The competitions will take place in three regions: downtown Beijing for wheelchair hockey and curling, Yanqing alpine skiing and Zhangjiakou Nordic skiing and curling in a wheelchair.
Canadians also took advantage of the last days on Chinese soil to learn about their environment. This is a golden opportunity to do some survey on competition websites.
Athletes will have the opportunity to have fun, and each sports team will organize its own activities in the village and in its designated places
says Karen O’Neill, executive director of the Canadian Paralympic Committee.
“We have a gymnasium in the Canadian Space, and the village also has a gym for the athletes – the village square – and a place where you can experience virtual reality, to name a few. »
What do you expect from Canada?
Since the 2010 Vancouver Paralympics, Canada has participated in the third tier of the final standings.
At the last meeting, in Pyeongchang, the representatives of the maple leaf won 28 medals, including 8 gold, a harvest that allowed them to close the top three, behind the United States and RPC athletes, who competed under a neutral banner, but will eventually be denied competitions in Beijing.
If all goes as planned, the Canadian anthem should be heard several times during medal shows. The team is experienced and has a number of medals on the international scene.
It includes 29 athletes who have already experienced the Winter Games and were active four years ago in South Korea, while a group of 19 athletes will take their first steps on the Paralympic stage.
The Canadian selection also consists of 25 Paralympic medalists, 19 of whom have achieved the feat on two or more occasions.
North Parasky
Nordic snowboarding combines cross-country skiing and parabiathlon, while these two sports are practiced by many athletes, making them the busiest. Two classes – sitting and standing – are available for athletes with a physical impairment, while those with a visual impairment compete in their own class and are led by a guide.
The most decorated coast-to-coast Winter Paralympian, Paralympic champion Brian McIver made her Paralympic debut in 2002. During his illustrious career, he has won 17 medals, the vast majority of gold (13), plus two silver and bronze. He has every intention of continuing his way.
McIver is one of the nation’s top medal winners in the Beijing event. Thanks to its successes, Canada has become a great power in snowboarding in the North. In fact, a team record of 16 medals was achieved, 10 at Parasky Cross Country and 6 at Parabiathlon, in 2018.
All the athletes (McIver, Mark Arends, Colin Cameron, Brittany Hodak and Natalie Wilkie) have returned to the Beijing Paralympic Games with aspirations for the best.
Parasky Alps
Racers in the Canadian Alps have collected a total of 109 medals since the first Winter Paralympic Games were held in 1976. This is the sport in which the country has achieved the most success.
Like Nordic, it is divided into three distinct classes. As in the Olympics, the different events are slalom, giant slalom, superg, downhill, and super combined.
Alexis Gimond, an alpine runner, trains for the Paralympic Games in Beijing.
Photo: Getty Images / Christian Petersen
Canada remains a country that should not be underestimated. At the recent World Championships in Lillehammer, the Maple Leaf team won six medals, including a silver and a bronze for Molly Jepsen, the four-time permanent medalist on her debut at the Pyeongchang Games.
Quebec’s Alexis Gemond, who won a medal in 2018, will be running in second place. This was also the case for Frederic Turgeon, winner of the Silver Globe in 2019, before she was forced to abandon the competition after a broken leg.
Para ice hockey
As in women’s hockey, there is a strong rivalry between Canada and the United States. Americans have won the last three Paralympic titles. The Canadians last won a gold medal in Turin in 2006.
Once again, the Canadian team is full of veterans. Leading the list is Billy Bridges and Greg Westlake, who will compete in the sixth and fifth Paralympics, respectively. For his part, goalkeeper Dominique Larroque is perhaps the best player in his position.
American Declan Farmer and Canadian Liam Hickey compete for possession of the puck in the final of the Paralympic Games in Pyeongchang.
Photo: Getty Images/Martin Rose
Other point guards, like Captains Tyler McGregor and Adam Dixon, will be the offensive spark plugs.
At the 2021 World Championships, the last major competition before the Paralympics, the Canadians beat the Americans on a round robin, before losing in the final.
Since that setback, they’ve focused their playing style on speed and short passing in an effort to defeat the Peking Pet.
Curling in a wheelchair
With three gold and one bronze medals since the sport joined the Paralympic Games program in 2006, Canada is once again striving, with a group of experienced, for the podium in Beijing. Captain of the second games in a row, Mark Edison will be on his third try, as will Denis Tessin. Flag carrier Ina Forrest will compete in her fourth Paralympic Games.
Ina Forrest and Denis Thiessen are part of the Canadian wheelchair curling team that will compete at the Paralympic Games in Beijing.
Photo: Associated Press/Mark Schiffelbein
The five recruits are John Thurston, who will have the mandate to throw the last stones, as well as Colinda Joseph, who will serve as a substitute. However, both of them have defended the colors of Team Canada in the last three world championships.
Although the country is still among the top candidates for the first step on the podium, the gap with other countries has narrowed. China leads the world and Paralympic Games titles, while six picks can legitimately win one of the three medals.
Paragliding
Snowboarding, which was added to the Paralympic Games in Sochi in 2014, is the latest sport to make its debut. Canada is still looking for its first medal, but that should change this year.
Last January, at the World Championships in Lillehammer, Canadian skaters won eight medals. Rookies Tyler Turner and Lisa Dejong have a double in Norway.
Snowboarder Sandrine Hamill has been on the rise since the Paralympic Games in Pyeongchang.
Photo: Sportcom
Quebec’s Sandrine Hamill, who finished fifth on two occasions in Pyeongchang, could return with a medal.
Male and female athletes with physical disabilities, such as spinal injury, cerebral palsy, and amputations, compete in the sport.
They are thus scored in three categories, according to their skills, namely SB-LL1 and SB-LL2 for skiers with a deficiency in the lower extremities and SB-UL when it comes to the upper extremities.
Note that skaters can use equipment such as orthotics.
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