(Montreal) It has become a habit for wheelchair athlete Anthony Bouchard. The Quebecer obtained a podium in the 400m T52 on Friday, at the Nottwil Grand Prix, thanks to a personal best over the distance.
Bouchard won the bronze medal in Switzerland, as he did in November at the Parapan American Games in Santiago. He then lowered his World Championships mark by 1.08 seconds.
On Friday, he shaved another second off the time he had set seven months earlier.
“My goal when arriving in Switzerland was just to improve my time. I’m mainly focusing on the 100m at the moment. My coach just told me to do my best to get a better idea of where we were. The race went really well, I’m happy with my performance! »Shared Anthony Bouchard to Sportcom.
His time of 1:3.20 placed him third in the final, just ahead of Colombian Christian Torres, silver medalist in Santiago. The Japanese Tomoki Sato (56.08 s) and Tomoya Ito (59.69 s) achieved the double.
Bouchard does not hide the fact that the absence of certain competitors reduces the importance he gave to Friday’s podium.
“Finishing on the podium is more or less representative here, since several athletes are missing. I look more at my time than the medal! My goal was mainly to improve, because I haven’t done many 400m since the start of the season. Training is going well, but you never know where your form is before doing a real race,” added the man who is aiming for a first participation in the Paralympic Games this summer.
He approached the Parapan American Games in the same way in the fall, without having too many expectations.
“I think this is the right approach to take! » he concluded.
The bronze medalist will be back on Saturday for the 100m event.