Sandrine
Hamel

Sandrine Hamel is a 2018 and 2022 Paralympic Winter Games team member and the most experienced rider on the Canadian national Para snowboard team.

She’s witnessed and contributed to the growth of women’s Para snowboarding internationally. She often highlights the increasing depth and competitiveness of the women’s field, as well as the similarities between Para snowboard and able-bodied racing, noting that athletes compete on largely the same courses with minor adaptations.

In January 2026, Hamel showed she’s a medal contender for the Milano Cortina Paralympic Winter Games with a fourth-place finish in the women’s Lower Limb 1 (LL1) snowboard cross, her best World Cup result in two seasons.

At Milano Cortina 2026, Hamel said her hope is to also compete with perspective and presence, drawing on the lessons from her first two Paralympic experiences.

Born with a double major scoliosis, Hamel tried snowboarding for the first time at age eight.  She quickly became hooked on the adrenaline sport provided for her.

Hamel later discovered that snowboard included a Para component after seeing a TV commercial. She then consulted the Canadian Paralympic Committee website which confirmed Para snowboard was an emerging sport and offered at clubs across the country. She started competing shortly thereafter.

At the 2022 World Para Snow Sports Championships in Lillehammer, two months before the Beijing Paralympic Games, Hamel won the gold medal in the women’s team event with Lisa DeJong, and added a bronze in the banked slalom.

In 2018, she earned her first career World Cup medal in Landgraaf, Netherlands and in 2019 reached a new career high with two silver medals at the world championships.

Hamel showed her potential with fifth-place finishes in the snowboard cross and banked slalom at age 20 at the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games, her first Paralympic appearance.

While snowboarding is Hamel’s primary focus, she also boxed for many years as a form of cross training, still regularly plays stand-up hockey with her friends, and recently discovered an adaptable way to do mountain biking.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

2018 and 2022 Paralympic Winter Games… Gold in the women’s team event and bronze in banked slalom at 2022 World Para Snow Sports Championships… 2017, 2019, 2025 world championship team member…

PERSONAL

Born with a double major scoliosis, she also suffered a paralyzed right leg during corrective surgery… In 2019 she began studying kinesiology at the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivieres…

NOTABLE INTERNATIONAL RESULTS

2025 World Championships – snowboard cross – 10th

2025 World Championships – banked slalom – 11th

2022 Paralympic Winter Games – snowboard cross – 8th

2022 Paralympic Winter Games – banked slalom – 10th

2022 World Championships – team event – 1st

2022 World Championships – banked slalom – 3rd

2019 World Championships – banked slalom – 2nd

2019 World Championships – snowboard cross – 2nd

2018 Paralympic Winter Games – snowboard cross – 5th

2018 Paralympic Winter Games – banked slalom – 5th

2017 World Championships – banked slalom – 7th

2017 World Championships – snowboard cross – 8th