Canadian Para runner Nate Tucker wins 3rd 1,500m world title, breaks own championship record

Canadian runner Nate Tucker won his signature event in record-setting fashion at the World Para Athletics Championships on Sunday in New Delhi, India.

The Victoria, B.C., native broke his own championship record in the men's 1,500-metre T38 final with a time of three minutes 57.98 seconds, earning his third world title in the event.

The 2021 Paralympic champion saved his best for last, biding his time near the front before shifting gears to take the lead on the final lap. Tucker shaved 3.9 seconds off his previous record from his gold-medal run at his first world championships six years ago in Dubai.

The 30-year-old Tucker, who previously went by the last name Riech, also won the 1,500-metre world title in 2023 in Paris before taking silver at the Paris Paralympics in 2024.

WATCH l Tucker wins 1,500m gold at Para athletics worlds in New Delhi:

3:57.98 was Nate Tucker of Victoria, B.C.'s gold medal winning time Sunday at the World Para Athletics Championships in the 1500-metre T38 final.

Tucker wasn't the only Canadian to reach the podium on the final day of competition at the world championships, as fellow runner Marissa Papaconstantinou and wheelchair racer Austin Smeenk captured silver and bronze, respectively.

Smeenk finished third in the men's 800-metre T34 event earlier in the day at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

The 27-year-old from Oakville, Ont., crossed the finish line in 1:40.50 for his second bronze medal in New Delhi.

Smeenk, the reigning Paralympic champion and world record holder in the event, finished just behind China's Wang Yang (1:40.24) and Thailand's Chaiwat Rattana (1:40.37).

Smeenk also finished third in the men's 400-metre T34 final last Monday.

WATCH l Smeenk races to 800m bronze:

Wheelchair racer Austin Smeenk of Oakville, Ont., finishes third in the men's 800-metre T34 final at the World Para Athletics Championships in New Delhi with a time of time of 1:40.50. Smeenk also captured a bronze medal on Monday in the men's 400-metre T34 final.

Toronto's Papaconstantinou won her first career world silver medal in the final event of the day.

The 25-year-old finished second in the the women's 200-metre T64 final with a time of 27.07 — 0.9 seconds behind Marlene van Gansewinkel of the Netherlands. American Sydney Barta took bronze in 27.51.

It's Papaconstantinou's second medal of the week after winning bronze in the 100 on Wednesday.

Canada finishes with nine medals at the World Para Athletics Championships (3 gold, 1 silver, 5 bronze).

WATCH l Papaconstantinou earns silver in 200m:

27.07 was Marissa Papaconstantinou's silver medal time in the 200-metre T64 final Sunday at the World Para Athletics Championships.