Athens 2004

A Special Feature on the XII Paralympic Summer Games
September 17-28, 2004

TEAM CANADA: THE FACTS

- The Canadian team numbers 144 athletes (91 men and 53 women) from all 10 provinces who will compete in 13 of the 19 sports on the Games program. Ontario fields the most athletes at 46, followed by B.C. at 35 and Quebec with 30 athletes. The team’s average age is 32. The youngest member is swimmer Rhea Schmidt at 18 and the oldest is sailor David Williams at 65.

- More than two-thirds of the athletes competed in Sydney four years ago, with 66 winning medals.

- Leading the way are four athletes who are headed to their sixth Paralympic Games: Jacques Martin and Clayton Gerein in track and field and Linda Kutrowski and Chantal Benoit in wheelchair basketball.

- In Sydney in 2000, Canadian Paralympians earned a record 96 medals and finished third overall in the country standings. In Atlanta in 1996, Canada was seventh overall with 71 medals.

- Standing volleyball has been removed from the Paralympic program, and Canada didn’t qualify athletes in archery, fencing and table tennis for Athens.

- The Canadian Paralympic Committee estimates that Canada can finish in the top eight nations and earn approximately 80 medals.


THE SPORTS:

Archery

Athletics (Track and Field)
Canada’s athletics team will be the largest team at the Games. Several medals, and even world records, are expected from Jeff Adams, Earle Connor, Lisa Franks and Chantal Petitclerc on the track, while on the field all the Canadian throwers are standouts.

Basketball (Wheelchair)
Canada looks to successfully defend its men’s and women’s titles led by Patrick Anderson and Chantal Benoit.

Boccia
Paul Gauthier is a medal contender in singles.

Cycling
Jean Quevillon is a medal contender on the road and on the track. Stéphane Côté and his guide, Pierre-Olivier Boily, are currently ranked number one in the world on the road.

Equestrian
Canada didn’t compete in 2000 but returns with a strong team in dressage, led by Lauren Barwick.

Fencing

Football

Goalball
The women’s squad looks to successfully defend its title led by Nancy Morin, the top scorer at the Sydney Games.

Judo
Bill Morgan is Canada’s sole entry and a solid medal contender.

Powerlifting
Sally Thomas is the first Canadian woman to compete in the sport at the Paralympics and is vying for a medal.

Rugby
Canada is the reigning world champion and looks to better its fourth-place finish from Sydney.

Sailing
The Sonar crew is on the medal hunt, looking to match or improve on their Sydney bronze.

Shooting
Chris Trifonidis, who is of Greek heritage, hopes to do well in Canadian colours.

Swimming
Canada is looking to replicate our outstanding performance in Sydney, where Canadian swimmers won a total of 48 medals in the pool.

Table Tennis

Tennis
For the first time there is a quadriplegia category, and Canada has a top entry in Sarah Hunter.

Volleyball (Sitting)


SPOTLIGHT ON BOCCIA

BY JENNIFER LARSON

Think boccia is just a game for old Italian men? Think again! This Paralympic sport may be based on traditional outdoor bocce, but it’s for everyone to enjoy.

Boccia (rhymes with “gotcha”) is a unique sport that is specifically designed to include people with more significant disabilities who may not be able to access many other sports. It can be enjoyed at any age or skill level. Boccia programs and competitions are available from the recreational to elite level.

Here’s how it works: Boccia is played indoors with 13 leather balls (six red, six blue and one white). These balls are lighter and smaller than traditional bocce balls. Players can use their hands, feet or a ramp to throw, kick or roll the ball. The “jack” ball (white) is thrown to start the game. Each player takes turns trying to get his or her balls close to the jack. After all the balls have been played, the player with the balls closest to the jack earns one point for each ball that’s closer to the jack than the opponents’ best ball.

Boccia is played individually, in pairs or in teams of three. It is a strategic game that requires tactical, technical and mental preparation to beat your opponent. It is a game where anything can happen.

Canada won two bronze medals in boccia at the 2000 Paralympics. Canada is currently ranked in the top five in the team and BC3 pairs division and top eight in the BC4 pairs division. Canada is one of only three countries to qualify athletes in all seven divisions for the 2004 Paralympics.

Find out more about boccia:
www.ccpsa.ca
www.bocciainternational.com


THE ATHLETES:

Meet just some of the athletes who are aspiring for gold!

PAUL GAUTHIER
BOCCIA
Paul Gauthier has cerebral palsy but has always led an active lifestyle. “I’m a very competitive person,” he notes. He played hockey as a boy, and also got involved with power soccer (soccer played with a power wheelchair). For 13 years he has been playing boccia (see “Spotlight on Boccia,” above). In Sydney in 2000, Paul became the first Canadian to win two bronze medals in the Paralympics. He is currently ranked second individually in the world.

Constantly working to improve his performance, Paul recently shed over 100 pounds and is approaching his physical peak – just in time for Athens. Paul lives in Vancouver, where he runs a consulting company for clients with disabilities.

DAVE DUREPOS
BASKETBALL
Dave thoroughly enjoyed basketball before his spinal cord injury, so he quickly returned to the court as a wheelchair basketball player. He says his rehabilitation had prepared him to live a normal life – “but I was aiming to live way past that normal life.”

Dave lives in Fredericton and works for the provincial government. He has also found time to train for and participate in three World Championships and two Paralympic Games. At the Sydney Games in 2000, his team took the gold.

He continues to aim high; not only is he striving for another gold in Athens, but the 35-year-old is also targeting the 2006 World Championship “before I ever think about retiring.”

LISA FRANKS
ATHLETICS
Lisa Franks developed a disability overnight at the age of 14 when a rare blood vessel defect damaged her spinal cord. After surgery she stayed in intensive care for several weeks, unable to move or breathe independently. Several months of therapy followed before she regained the use of her upper body.

Lisa soon discovered wheelchair racing and made the provincial team at the 1997 Canada Games – just a year after her injury. “Sport has been the driving force behind all of the positive aspects in my life today,” Lisa writes. “Once I began competing, I realized that there is a fulfilling life for people with disabilities, if they are open to it. I have met many inspiring people, travelled the world and made a lifetime of unforgettable memories.”

Lisa won gold in the 800-metre race at the 2000 Paralympics. As she received her medal and the national anthem played, “I was overcome with emotion. I kept thinking about how far I had come. Just four years earlier, I was lying in a hospital bed completely paralyzed, but at that moment I was on top of the world.”

Lisa lives in Saskatoon – and holds a key to the city of Moose Jaw!

KIRBY CÔTÉ
SWIMMING
When Kirby Côté’s parents asked the Canadian National Institute for the Blind to suggest activities that would help Kirby develop his mobility, the staff directed them towards swimming and gymnastics. Kirby joined both sports, but had to choose one once he reached competitive levels. He has now been swimming for 12 years.

Kirby, who lives in Winnipeg, scored big at the 2000 Paralympics – where he won two gold medals and two silvers, and set world records with his swim times.

“All the missed parties and early nights, all the tears and sore muscles, all the frustrations and stress, it’s all worthwhile,” he says. “And I’m going to keep working hard until I know I can’t possibly get any faster or work harder.”

DAVID WILLSIE
RUGBY
David Willsie of London, Ontario, has always been surrounded by sports of all kinds. His father, a hockey referee, officiated at the World Junior Hockey Championships. In fact, it was while playing hockey that David sustained his spinal cord injury, in 1995. He says it was his sense of humour and love for music that got him through rehabilitation with a positive attitude. That same year, he launched his wheelchair rugby career.

David was co-captain of the rugby team at the 2000 Paralympics, where the team finished in fourth place. But just two years later, the team won a gold medal at the Wheelchair Rugby World Championships in Sweden.

David is acutely aware that a medal is within reach at the next Paralympics. In Athens, David says, he plans to “always motivate my teammates to take the extra step needed to reach victory.”

STÉPHANE CÔTÉ
CYCLING
Stéphane launched his athletic career by participating in track and field and goalball. When he was recruited to the sport of tandem cycling, he became the first and only male tandem cyclist to participate in the 1996 Paralympics in Atlanta, Georgia.

In tandem cycling, a sighted “pilot” cycles up front, and the athlete with a vision disability cycles at the rear. For the past three years Stéphane’s pilot has been Pierre-Oliver Boily, of Cowansville, Quebec.

Stéphane works for the Quebec Ministry of Culture and Communications. From April to September, he works two days a week and spends the rest of the week commuting to Montreal to train with Pierre-Oliver. The pair is aiming for medals in the track pursuit and road racing events.

AMY ALSOP
GOALBALL
Amy Alsop fell in love with sports at an early age. She competed in aquatics until she realized, in her words, “I had zero talent when it came to swimming.” But it gave her a taste for competition, and when she gave goalball a try, “I knew this was the sport for me... it was physically challenging, mentally demanding and incorporated everything I loved about sport.”

Goalball is a team sport in which players with vision disabilities try to score by rolling a ball across the opposing team's goal line. Goalballs contain bells that provide a sound cue, and raised lines on the court help orient the players. At the 2000 Paralympics, Amy’s team made waves, winning the gold in an exciting final game.

Amy lives in Saskatoon.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Canadian Paralympic Committee
85 Albert St., Ste. 1401
Ottawa ON K1P 6A4
Phone: (613) 569-4333
Fax: (613) 569-2777
www.paralympic.ca