the 2013 Canadian Championships on Thursday with club athletes picking up a total of six medals on day one. The senior championships are making their first appearance at the Moncton 2010 stadium and Paralympians Rachael Burrows and Curtis Thom wasted no time in capturing gold.
Burrows, a sixth place finisher at the Paralympics last year, easily defended her T34 100m title in a time of 23.21. Rachael will also before competing in the 200m event on Saturday evening before she heads across the pond to a grand prix meet in Birmingham, England next week.
For Curtis Thom, yesterday’s weather was a welcome break from the cold and rain he’s experienced at recent races in Switzerland. With the sun shining and temperature on the track in high 20’s, Thom turned in an excellent performance with a 14.70 second clocking. He will also compete in the 200m and 400m this weekend.
The final gold came in the T20 1500m with Tommy Des Brisay taking the title with a 4:41.39 clocking. Others to pick up medals were were Jon Dunkerley and his guide Brian Cumming who picked up silver in the T11 400m and Jared Broughton in the T13 1500m. The final medal of the day came from Josh Cassidy who rolled his way to a silver as well in the T54 1500m in 3:27.81.
