- Roster includes five returning
Paralympic medallists
- Paris 2024 Paralympic Games
takes place August 28 to September
8
OTTAWA,
ON, July 25, 2024 /CNW/ - A team of 20
athletes has been nominated to represent Canada in Para athletics at the
Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, the
Canadian Paralympic Committee and Athletics Canada announced on
Thursday.
Paris 2024 Canadian
Paralympic Team – PARA ATHLETICS
- Charlotte Bolton – Tillsonburg, ON
- Bianca Borgella – Ottawa, ON
- Anthony Bouchard – Quebec, QC
- Renee Foessel – Barrie, ON
- Cody Fournie – Victoria, BC
- Keegan Gaunt – Thunder Bay,
ON
- Zach Gingras –
Markham, ON
- Sheriauna Haase – Toronto,
ON
- Julia Hanes
– LaSalle, ON
- Brent Lakatos –
Dorval, QC
- Guillaume Ouellet –
Victoriaville,
QC
- Marisa Papaconstantinou –
Toronto, ON
- Ashlyn Renneberg – Saskatoon, SK
- Nate Riech – Victoria, BC
- Katie Pegg – Scarborough, ON
- Amanda Rummery – Edmonton,
AB
- Austin Smeenk – Oakville, ON
- Greg Stewart
– Kamloops, BC
- Noah Vucsics – Calgary,
AB
- Jesse Zesseu – Toronto,
ON
MEET THE RETURNING PARALYMPIC MEDALLISTS
The team
includes five Paralympic medallists, led by Brent Lakatos, who has won 11 medals over his
first five Paralympic Games. Lakatos won four silver medals in
Tokyo in 2021, where he was
Canada's Closing Ceremony flag
bearer.
Of those five Paralympic medallists, two are defending
champions, looking to repeat their success of three years ago.
Greg Stewart set a Paralympic
record on his way to claiming gold in the men's F46 shot put event.
Stewart announced his retirement from competitive sport in 2022
but, just over a year later, he announced his return to the
throwing ring. He has come back strong, earning 2024 World Para
Athletics Championships silver in May to earn a quota spot for
Canada, then earning a Paralympic
nomination with his performance at the 2024 Bell Track & Field
Trials.
"There are going to be a lot of new teammates and I'm really
excited to see a really strong women's side, in particular,"
Stewart said. "Also, to compete with a bunch of my friends – I'm
really excited. Paris is going to
be a hoot, for sure."
Nate Riech won the men's T37/38
1,500 metres on the last full day of competition in Tokyo, setting a Paralympic record of his own
in the process. He is also a two-time world champion in the event,
having won gold at the 2019 and 2023 World Para Athletics
Championships.
"Hey, world. Let's get it going. Let's run the gauntlet. I
welcome all comers and I look forward to challenging myself," Riech
said.
Marissa Papaconstantinou heads to
her third Paralympic Games, having won bronze in the women's T64
100 metres in Tokyo. She earned
bronze in that same event, as well as bronze in the women's T64 200
metres, at the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships last
year.
Zach Gingras earned his
nomination to the Paralympic team with a silver medal in the men's
T38 400 metres at the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships and a
stellar performance at the 2024 Bell Track & Field Trials.
Gingras walks into his second Paralympic Games having won bronze in
the event three years ago in Tokyo.
DECORATED VETERANS AIM FOR PARALYMPIC
BREAKTHROUGH
Austin Smeenk
has already had a season for the record books, having set a world
record in the men's T34 400 metres three separate times and a new
world record in the men's T34 800 metres at World Para Athletics
Grand Prix events this year. He won silver (T34 100 metres) and
bronze (T34 400 metres) at the 2023 World Para Athletics
Championships, as team co-captain in Paris last year.
Renee Foessel goes to her third
Paralympic Games, having won silver in the women's F38 discus at
the 2023 world championships, where she served as co-captain with
Smeenk. Later in the year, she won bronze in the event at the
Parapan American Games in Santiago.
"Coming out of the world championships last year, and a podium
performance, I would really like to go in and achieve the same,"
Foessel said. "A gold medal would be optimal, but I'm really
excited to get there and get in the ring and do the best I
can."
Guillaume Ouellet will also make
his third appearance on the Paralympic track. He took bronze in the
men's T34 1500 metres at the 2023 World Para Athletics
Championships.
Charlotte Bolton claimed the
bronze medal in the women's F41 discus at the 2023 Parapan American
Games and captured her first international win in the event at the
WPA Paris Grand Prix in June.
PARALYMPIC ROOKIES LOOK TO SHINE
There will be 11 Para
athletes making their Paralympic debut in Paris, many of whom have already had an impact
on the international stage.
Three athletes earned medals at the 2023 or 2024 World Para
Athletics Championships.
Bianca Borgella won silver (T13
200 metres) and bronze (T13 100 metres) at the 2023 World Para
Athletics Championships.
"It's pretty incredible. Young
Bianca wouldn't have thought that she would go to the
Paralympics. This year, I'm hoping to go with my mind clear and
hopefully get a medal – fingers crossed," Borgella said.
Noah Vucsics earned silver in the
men's T20 long jump at the 2023 worlds and bronze in the same event
at the 2023 Parapan Am Games.
"The goal is to try and find the podium, like I did last year.
To get there, I just need to work on some things and challenge for
one of those medals," Vucsics said.
Cody Fournie raced to silver in
the men's T51 100 metres at the 2024 World Para Athletics
Championships in Kobe, Japan.
Four more athletes enter Paris
2024 as Santiago 2023 Parapan Am
Games medallists.
Anthony Bouchard only started
wheelchair racing in 2020, but he has quickly established himself
as a medal threat, winning gold in Santiago in the men's T52 100 metres.
Sheriauna Haase earned two bronze medals at the Parapan Am
Games, stepping onto the podium for both the women's T47 100 metres
and 200 metres.
Jesse Zesseu left Santiago with
medals in both the men's F37 discus (silver) and F37 long jump
(bronze).
Keegan Gaunt approaches her first
Paralympic Games with a 2023 Parapan American Games bronze medal to
her name, having placed third in the women's T13 1500 metres.
First-time Paralympic Games participants Ashlyn Renneberg, Julia
Hanes, Katie Pegg, and
Amanda Rummery complete the
roster.
WORLD CLASS
Canada is
coming off one of its best ever World Para Athletics Championships
in 2023. The Canadian team won 14 medals (two gold, seven silver,
five bronze), won by nine different medallists. This represents the
country's best World Para Athletics Championships since 2013.
Canada also claimed two more
medals at the 2024 World Para Athletics Championships, at an event
where few athletes who had already qualified for Paris 2024 competed.
Canada's Para athletics team
left Tokyo 2020 with eight medals
– two gold, four silver, two bronze – won by five individual
medallists. That is the same number of medals and medallists as Rio
2016.
"When I left Tokyo in 2021, I
told myself the only way we'll believe that we're successful is to
have a strategic plan that ensures that we build this team to at
least 20 athletes," said Carla
Nichols, Athletics Canada's Lead of Paralympic
High-Performance. "We've gotten to 20 – 10 female, 10 male. All the
men are ranked top six in the world and almost all the women are
ranked in the top eight. I see 20 athletes that I'm so proud of and
I know that they're in the right place to do well in Paris. This was such a difficult team to make,
and these athletes have been working hard for the past two years to
try and make this team."
Fifteen of the athletes nominated met the standard to qualify
for the team competing in the Paralympic Games at the 2024 Bell
Track & Field Trials in Montreal last month.
Para athletics competition in Paris will run August
30 to September 8 at Stade de France, with the marathon events taking place
in the streets of Paris on the
final day of competition.
"Congratulations to all 20 Para athletics team members on being
nominated for the Paris 2024
Canadian Paralympic Team," said Josh Vander Vies, co-chef de
mission, Paris 2024 Canadian
Paralympic Team. "This is going to be such an exciting team to
follow in Paris, with Paralympic
medallists, world record holders, comeback stories, Paralympic
debutants, and so much more. I encourage all Canadians to get
behind these athletes; I certainly can't wait to cheer them on
myself."
"I am so thrilled to welcome the Para athletics athletes to the
team," said Karolina Wisniewska,
co-chef de mission, Paris 2024
Canadian Paralympic Team. "This is an incredible group of athletes,
with so much success at the Paralympic Games and world
championships. From the team's leaders who have been to multiple
Games to a very exciting group of athletes heading to their first
Games, we will see so many amazing performances in Paris. Wishing all 20 athletes the best of
luck with their final preparations and I'm looking forward to
supporting them at the Games."
The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games
will take place August 28 to September
8 in Paris, France.
Canada is expecting to send a team
of approximately 130 athletes.
Prior to being officially named to the Canadian Paralympic Team,
all nominations are subject to approval by the Canadian Paralympic
Committee. The approved final roster will be announced closer to
the start of the Games.
About the Canadian Paralympic Committee:
Paralympic.ca
About Athletics Canada: Athletics.ca
SOURCE Canadian Paralympic Committee (Sponsorships)