Canada's Jesse Zesseu captures discus silver in Paralympic debut

Canada's Jesse Zesseu won silver in his Paralympic debut on Friday in the men's discus F37 final at the Paris Games.

The 25-year-old earned Canada's 21st medal and seventh silver in Paris after beating the reigning Paralympic champion for second place.

Zesseu, from Toronto, finished behind Uzbekistan's Tolibboy Yuldashev after launching his sixth and final throw 53.24 metres.

Zesseu's third throw of 52.81m was ultimately enough to secure the silver medal, as Pakistan's Ali Haider fell 0.7 metres short of the mark on his last chance to defend his title.

WATCH | Toronto's Zesseu secures discus silver:

Yuldashev, who also won shot put bronze in Paris, closed out Friday's final with a personal-best throw of 57.28m, but he had already assured himself the gold medal on his penultimate attempt (56.03m).

Zesseu was born with cerebral palsy after suffering a stroke at birth.

Zesseu came to Para sport as an adult. He says he was working for Cerebral Palsy Ontario when he was told he should investigate his eligibility to pursue Paralympic sport.

The medal means Canada has now matched its medal total from the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021.

Canada continued to shine in the pool at Paris La Défense Arena on Day 9, as Sebastian Massabie swam to a Paralympic record in the men's 50m freestyle S4 qualifying heats.

Massabie touched the wall in 36.95 seconds, finishing just 0.7 seconds away from the world record held by reigning champion Ami Omer Dadaon of Israel.

The 19-year-old Paralympic rookie from Toronto will race for gold at 1:40 p.m. ET, with live coverage on CBC Gem, the Paris 2024 website and the Paris 2024 mobile app. 

Three other swimming finals will feature Canadians on Friday, including Paris medallists Katie Cosgriffe and