Puisand
Lai

Wheelchair basketball was just one of the many sports that Puisand Lai’s parents signed her up for in 2013. Reluctant to go at first, Lai eventually fell in love with the intensity and thrill of wheelchair basketball.

Despite being the youngest member on the team in Lima, at just 19, she was busy at the Parapan American Games in 2019. She played in five games and averaged 31 minutes and 24 seconds of floor time.

She competed at her first Paralympics at Tokyo 2020 and her second world championships in 2023, both resulting in fifth place finishes. Later in 2023, she helped Canada to silver at the Parapan Am Games.

At the Paralympic Games qualifier in 2024, she averaged more than 20 minutes a game as Canada went undefeated to gain a berth for Paris.

Lai’s strengths lie in her speed and defensive play.

She was only 17 years old when she was named to the Canadian roster for the 2018 Wheelchair Basketball World Championships in Hamburg, Germany.

In 2017, she was a member of the national wheelchair tennis team. That year she was ranked No. 7 in the International Tennis Federation world rankings for girls’ wheelchair tennis.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

2020 Paralympic Games… 2019 (gold), 2023 (silver) Parapan American Games… Silver medal with Ontario at Canada Winter Games in 2019…  2018 and 2023 World Championships.

PERSONAL

Diagnosed at age six with transverse myelitis, a rare neurological condition in which the spinal cord is inflamed…. Has a twin sister… Mechanical engineering student, McMaster University… Also participated in wheelchair tennis, Para ice hockey and adaptive sailing…

NOTABLE INTERNATIONAL RESULTS

• 2023 Parapan American Games 2nd
• 2023 World Championships 5th
• 2020 Paralympic Games 5th
• 2019 Parapan American Games 1st
• 2018 World Championships 5th