Brent Lakatos (born 1 June 1980) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

wheelchair racer in the T53 classification. Lakatos has represented Canada at three

Summer Paralympics The Summer Paralympics also known as the Games of the Paralympiad, are an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete. This includes athletes with mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and cerebra ...

, and at the 2012 Games he won three silver medals in the sprint and mid-distance events. In 2013 Lakatos reached the pinnacle of his sport when he collected four gold medals at the

IPC Athletics World Championships The World Para Athletics Championships, known as the IPC Athletics World Championships prior to 2017, are a biennial Paralympic athletics event organized by World Para Athletics, a subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). It ...

and became world champion at his classification in the 100m, 200m and 400m events.

Personal history

Lakatos came from a sporting family and was swimming by the age of four. When he was six years-old a freak ice-skating accident resulted in the formation of a blood clot on his spine that left his legs paralyzed. Lakatos is married to Great Britain Paralympic sprinter and long jumper,

Stefanie Reid Stefanie McLeod Reid (born 26 October 1984) is a track and field paralympian who competes for Great Britain, competing mainly in category T44 long jump and sprint events. A multiple medal winner at European and world level, she won a bronze ...

and as of 2012 they live together in Britain.

Athletics career

Although Lakatos had taken part in racing events during the summer months since 1996, he did not initially take to athletics and was far more interested in wheelchair basketball, playing for the University of Texas at Arlington. Eight months before the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, Lakatos decided to switch sports permanently to wheelchair racing. At that time Lakatos was competing as a T54 athlete having not yet received an International IPC Classification. In 2004 he finally qualified and was selected for the 2004 Summer Paralympics, this was quite an accomplishment for him in the T54 class, a class he was incorrectly placed in. He raced in the 100m, 200m, 4 × 100 m relay and 4 × 400 m relay, though he failed to qualify for the finals in the solo events and in the relays Canada came fourth in the finals of the 4 × 100 m and were disqualified in the 4 × 400 m. Lakatos' career changed when receiving his International IPC Classification at the 2004 Paralympics, he was reclassified as a T53 racer. He now found that instead of struggling to just qualify he was now one of the fastest athletes in his new class and in 2007 he was breaking Canadian wheelchair sprint records. Lakatos again qualified for the Canadian team in the

2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was f ...

in Beijing. He was entered for the 100m, 200m and 400 m T53 events, and whereas in 2004 he failed to qualify for the finals, he now qualified for all three finals. Despite his best efforts, Lakatos could only finish between 5th and 6th in all three final races. Lakatos bettered these results when he raced in the

2011 IPC Athletics World Championships The 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships was held in Christchurch, New Zealand from January 21 to 30, 2011. Athletes with a disability competed, and the Championships was a qualifying event for the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Ove1000 athlet ...

, finishing third in the 100m and second in the 200m finals. By 2012 Lakatos was a major challenger for gold medals in his T53 events. In the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Ga ...

in London he took three silver medals; in the 200m, 400m and 800m. In the 200m and 400m finals he was beaten by China's Li Huzhao, while in the 800m he was just 11 hundredths of a second behind Richard Colman of Australia. The next year Lakatos stamped his mark on the international stage when he won five medals, four of them gold at the

2013 IPC Athletics World Championships The 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships was the biggest track and field competition for athletes with a disability since the 2012 Summer Paralympics. It was held in Lyon, France, and lasted from 20 to 28 July. Around 1,100 athletes competed, ...

, becoming world champion in the 100, 200 and 400m. Then the day after the World Championships he competed in the Sainsbury Anniversary Games in London, setting the World Record in the 100m with a time 14.34s. In 2020, Lakatos won the 400 metres wheelchair race at the

2020 British Athletics Championships The 2020 British Athletics Championships (known for sponsorship reasons as the Müller British Athletics Championships) was the national championship in outdoor track and field for athletes in the United Kingdom. The championship took place on ...

. Later in the year, he won the

2020 London Marathon The 2020 London Marathon was the 40th running of the annual marathon race in London, United Kingdom, which took place on 4 October 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the race was postponed from 26 April and only allowed elite participants; t ...

in a time of 1:36:04.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lakatos, Brent 1980 births Living people People with paraplegia Olympic wheelchair racers of Canada Paralympic gold medalists for Canada Paralympic silver medalists for Canada Paralympic bronze medalists for Canada Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Canadian male wheelchair racers Canadian people of Hungarian descent Paralympic wheelchair racers Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics World Para Athletics Championships winners Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Paralympic track and field athletes of Canada Medalists at the 2015 Parapan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Paralympics British Athletics Championships winners People from Dorval