Toronto 2015: Day one preview

Thirty two medal events will be decided on the first day of competition at the Toronto 2015 Parapan American Games on Saturday (8 August) with action in 12 of the 15 sports.

Hosts Canada will be hopeful of making a great start to the Games with some of their leading athletes competing for gold in boccia and road cycling events.

The biggest name in action on Saturday is Brazil’s Daniel Dias, who is widely regarded as the world’s best para-swimmer. At last month’s World Championships he won seven world titles and is aiming for 12 golds in Toronto.

The first medal of the Games will also be presented in swimming to the winner of the men’s 200m individual medley SM11.

Live action from swimming, wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby can be found at www.paralympic.org

Here’s what to check out on the first day of competition.

Medal events

Boccia

World number one BC4 boccia player Marco Dispaltro will line-up at the Abilities Centre on Saturday as he aims to spearhead the host country to gold in the BC4 Pairs event. Canada’s bid for gold will face a big obstacle however in the shape of Brazil who are ranked second in the world in this event.

The host country will also be optimistic of winning medals in the BC1/BC2 team and BC3 pairs events, as will Brazil and Argentina.

Road cycling

A number of gold medallists from last week’s UCI Para-cycling World Championships in Switzerland will be in action at Ontario Place West Channel on Saturday as para-cyclists compete in 10 medal events.

Fresh from winning two gold medals in Switzerland, Canada’s Shelley Gautier, a T1 cyclist who was shortlisted for a Laureus Sports Award this year, will compete in the mixed road race T1-T2 for tandem racers alongside teammate Marie-Eve Croteau, a two-time world champion herself in 2011. The USA’s Jill Walsh could also be a contender after winning the T2 world title last week.

Spectators should also keep an eye out for Peru’s Hilario Rimas in the men’s C1-3 race. The 41-year-old won the C2 world title in Switzerland and also won bronze in the time trial.

The USA will be looking for gold through Jamie Whitmore (women’s C1-3), Shawn Morelli (women’s C4-5). Both won two world titles each last week in Switzerland.

Powerlifting

Some of the world’s strongest para-athletes will go for gold at the Mississauga Sports Centre as the powerlifting competition gets underway with three medal events.

The women’s up to 45kg class is the first event of the day and could see a titanic tussle between Cuba’s Leydis Rodriguez and Mexico’s Mayra Alejandra Hernandez. The two went head-to-head at April’s IPC Powerlifting Open Americas Championship with Hernandez coming out on top with a best lift of 65.0kg.

Brazil’s Maria Rizonaide, a bronze medallist at the Open Americas Championships will start as favourite for gold in the women’s up to 50kg class, as will Chile’s Jorge Cainao in the men’s up to 54kg class. At April’s event in Mexico City, Cainao set a new Americas record with a lift of 147kg, nearly three times his bodyweight.

Swimming

Brazil’s Daniel Dias, arguably the world’s best Paralympic swimmer, will headline the first day of swimming competition at the CIBC Pan Am/Parapan Am Aquatics Centre which features 16 medal events. At last month’s World Championships, the 27-year-old won seven world titles and in Toronto is looking to win a staggering 12 gold medals, one more than he won four years ago in Guadalajara, Mexico.

You can watch live action from swimming from 17:00 EDT at www.ipc-swimming.org

Non-medal events

Football 5-a-side

Six teams will start their quest for Parapan gold at Pan Am/Parapan Am Fields with the first games of the round robin stage starting at 16:00. First up is a fixture between Uruguay and world silver medallists Argentina. At 18:00, world and Paralympic champions Brazil will start the defence of their Parapan title against Chile, before the final game at 20:00 will feature Colombia and Mexico.

Football 7-side

Brazil, the world bronze medallists and favourites for gold in Toronto, open their campaign for gold at 09:00 at Pan Am/Parapan Am Fields against the world number 15 ranked side Venezuela. This is followed at 11:00 by Argentina against hosts Canada. With USA enjoying a rest day, the competition features five teams who will initially play each other once to determine which four teams contest the medal events.

Goalball

All 12 teams – six men’s and six women’s sides – will be in action on the first day of competition at the Mississauga Sports Centre. Brazil’s men, who won the world title last year, will start their bid to retain Parapan gold against arch rivals Argentina.

Likewise, the USA are the defending champions on the women’s side and also won the world title last year. They open up their account with a fixture against El Salvador.

Sitting Volleyball

World silver medallists and defending Parapan champions Brazil will meet Mexico’s men in their first game on Saturday at the CIBC Pan Am/Parapan Am Aquatics Centre and Fieldhouse. The game starts at 19:05. Before the two sides meet, USA will face Colombia in the day’s opening fixture and hosts Canada will play Costa Rica.

Table tennis

The opening two rounds of the men’s and women’s singles will see many top players in action at the Atos Markham Pan Am/Parapan Am Centre. Spectators should look out for Chile’s defending champion Christian Dettoni in the men’s single class 7, Mexico’s Maria Paredes in women’s class 5 and Argentina’s Gabriel Copola in men’s class 3.

Wheelchair basketball

Six group games – made of three men’s and three women’s matches - will light up the first day of competition at the Ryerson Athletic Centre. Arguably the best game of the day will be in the men’s competition at 16:15 when defending champions USA meet Colombia in a repeat of the 2011 gold medal match. The final two games of the day will see hosts’ women’s and men’s teams in action against Guatemala and Venezuela respectively.

Wheelchair rugby

The most brutal summer para-sport on earth makes its Parapan debut at Mississauga Sports Centre with games beginning at 17:00. Hosts Canada, the world and Paralympic silver medallists, are first on court in the round robin stages against Brazil, followed soon after by the world number three side USA and Argentina. Saturday’s final game will see Colombia meet Chile.

Wheelchair tennis

Action starts at 10:00 with the men’s singles round of 32. Argentina’s Gustavo Fernandez is the defending champion and the world number six is a strong favourite to retain his title. There will also be action from the last 16 of the women’s doubles.

The Toronto 2015 Parapan American Games will feature 1,600 athletes from 28 countries who will compete in 15 sports, all of which are qualifiers for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.