Hall of Fame Inductees

Induction Year: 2001
Sport: Athletics (High Jump)

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENTS

• 1980 – World and Paralympic High Jump record set at 1.96 m.
• 1976 – Toronto Paralympiad receiving his first gold medal
• Approached by the CBC to work on the script for the movie “Crossbar”
• Competed for the track team in the high jump at the CIAU (CIS) level.

In a career that spanned almost twenty years, Manitoba’s Arnold Boldt was a sporting icon. In the 1970s Boldt established himself as the world’s top amputee high jumper, garnering invitations to both disability sport and able-bodied track meets. Boldt’s World and Paralympic High Jump record set in 1980 still stands at 1.96m.

Boldt was initiated to sport at a very early age. In elementary school he found an interest in track and field. Due to farming community where physical injury was fairly common place, he encountered nothing but positive support to pursue athletic endeavors. “I was fairly well accepted for who I was, it was quite easy to be yourself and do what you wanted to do without people pre-judging you.” Through a prosthetic, Boldt learned about sport for amputees and competed for Canada at the 1976 Toronto Paralympiad receiving his first gold medal. Boldt also played wheelchair basketball in the Saskatoon area and played volleyball for Saskatchewan.

In 1977 Boldt was approached by the CBC to work on the script for the movie “Crossbar” which was “very loosely” based on Boldt’s career as a high jumper. After 1976 Boldt attended the University of Saskatchewan and University of Manitoba and competed for the track team in the high jump at the CIAU (CIS) level.

Induction year: 2001
Sport: Wheelchair

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENTS:

• 1972 – Paralympic Games in Germany: captured gold in both discus and pentathlon (setting 2 new world records), and silver for the 4x 60m relay.
• Outstanding Male Athlete of the Year Award
• 1974 – Awarded the Order of Canada medal
• 1991 – Recipient of the WAC Bennett Award from the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame & Museum
• 2000 – Was inducted as an athlete category into the BC Sports Hall of Fame.
• 2002 – The Eugene Reimer Middle School opened
• Chaired the 2002 BC Disability Games
• Recipient of an honorary Doctor of Laws Degree
• 2007 – Honored with ‘Order of Abbotsford
• 2007 – Presented the ‘Citizen of the year Award’ by the Mayor and the Council

British Columbian athlete Eugene Reimer dominated international wheelchair sports in the late 1960s and 1970s. With only minimal use of his legs since polio had left him paraplegic at an early age, he quickly became one the province’s top all round athletes. Not content with perfecting a single sport, Eugene excelled in a diverse selection: weightlifting, archery, swimming, basketball, volleyball, and all the track and field events. Even acrobatics was given a shot. Spanning a career that began in 1968 and ended in 1980, Reimer won a number of gold, silver and bronze medals from such prestigious world events the Pan American Wheelchair Games. During his twelve-year athlete career, he amassed over fifty national and ten international gold medals-5 gold, 4 silver and 1 bronze.

In 2003, Reimer was honored at the 2003 convocation ceremonies of the University College of Fraser Valley as the recipient of an honorary Doctor of Laws Degree. That same year, the Rotary Club of Abbotsford named Reimer a Paul Harris Fellow, bestowing upon him the highest honour of the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International. Reimer was also very active on committees and in events promoting the Vancouver bid for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Induction year: 2003
Sport: Athletics (Field Events)

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENTS:

• 1988, Paralympic Summer Games in Seoul, Korea: Won gold medals in her class for Shot put, Discus and Javelin
• 1990 World Championships in Assen, Holland: gold medals
• 1992 Barcelona Summer Games, Spain: Won all three gold medals
• Finalist for Canadian Female Athlete of the Year honors
• King Clancy Award from the Canadian Foundation for Physically Disabled Persons

Joanne Berdan (maiden/playing name: Bouw) was one of Canada’s finest Paralympic athletes during the 1980s and early 1990s and still holds world records in the shot put, discus and javelin for athletes with cerebral palsy. By 1984 she entered her first international event at Nassau County, New York. Over the next four years, Joanne continued to train and became a member of the Canadian Paralympic team. Competing at the 1988 Paralympic Summer Games in Seoul, Korea, Joanne won gold medals in her class for shot put, discus and javelin. She repeated that performance two years later at the 1990 World Championships in Assen, Holland. In 1992 while at the Barcelona Summer Games, she again won all three gold medals in her class and completed her triple with world records in the shot put and discus.

After Barcelona, Joanne retired from competition as one of the world’s most recognized athletes with a disability and the first to be a finalist for Canadian Female Athlete of the Year honors. At the 1994 Word Championships in Berlin she was unbeaten once again. With her induction into the Canadian Paralympic Committee Hall of Fame, Joanne adds to several other honors. She received the King Clancy Award from the Canadian Foundation for Physically Disabled Persons for contributing to the betterment of other people lives. She has been inducted into the Terry Fox Hall of Fame this year as an outstanding role model and inspiration.

Induction Year: 2005
Sport: Athletics (Wheelchair Racing)

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENTS

• 1984- Olympic Games, Los Angeles-won a bronze.
• Three-time winner of the prestigious Boston Marathon.
• Four-time winner of the Oita Marathon in Japan.
• Best Paralympic Sport Ambassador.
• Athlete of the year, for all sports combined, in 1986.
• Quebec personality of the year in 1984.
• 1986-Recipient of the Maurice Richard award from the Saint-Jean-Baptist Society.
• Many times named athlete of the year in Sherbrooke.

André took up track and field in 1979 when he ran the Beauce, Québec, marathon. This was his first victory, and his first step in the Viger legend. André participated in five Paralympic Games. His first were in Arnheim, Netherlands, in 1980, and his last were in Atlanta in 1996. Over the course of these five Games, André earned three gold medals, four silver, and three bronze.

During his lengthy career, from 1979 to 1997, he set several world records in the 1,500 m, 5,000 m, and 10,000 m distance events and won almost every marathon on the planet, from Paris to Los Angeles, from Sempach in Switzerland to Montréal. Through the various World Championships, we can no longer count his wins, whether on the track or on the road.

But André’s successes are not limited to sports. His determination has set the example for all Canadian emerging athletes. Everyone from Rick Hansen to Mel Fitzgerald to Jeff Adams knew that André had one passion: victory. André has never done anything halfway. He has always given his all, good days or bad.

André Viger died of cancer on October 1st, 2006. He was 54 years old.

Induction year: 2011

Michael Edgson was born on May 6, 1969 in North Vancouver, but spent his youth in Nanaimo. He is one of Canada’s most successful athletes whose performances continue to rank him amongst the very best.

One of the most decorated Paralympic athletes in Canadian history, Michael, a visually-impaired swimmer, captured 18 gold and three silver medals while setting nine world records over three Paralympic Games.

At the 1988 Paralympics in Seoul, South Korea, he won nine gold medals en route to setting four world records.

These accomplishments earned him the BC Disabled Athlete of the Year Award on three occasions, and he was a finalist for the Canadian Athlete of the Year award in 1992.

After his swimming career, Michael was part of the Victoria Commonwealth Games Society where he was responsible for the field of play of swimming at the Victoria Commonwealth Games. Inducted into the Terry Fox Hall of Fame, he was also the first Paralympic swimmer to be inducted into Swimming Canada’s Circle of Excellence in 2009. Michael continues to contribute to sport in Canada as the Finance Director for the Canadian Paralympic Committee.

Induction year: 2011

Clayton Gerein was an influential leader and mentor throughout his entire life. In 1985, Gerein began playing Wheelchair Athletics and Wheelchair Rugby. He helped lead his Wheelchair Rugby team to numerous national gold medals until 1991 when he decided to focus his training on Wheelchair Athletics. Determination and hard worked paid off for Gerein as he became a seven-time Paralympian with an outstanding record in international competition: he won three gold medals at the 1988 Paralympic Games, two gold medals at the 1992 Paralympics, a gold, silver, and bronze medal at the 1996 Paralympics in Atlanta, and the gold medal in the marathon at the Sydney Paralympics in 2000. Gerein received numerous honours, including the 2001 Fred Begley Award for Outstanding Off Track Athlete and the Canada 125 Medal for exceptional contributions to Canadian sport. He was named Saskatchewan Sports Athlete of the year in 1987, 1996, and 2001.

As an athlete and coach, Clayton led a healthy active lifestyle and helped promote these values by visiting Wascana Rehab Center to introduce newly-injured individuals to sports and recreation. He also coached other wheelchair athletes and was the Athletics Coordinator for the Saskatchewan Wheelchair Sports Association and served on the board of the National Sports Centre in Saskatchewan. Gerein passed away January 22, 2010 after a brief battle with cancer but has left a legacy that will continue to inspire all to seek balance in community involvement, sport and family.

Induction Year: 2011
Sport: Athletics and Goalball

Ljiljana (Lilo) Ljubisic is a five-time Paralympic athlete. From 1984 to 2004, Lilo successfully represented Canada in Goalball and Para-athletics. At her first Paralympic Games in 1984, Lilo competed in Goalball where she won a silver medal. Over the next four years, she began to train in Para-athletics with a specialty in the discus throw and shotput. In fact, Lilo was the first blind athlete to ever spin with a discus.

Throughout her athletic career, Lilo recorded 19 international podium finishes and earned six Paralympic medals, including a gold medal at the 1992 Summer Paralympic Games in Barcelona, Spain.

Along with her athletic achievements, Lilo has been acknowledged for her leadership and contribution to the international world of sport and the Paralympic Movement. Awards earned by Lilo include the AthletesCAN Leadership Award (2005) and the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women in Sport and Physical Activity (CAAWS) Women of Distinction Award (2004). She has also been named one of the 20 Most Influential Women in Sport & Physical Activity (CAAWS, 2003-2005) and was listed in the Top 100 of Canada’s Most Powerful Women in 2007 (Women’s Executive Network).

A 1992 B.C. Athlete of the Year recipient, Lilo was elected as the first female Chair of the International Paralympic Committee’s Athletes’ Council.

Induction year: 2013
Sport: Athletics (Wheelchair Racing)

​Wheelchair racer Robert Easton from Edmonton, AB, competed at the 1984 and 1988 Paralympic Summer Games, earning eight gold medals and one silver. He held and improved on every world record for track & field events in his class for the period from 1982 to 1988.

Easton, who has cerebral palsy, was introduced to wheelchair sports in 1976, initially playing wheelchair basketball. In 1977 he took up wheelchair racing and by 1981 was a major force on the international scene.

“The quality I remember most about Robert was his willingness to contribute to fellow athletes as a mentor, a leader and even as the guy who was behind the anonymous equipment donation that would arrive just in time for younger athletes,” said Janet Dunn, a founding member of both Alberta Cerebral Palsy Sports and Canadian Cerebral Palsy Sports Associations.

Today with over 30 years of public service, Easton continues an unending contribution to sport. In the early 1990s, he established the Easton Family Scholarship at the University of Alberta, awarded annually to a student with superior academic achievement entering the third or fourth year in the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation focusing on adapted physical education.

A professional accountant, Easton served as the Chief Financial Officer for the Ministry of Healthy Living and Sport, responsible for the 2010 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games Secretariat. Easton is currently an Executive Director with the Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development in Victoria, B.C.

Easton is also a member of the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame and the Canadian Cerebral Palsy Sports Hall of Fame.

Induction year: 2013
Sport: Wheelchair Basketball

​Jennifer Krempien of Richmond, B.C., was a member of Canada’s powerhouse women’s wheelchair basketball team from 1991 to 2008 and was co-captain from 2004 to 2008. Krempien competed at all five Paralympic Games between 1992 and 2008, helping Team Canada win three Paralympic gold medals and one bronze. She was also on four world championship-winning teams from 1994 to 2006 and was a tournament all-star at the 1998 and 2002 worlds.

“Jennifer demonstrated an incredible dedication and commitment to the sport and the team,” said Tim Frick, who coached Team Canada during Krempien’s career. “She continued to improve her fitness, technical skills and tactical knowledge each season. It is my opinion that she was our best player in Beijing, averaging 35 minutes a game (out of a maximum of 40), the highest on the team.”

Krempien’s dedication to the Paralympic movement has not been restricted to wheelchair basketball. Her Master of Science research at the University of British Columbia investigated the dietary adequacy of elite Canadian athletes with spinal cord injury. In 2010, Krempien was a dietitian for host medical services at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games. She also works as a dietitian with the Canadian wheelchair curling and wheelchair rugby teams, along with Paralympic athletes in other sports.

Krempien was inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame in 2009 and named the 2008 Canadian Wheelchair Basketball Association’s female athlete of the year. In 2007 at the Parapan American Games, she was Canada’s flag bearer in the opening ceremonies. Krempien has also excelled in the highly-competitive Canadian Wheelchair Basketball League and Canadian Wheelchair Basketball Championships, leading her teams to 10 gold medals. She is a founding member of the Inferno Wheelchair Basketball Society in Edmonton, Alta.

Induction year: 2013
Sport: Swimming

​Winnipeg swimmer Tim McIsaac was one of Canada’s top Paralympic Games medal producers in the 1980s. He won medals at four Paralympic Games: Toronto in 1976 (one gold, two silver, two bronze), Arnhem, the Netherlands in 1980 (four gold, one silver, two bronze), New York in 1984 (four gold, three silver) and Seoul in 1988 (six gold, three bronze).

McIsaac, who has a visual impairment, also competed at the World Games, an Olympic-style competition for blind and visually impaired athletes in 1979 and 1986, tabulating five gold, four silver and eight bronze.

McIsaac still competes today in Masters swimming and triathlon. He works full time as a business development associate with the Government of Manitoba’s Science Innovation Business Development and also does volunteer work, serves on boards and committees and speaks on behalf of the Active Living Alliance of Canadians with Disabilities.

He was named Canada’s junior male athlete of the year in 1976 and Manitoba’s athlete of year in 1982. McIsaac was inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 2000 and Swimming Canada’s Circle of Excellence in 2012.

Inducted in 2015
Sport: Para athletics

Chantal Petitclerc (Montreal, Que., originally from Saint-Marc-des-Carrières, Que., coached by Peter Eriksson), para-athletics: Petitclerc is one of the most successful athletes ever in Paralympic sport. She competed at five Paralympic Games (1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008) and won 21 medals, including 14 gold, in wheelchair racing. In 2008 she won the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada’s athlete of the year and was named Canadian Press’ female athlete of the year. Petitclerc is a public speaker, broadcaster and athlete mentor, currently serving as Team Canada’s Chef de Mission for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

Inducted in 2015
Sport: Para alpine skiing

Lauren Woolstencroft (Banff, Alta, originally from Calgary, Alta., coached by Jean-Sébastien Labrie) para-alpine skiing: A three-time Paralympian (2002, 2006, 2010), Woolstencroft won eight gold medals, one silver, and one bronze at the Paralympic Games over her career. At the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Games, Woolstencroft became the first Canadian winter Paralympian to win five gold medals at a single Games and was named Canada’s flag bearer for the closing ceremony. For the last two years she has been following another passion and running a coffee shop in Banff called Whitebark Café, which is based out of the Aspen Lodge.

Inducted in 2015
Sport: wheelchair basketball

Marni Abbott-Peter (Vancouver, B.C., coached by Tim Frick), wheelchair basketball: Abbott-Peter led Canada’s national women’s wheelchair basketball team to three gold medals and a bronze in her four Paralympic Games appearances (1992, 1996, 2000, 2004). She was the cornerstone on one of the most dominant teams in the history of Canadian amateur sport, which also won three consecutive world titles and produced a 43-game winning streak in world championship and Paralympic Games play. Since retiring as an athlete, Abbott-Peter has focused her attention on coaching and giving back to the wheelchair basketball community.

Inducted: 2017
Sport: Para alpine skiing

Karolina Wisniewska (hometown Calgary, Alta., now living in Ottawa, Ont.) is a three-time Paralympian and winner of eight Paralympic medals in Para alpine skiing. She won two silver medals at Nagano in 1998, two silver and two bronze medals in Salt Lake City in 2002 and two bronze at Vancouver 2010.

Wisniewska’s four medals at the Salt Lake City 2002 Paralympic Games set a new record at the time, as the first Canadian winter sport athlete to win four medals at a single Olympic or Paralympic Games. Over the course of her career, she won dozens of medals across all disciplines at International Paralympic Committee World Cups and won the overall World Cup title in 2003.

Wisniewska started alpine skiing at age five as a form of physiotherapy for cerebral palsy and raced able-bodied skiers as a member of the Sunshine Ski Club in Banff, Alta. until age 18, when she decided to try racing against competitors with a disability. She swept the 1994 national championships in the standing category in all disciplines, was named to the Canadian Para Alpine Ski Team in 1995 and was crowned the 1996 world champion in Super G in Austria. She would go on to multiple podiums at the 2000 World Championships in Switzerland and would also compete at the 2009 World Championships in Korea.

Wisniewska originally retired after a concussion in 2003, before making a comeback in 2007 to compete at the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Games on home soil. Her determination is greatly admired by her teammates and staff members who surrounded her throughout that time.

In 2007, Wisniewska was honoured for her accomplishments with a place in the Canadian Ski Hall of Fame, the first Paralympian to receive this honour.

Since her retirement from competition in 2012, Wisniewska has continued to give back to the sport, volunteering with youth skiers at national championships and at Carving the Future camps held by Alpine Canada.

Wisniewska is currently a Senior Exhibitions Manager at The National Gallery of Canada. She holds a Master’s degree in art history from Oxford University and an undergraduate degree in political science and history from McGill University.

One of Canada’s most prolific Paralympians, Colette Bourgonje competed in a remarkable 10 Games across summer and winter and brought home a total of 10 medals. Bourgonje retired from competitive sport following the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Games.

Bourgonje, who grew up in Porcupine Plain in northeastern Saskatchewan, competed nationally in cross-country running before a car accident in 1980 saw her eventually turn towards two Para sports – first, wheelchair racing in summer and then also cross-country sit-skiing in the winter.

She has broken down barriers ever since. She was the first wheelchair user to graduate from the University of Saskatchewan’s Physical Education department and became a teacher in the subject thereafter.

She made her Paralympic debut at Albertville 1992 and then was the first Canadian woman to compete at both a summer and winter Paralympic Games when she raced at Barcelona 1992. She won two bronze medals at that summer Games. At the Nagano 1998 Paralympic Winter Games, she captured her first two silver medals on the snow. She was Canada’s Closing Ceremony flag bearer at those Games, as well as at Torino 2006

At Vancouver 2010, she won Canada’s first-ever Paralympic medal on home soil, a silver in the women’s sitting 10km cross-country race.

In total, she claimed four bronze medals in wheelchair racing, and six medals in sit-skiing – three silver and three bronze. Her Paralympic career spanned 22 years – Albertville 1992, Barcelona 1992, Lillehammer 1994, Atlanta 1996, Nagano 1998, Sydney 2000, Salt Lake City 2002, Torino 2006, Vancouver 2010, and Sochi 2014.

Bourgonje’s influence and involvement in the Paralympic Movement goes well beyond her success on the field of play, as she has been an instrumental member of the Canadian sport community for decades.

She is an advocate for healthy living and the value of physical activity, acting as an ambassador for Saskatchewan’s In Motion program to increase physical literacy. She coaches cross-country skiing to Para athletes and is the Para Skiing Development Coordinator for SASKI Skiing for Disabled, which is run by volunteers and provides opportunities for athletes with disabilities in snow sports. She took an active interest in the growth of her sport as an athlete representative on the Para nordic technical committee while competing, and today acts as a mentor at development camps.

A true believer that everyone should have access to sport, she is always looking to introduce more people with disabilities to the power of the sport. She notably discovered one of Canada’s rising Paralympic stars Brittany Hudak, noticing the young woman at a Canadian Tire in Prince Albert. Bourgonje approached her and asked if she’d ever tried Para nordic skiing or knew of the Paralympics. The answer was no, but flash forward to the present and Hudak is now a Paralympic medallist in the sport.

She regularly spreads her message that attitude is everything: it is how one reacts to obstacles that is the answer, and limitation is only a perception. “Dream big, believe in yourself, attitude is everything” is among her positive lessons, and it is something she lives by every day.

Bourgonje, who is of Métis heritage, has been recognized throughout her career for her many accomplishments. A pioneer for sport in her home province, you can find both a street named Bourgonje Crescent and an elementary school called Colette Bourgonje School in Saskatoon, which is appropriate as she worked as a teacher in the city for many years. She was inducted into the Saskatoon Sports Hall of Fame in 1998 and was named Saskatchewan’s female athlete of the year in 2010. She is a member of the Canadian Disability Hall of Fame.

The Prince Albert resident was also inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame this fall.

At Vancouver 2010, she received the Whang Youn Dai Achievement Award, presented by the IPC to “someone who is fair, honest and is uncompromising in his or her values and prioritizes the promotion of the Paralympic Movement above personal recognition.” A rather accurate depiction of Bourgonje and how she has contributed to Para sport throughout her storied career.

A pioneer in Para alpine sit skiing, two-time Paralympian Josh Dueck reached the highest levels of his sport and remains an influential figure off the field of play.

Born in Kimberley, British Columbia, Dueck was destined for the slopes. He loved being on the snow and was a freestyle skier before an accident on the ski hill forced him to change his plans slightly. That still definitely included being on skis though, and he turned his attention instead to Para alpine skiing. Five years later he was competing – and winning – at the 2009 world championships.

He then made his Paralympic debut in his home province, suiting up for Canada at Vancouver 2010 where he won a silver medal in the men’s sitting slalom race.

In the ensuing years before the next Paralympic Games, he made waves by becoming the first person to complete a back flip on a sit ski. The daring and impressive feat gave him worldwide acclaim, including an appearance on The Ellen Degeneres Show and a nod as one of National Geographic’s Adventurers of the Year.

He also recovered from a shoulder injury that saw him consider retirement before deciding to try and end his career on a high note.

Ultimately, Dueck was one of Canada’s stars at the Sochi 2014 Games. He captured his second Paralympic silver medal, this time in the downhill, before claiming a gold medal in the super combined. Thanks to his performance, he was named the nation’s flag bearer for the Closing Ceremony.

In addition to his Paralympic achievements, Dueck also secured multiple World Cup and world championships podiums. He also captured a gold and bronze medal at the X-Games.

Well-respected for his successful exploits on the hill, Dueck is also a valued member of the international sport community for his work to advance the Paralympic Movement and inspire others to find their paths. Since his retirement from the sport following Sochi, Dueck has continued to be an active and strong voice.

He was a member of the CBC broadcast team on the ground at the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games, bringing the stories of Canada’s Paralympians back home and using his unique insight and expertise to enhance the commentary.

He is passionate about sharing his story about overcoming odds to make a difference through various speaking engagements, in the hopes of inspiring others to pursue their limits. He and his wife Lacey also provide mentorship for those who have experienced a life-altering injury. Through empowerment, Dueck celebrates growth and healing, and shows what is possible. His personal mantra is that passion plus perseverance equals possibility.

Heavily involved with many pursuits that promote active living, Dueck has acted as an ambassador for such organizations as High Fives Foundation, Rick Hansen Foundation, and Wings for Life. He is a peer mentor for Spinal Cord Injury BC, president of the Live it Love it Foundation promoting outdoor recreation activities for people with disabilities, and a director on the TELUS Community Board in the Thompson Okanagan region.

In September 2018, he was named executive director of Freestyle BC where he can directly impact the future of Canada’s freestyle skiers who are similarly vying for international success.

A Queen’s Diamond Jubilee recipient, Dueck was inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame in 2018, which was an evening he will never forget as he was able to celebrate his sports story one more time with his now late parents, Peter and Vickie Dueck.

Viviane Forest’s resume is highlighted by her multiple Paralympic medals – in both winter and summer sports – but the real story about this phenomenal athlete is how she overcame adversity to earn all her success.

The biggest example is her performance at the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games. Forest was Canada’s poster girl in the lead-up to the Games as she looked to become the first Canadian female Paralympian to win a gold medal at both a winter and summer Paralympics. Formerly a champion goalball player, she was making her winter Games debut in Para alpine skiing on home soil.

The visually impaired Montreal native, who was born with four percent vision, opened with a silver in the slalom and followed it up with a bronze in the giant slalom, before she achieved her historic gold in the downhill.

But in that victorious race, Forest crashed after the finish. She was unable to stop because she could not put weight on her leg, which she had injured earlier in the competition. She was later diagnosed with a broken wrist and a concussion.

But rather than store her skis, Forest persevered to complete her two final races. With her guide Lindsay Debou, Forest battled intense pain and a bandaged swollen hand to take the silver medal in both the super-G and super combined over the next two days. She finished Vancouver 2010 with a podium finish in all five races for a total of one gold, three silver, and one bronze medal.

She received the Best Games Debut award at the 2010 Canadian Paralympic Sport Awards for her remarkable results at her first Paralympic Winter Games. Viviane became the first Canadian woman to win gold in both the summer and winter Paralympics.

In 2012 Viviane returned to the alpine race circuit winning a silver and a bronze at the World Championships in La Molina, where she started her alpine podium ascent 5 years earlier. Unfortunately, the injuries she sustained in 2010, even after surgery and physio did not fully heal and in March 2013 Forest announced her retirement at age 33. Her last run was at the Canadian national championships that spring. Her honorary guide on her final race was none other than Canada’s athlete of the 20th century Nancy Greene Raine, the 1968 Olympic downhill champion.

Forest’s fast track to success in Para alpine skiing was extraordinary. She completed only one year of competition on the Canadian and North American skiing circuit with Canada’s development team before she was invited to join the national squad in 2008. Forest then produced two excellent seasons in 2009 and 2010. On the 2009 IPC World Cup circuit, she won the season overall Crystal Globe in the women’s visual impaired category.

The 17-time World Cup winner was so fast when she started that she won 13 of her first 14 races and went through eight guides before finding a skier who could keep up.

Before she made the switch to the slopes, Forest was already an accomplished Paralympian, winning two Paralympic Games gold medals in the sport of goalball at Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004. She retired from goalball in 2005 after suffering a concussion and subsequently moved to Alberta to become a French translator. That’s where she found a love for ski racing.

It may have been in goalball and Para alpine skiing that Forest made a name for herself, but she has played a number of sports throughout her life. Starting at the age of four, when she announced to her grandfather that she wanted to go to the Olympics, she has participated in hockey, ringette, karate, judo, track and field, cycling, and provincial level swimming. She ultimately discovered goalball and earned a spot on the national team in 1997.

Now living in Edmonton and a registered massage therapist, Forest has remained close to Paralympic sport. She skis with adapted ski programs and coaches goalball, and is actively involved in sport and recreation programs for people who are visually impaired.

Forest also continues to inspire as a public speaker at corporate, educational and community events. Her critically acclaimed presentations with genuine and strong themes have motivated thousands to be active and reach for their goals and dreams.

Wheelchair basketball star Joey Johnson was considered one of the best power players in the world throughout a career that lasted nearly two decades. He was renowned for his intensity and toughness in the paint and his ability to generate plays by creating space for himself and his teammates.

Johnson was a force for the Canadian men’s wheelchair basketball team from 1995 until 2012. Over the course of his career, the native of Winnipeg competed at five Paralympic Games, capturing three gold medals (Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, and London 2012), and one silver (Beijing 2008). He also competed at four world championships, coming home with the world title in 2006, and claimed the crown at the 1997 U23 world championships.

He made his Paralympic debut at Atlanta 1996 at the age of 21, and from there used his tireless work ethic, focus, and passion for the game to become one of the best in the world.

One of the best tournaments in his career was at the 2012 London Games, where he averaged 63 percent from the free throw line (the same as star teammate Patrick Anderson) and an impressive 56 percent from the field as Canada took the gold medal

At age eight, Johnson was diagnosed with a degenerative hip disease and he began playing wheelchair basketball the following year after being introduced to the sport by a friend.

Johnson has been around the world with wheelchair basketball. In addition to his exploits with the Canadian team, he played the sport professionally in both Australia and Germany.

In fact, he was a big star with the RSV Lahn-Dill club team in Germany. He captured seven German league titles in eight years and seven of eight German Cup crowns, winning both trophies six times in the same year. Lahn-Dill also collected four Champions Cup championships in that stretch, while reaching seven finals. Johnson was one of the first Canadians to really make a name for himself playing professionally overseas and as such is a recognized star in the sport across the globe.

He has a Bachelor of Science in Education from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he also played collegiate wheelchair basketball.

After he retired from wheelchair basketball following the London 2012 Games, he moved back to Canada from Germany and worked in sales for almost four years. But the sport called him back in 2015 when he accepted an assistant coaching role with the British national wheelchair basketball team. He was on duty for Team GB at Rio 2016.

Two years later he was offered the same position with the Canadian men’s national team where he shares his expert knowledge of the international game and instills his values on and off the court with the next generation of players. Most recently, he was on the sidelines as Canada punched its ticket to the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games with a silver medal at the Lima 2019 Parapan Am Games.

In 2013, he became the first athlete with a disability to be inducted into the Manitoba Basketball Hall of Fame and in 2016 he was inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame. One of the most decorated athletes to ever come out of the province, Johnson has always returned to roots, and has helped to reinvigorate the wheelchair basketball community in Manitoba.

One of wheelchair rugby’s greatest-ever players, Garett Hickling was an influential leader on the Canadian national team for 20 years during a very successful career. Feared by the opposition for his toughness, hard hitting and scoring ability, Hickling’s many talents were instrumental in Canada becoming one of the world’s top countries in the sport.

Hickling burst on the international stage earning tournament MVP at the first three world championships in the sport (1995, 1998, and 2002) – including Canada’s breakthrough gold medal performance in the third iteration of the event. Hickling was also one of the trailblazers in the worldwide popularity of the sport competing at the first five Paralympic Games that included wheelchair rugby – Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, and London 2012.

He helped Canada to the podium in four of his five Paralympic Games participations. He owns a silver medal from 1996, 2004, and 2012, as well as a bronze from 2008. Canadians came to learn more about this quiet leader as he made headlines as Canada’s Opening Ceremony Flag Bearer at the London 2012 Games. At those Games, it was Hickling who generated a key turnover and scored the winning goal in the final seconds of Canada’s semifinal against their U.S. rivals.

Throughout his 20 years as a top-level athlete, Hickling battled through many injuries. He had to have his neck realigned in 2005 in a 10-hour surgery, he ripped his left triceps in 2008 and in 2011 he separated his right shoulder.

In addition to his accolades at the Paralympic Games, Hickling has five world championships medals (gold, two silver, and two bronze).

As a youngster, Hickling was always very active in sport. Born in Mica Creek, he grew up in British Columbia and played many sports including hockey, baseball, soccer, basketball, and volleyball.

In 1987, at age 16, Hickling and two friends were hiking an unfamiliar B.C. trail at night when they fell off a cliff and dropped more than 300 feet; one of his friends died and the other was severely injured while Hickling was left a quadriplegic. Hickling tried many wheelchair sports, including basketball and road hockey before tackling wheelchair rugby about five years after his accident.

Hickling was recruited into the sport in 1993 by Duncan Campbell, one of the sport’s creators and key builders: “He got me to come out, [I] hit my first guy – knocked him out of his chair – and haven’t looked back since” Hickling said when he was featured on CNN’s Human to Hero series in 2012.

The wheelchair rugby legend has returned the favour by helping the next generation of players. He is extremely well-respected in the community, and has been a role model for many, including Paralympians Mike Whitehead, Travis Murao, and Cody Caldwell. Now living in London, Ont., he is also involved in the sport today as a coach and recruiter, sharing his knowledge and experience.

In recent years, Hickling has been deservedly recognized for his immense contributions and achievements. In 2015, he became the first wheelchair rugby player to be inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame. Campbell was inducted the same year in the pioneer category. He is also a member of the Central Okanagan Sports Hall of Fame in Kelowna and the Canadian Wheelchair Sports Association Hall of Fame.

And last year, Hickling’s name was etched in the International Wheelchair Rugby Federation Hall of Fame.