Some 55 athletes in Tokyo were making their Paralympic debut, including Riech. Rivard and Lakatos will both take time to decide whether to continue competing through the 2024 Paralympics in Paris.īut Karen O’Neill, the CEO of the Canadian Paralympic Committee, believes the team’s future is bright. The women’s sitting volleyball came the closest, finishing a best-ever fourth. “Tokyo 2020 has done an incredible job to create a safe environment for our athletes, as well as an environment where they could perform to the best of their ability.Ĭanada, long a front-runner in the Paralympic movement, didn’t win a medal in a team sport in Tokyo. “We’re all pinching ourselves a little bit,” Dixon said. A collective concern amid Paralympians was that a COVID-19 outbreak at the Olympics a month earlier would cancel the Paralympics completely. More than 4,500 athletes from 162 countries competed in the biggest Paralympics in history, a remarkable feat considering the immense challenges created by the pandemic. “Medals are great, but that is not the best measure of success for these Games.” It’s been a hard, hard year,” said Stephanie Dixon, Canada’s chef de mission in Tokyo, and a 19-time Paralympic medallist. We’ve had athletes create training environments in their homes. “Athletes have fought so hard to be here. Pandemic protocols prevented her from even racing against teammates in practice. Rivard, a 25-year-old from Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., won five medals, including two gold despite the fact the Games marked her first time competing since the pandemic began. Lakatos raced to four silver medals in his six races, capping his gruelling schedule with a fourth-place finish in the marathon just hours before arriving at the closing festivities. Lakatos, a 41-year-old from Dorval, Que., carried Canada’s flag into the closing ceremony dressed in the Canadian team denim jacket and white jeans. “You never know if you’re going to be as fit or injury-free in three years time (for the Paris Paralympics), your next opportunity.” “I’m so fortunate that the country of Japan decided to go through with everything,” said middle-distance runner Nate Riech, who won gold in the 1,500 metres in his Paralympic debut, Canada’s final medal in Tokyo. A shared sentiment among athletes was an overwhelming appreciation for being able to compete at all. Led by swimmer Aurelie Rivard and wheelchair racer Brent Lakatos, Canada captured 21 medals, including five gold, in Tokyo, eight less than the Canadian team won five years ago in Rio.īut with Canada’s careful approach to the COVID-19 pandemic that made training difficult, and competing nearly impossible, over the past year-and-a-half, Canada didn’t set a medal goal in Tokyo. The cauldron was extinguished Sunday in Tokyo to end the most unique Paralympic Games in history - and crossing the finish line on a Games fraught with uncertainty was a major victory in itself. Send this page to someone via email email.
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