Alison Levine spends day in hospital, wins gold on court at boccia World Cup

FORTALEZA, Brazil – Alison Levine emerged from a full day in hospital with a cast on her leg and showed no mercy in the women’s BC4 final to win the gold medal Wednesday night at the 2023 World Boccia Cup.

Levine, a two-time Paralympian, defeated archrival Leidy Chica Chica of Colombia in the final with an amazing 5-4 comeback victory. The Canadian was down 4-0 after two sets before roaring back in the last two.

“Everything seemed against me with my foot injury and the hot weather in Brazil, but I still managed,’’ said Levine. ‘’It is wonderful to win a gold medal in the World Cup. She had beaten me in the preliminary matches, but I wanted to send a message that I had not said my last word.’’

Canada’s head coach César Nicolai said Levine fell on a step with her wheelchair and sprained her ankle.

‘’It was difficult at first to adapt with the cast, but as soon as she found a suitable position, everything was back to normal,” said Nicolai. “There was a big click before the third set. I don’t know how to explain it, but the wind has changed sides.’’

Levine has won five medals this year, three in female individual play (a bronze and two gold) and two in BC4 pairs play (a gold and a silver).

In the men’s BC4, Iulian Ciobanu advanced to the final and lost 4-3 to Colombia’s Edilson Chica Chica, Leidy’s brother.

“The Colombian is very strong strategically and he was able to manage his balls well in the last set to come from behind to win,’’ said Nicolaï. ‘’I am very proud of Iulian, he showed great resilience and he proves once again that he is one of the elite in his category,”

Starting Thursday, Levine and Ciobanu will join forces in the BC4 pairs event. They won bronze at the world championships last year..
 
The results and schedule can be found here. The webcast can be found here on court four. 
 
With files from Sportcom and Boccia Canada