Aurélie Rivard wins 3rd straight Paralympic title in women's S10 400m freestyle

Canada's Aurélie Rivard swam to her third consecutive Paralympic gold medal in the women's 400-metre S10 freestyle event on Thursday at the Paris Games.

The 28-year-old from St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., won the final with a time of four minutes 29.20 seconds at Paris La Défense Arena.

Alexandra Truwit of the United States (4:31.39) and Bianka Pap of Hungary (4:35.63) earned silver and bronze, respectively.

Rivard is the first Canadian swimmer to win a gold medal in the same event in three consecutive Paralympic Games since Stephanie Dixon won the S9 100 backstroke in 2000, 2004, and 2008.

WATCH | Rivard completes Paris Paralympic medal set with S10 400m win:

But her path back to the top of the podium — in this event specifically — was not easy.

Rivard pulled out of the 400m freestyle mid-race at the 2022 world championships, then did not start the event at the subsequent worlds a year later.

"It's been complicated to say the least. People first knew me through the 400m. That was my first medal in London. It was the first goal I ever set for myself. It was the first time that I was like, 'Oh my God, maybe I can win a gold medal in an event," she told CBC Sports earlier this year.

"I have put so much effort and time into this race over the past decade. And I feel like I pushed it probably not to the max, but so far that the room for improvement is very little, very small. And because I've won it so many times and it was never easy, I have high standards for it."

It's the third medal of the Paris Games for Rivard, who holds the world and Paralympic record in the 400 freestyle, set at the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021. She has also won silver in the 100 freestyle and bronze in the 50 freestyle in Paris.

WATCH | Rivard says