1) Canadians seek podium in Paris amid tougher Paralympic competition

Courtesy Barrie360.co and Canadian Press

By Donna Spencer, August 28

Canada’s Brent Lakatos competes in a men’s 200-meter T53 heat at the 2012 Paralympics, in London on Friday, Sept. 7, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Kirsty Wigglesworth

Paralympic Games medals have become harder for Canadians to win, which makes them precious in Paris.

Canada’s 126-member team is among 4,400 athletes from 168 countries competing in 22 sports that get underway Thursday.

There were just 122 participating countries in Sydney, Australia in 2000, so the demands for an athlete to win a medal at the Paralympic Games jumped exponentially in nearly a quarter century.

“Every year, every quad, they just keep getting bigger and bigger, with more media exposure, more athletes, more events,” Toronto wheelchair rugby player Travis Murao said. 

Canadians won 21 medals, including five gold, in Tokyo’s Paralympics delayed from 2020 to 2021 and held without spectators because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Canada’s medal total dropped from 29 in Rio in 2016 and 31 in London in 2012.

“We as a nation, since London where we won 31 medals at the Paralympic Games, have had a performance trend that has not been positive,” said Own The Podium chief executive officer Anne Merklinger.

“Post-Tokyo there was very much a concerted, collaborative effort with the Canadian Paralympic Committee and the national sport organizations that are invested in Paralympic sport to say we need to dig into this more and identify what are the opportunities that Canada has to get back to near where we were in London . . . be ultimately a top-eight, top-10 summer Paralympic nation?”

Paralympic sport now requires the full-time professional coaching and support staff that Olympians demand. The cost of a sport wheelchair can also range from $5,000 to $25,000.

“We’ve gotten by with what we’ve done and I would say we’ve been punching well above our weight,” Canadian Paralympic Committee CEO Karen O’Neill said. 

“In this case, the investment in the Paralympic system is really probably the most critical element for us to continue to compete on a world stage and to close that gap.”

Swimming and track and field is expected to lead Canada’s medal charge in Paris, with contributions from cycling, triathlon and boccia over 11 days to the closing ceremonies Sept. 8.

Swimmer Aurelie Rivard of St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., wheelchair racer Brent Lakatos of Dorval, Que., Calgary triathlete Stefan Daniel and track cyclist Kate O’Brien and judoka Priscilla Gagne of Granby, Que., are among Canadians to watch, as is para rower Jacob Wassermann, who is a survivor of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash. 

“In Rio, we had a sold-out venue and so loud, everyone was screaming, I couldn’t hear the coach whatsoever,” Gagne recalled. “In Tokyo, it was the opposite because the stands are empty, so I could hear people sneeze.

“To now go back to being able to have a full sold-out venue and with my whole family there and a lot of friends that will be able to come because it’s so close, it’s going to be just wonderful. It’s going to be a great bookend and a great exit to my career.”

2) Double track cycling bronze for Canada at Paralympic Games in Paris

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Canadian Press Staff, August 30, 2024

Keely Shaw competes in the Para Track Cycling Women’s C1-5 500m Individual Time Trial Final at the Parapan Am Games in Santiago, Nov. 23, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-CANADIAN PARALYMPIC COMMITTEE, Angela Burger

Keely Shaw and Alexandre Hayward have won track cycling bronze medals at the Paralympic Games.

The 30-year-old Shaw, from Midale, Sask., repeated her podium result from Tokyo three years ago when she was also third in the women’s 3,000-metre individual pursuit.

Hayward placed third in men’s pursuit. The 27-year-old from Quispamsis, N.B., made his Paralympic debut in Paris.

In pursuit, each rider tries to both post the fastest time and attempt to overtake the other cyclist before the end of the race at the velodrome.

Shaw beat Samantha Bosco of the United States in the head-to-head bronze bout, while Hayward defeated Spain’s Eduardo Santas Asensio.

Shaw races in the C4 category for athletes with lower-limb impairment. Hayward’s C3 classification is for athletes with moderate upper or lower limb dysfunction.

Shaw suffered partial paralysis on her left side when she fell off a horse at the age of 15. Hayward broke his neck playing hockey in 2012 and has quadriplegia in his limbs.