Last week, Gavin Baggs made headlines in the pool for Team NL as he won the province’s very first medal of the 2025 Canada Summer Games – a silver in Para Men’s 200m/400m Freestyle swimming.
Earlier today, Baggs made waves again, this time on the track, winning the province’s first gold medal of the Canada Games in the Wheelchair Men’s 1500m athletics.
The conditions today for track and field were not ideal. There were 60-kilometre winds, and on top of that, it was also raining.
Baggs started the race in third before moving up to second. He made a big push in the last lap, overtaking Ontario to take the lead. From there, Baggs never looked back and finished in first place by over 20 seconds, with a time of 4:32.77, earning Newfoundland and Labrador’s very first gold medal of the Canada Games.
This is Baggs’ fourth time competing at the Canada Games. He previously participated in swimming at the 2022 Games in Niagara and Wheelchair Basketball at the 2019 and 2023 Games. Last week, he said he entered this year’s competition “hoping for a medal” and that winning his first medal was “just so special.”
Now, just over a week later, he has earned his second medal, and a gold one at that.
After the race, Baggs said, “It was an unexpected result with the wind and the rain today, in the end I just put my head down, focused on what was ahead of me, and raced my heart out. To walk away with a gold medal for Team NL is such an honour.”
Baggs still has more racing ahead, as he will aim to add a third medal in the Wheelchair Men’s 100m athletics on Friday afternoon.
