By Darryl G. Smart
Tillsonburg’s Charlotte Bolton rocked it at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games Thursday night.
The local athlete made her Paralympic debut and placed sixth in the F41 women’s shot put with a best toss of 8.73 metres.
Her next event is the discus in a few days
Bolton has emerged quickly on the Para athletics scene in the past couple years. She holds three Canadian records in the F41 throwing events – shot put (9.05m), javelin (20.33m) and discus (26.02m). She has progressed rapidly in the past year, as just last year her best in the shot put was 7.04 metres. She is now ranked No. 4 in the world in the discus.
Though the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games was originally her plan, with the postponement of the Tokyo Games by a year, she was able to work hard, train, and improve to earn a spot on Canada’s roster for the Tokyo Games, which will be her first major Games.