Brock University student Jessica Lewis

Fourth-year Brock University Recreation and Leisure Studies student Jessica Lewis won a gold medal for Bermuda Thursday night at the Toronto 2015 Parapan Am Games.

After finishing sixth in the 800m T53 final earlier in the day, the 22-year-old dominated the 100m T53 final Thursday night.

Lewis’ Parapan record-breaking time of 17.67 seconds was nearly a full second faster than silver-medal winner Ilana Dupont of Canada. Another Canadian, Jessica Frotten, finished third in the race.

“It’s an absolute honour to be able to bring home a medal and for it to be gold,” Lewis said Friday. “Para sport isn’t that big in Bermuda yet, so I’m hoping it will get things going and more people will become aware of para sport.”

It was an historic night for Bermuda as Lewis’ gold was the first medal ever won by the country in a major para games. She went on to finish fifth in the 400m T53 final Friday night.

Though originally from Bermuda, Lewis trains five days a week at Brock and spends her weekends in Mississauga.

After the Parapan Am games wrap up, Lewis is heading home to Bermuda Monday for a brief break before returning Sept. 4 to prepare for her fourth year at Brock.

Click here to watch video of Lewis taking gold in the 100m final.

Click here to read an interview with Lewis in Bermuda’s Royal Gazette newspaper.

Earlier in the week, Brock University alumnus Joel Dembe (BSM ’07) won a bronze medal in wheelchair tennis doubles. Dembe and partner Philippe Bedard, of Quebec, beat an American duo 6-4, 6-2 to take the medal.

Dembe, from Hamilton, has said he is retiring from the sport and won’t try to qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Rio.