Boccia star Alison Levine never doubted a successful road to recovery

In early 2024, Alison Levine was intubated in the intensive care unit due to an illness at a local Montreal hospital with her dreams in disarray.

The 34-year-old two-time Paralympian in Boccia was surely wondering whether a third Games participation would be possible after producing the best season of her career in 2023. Levine and her BC4 pairs partner Iulian Ciobanu had just guaranteed Canada a spot for Paris with a tremendous victory at the Parapan Am Games and ended the year number-one in the world.

‘’For me, it was all about looking ahead, and to focus on the positives,” she said about overcoming her setback. ‘’I know I have enough experience now that I’m going to come through on the other side.

‘’It’s just that patience I still need to work on.’’

Well that patience has paid off. First it was a silver with Ciobanu at the World Cup event in Montreal in early May. Then this past weekend they beat the world number one brother and sister duo Leidy Chica Chica and Edilson Chica Chica of Colombia 4-1 at the World Cup in Povoa, Portugal.

That was the same duo they upset at the Parapan Ams for gold and a Paralympic Games spot.

The Povoa World Cup was the last event before the Games in Paris.

Certainly her partner, Ciobanu, may have contributed to alleviating Levine’s worries. A psychology graduate, Ciobanu is the prototypical cerebral athlete with a soft voice and calm demeanor that’s a perfect build for strategic sports like boccia.

Levine meanwhile is a motivating machine who can pick up the team’s spirits when times are troubled.

‘’We are two very different people,” said Levine, who developed a degenerative neuromuscular disorder that causes weakness and spasticity in her muscles at around age 12. “Initially when we started, we weren’t very cohesive on court. Our mental preparation took a lot of work but through outside help we turned it to our advantage.’’

Surprisingly, she says on court, Ciobanu tends to be more aggressive.

“We do agree now more on boccia tactics,’’ she said. “He tends to be more of a risk taker. I tend to be more conservative. We’re able to work through pretty much anything now. Instead of having conflict when we disagree, we use it to our advantage.

‘’With Iulian I feel completely safe, I know he has my back and I know he feels the same. It’s OK to disagree.’’

Ciobanu agrees.

‘’We have complex personalities,” he said. ‘’This chemistry on the court was built by years of playing together.’’

While Levine and Ciobanu appear as solid gold medal contenders in pairs, don’t discount Levine in the women’s individual event. She was third at that World Cup in Portugal and is ranked second in the world behind Leidy Chica Chica. At the Parapan Am Games last November, she defeated Chica Chica for the gold medal.

After her performance in Povoa, Levine exclaimed ‘’it feels so good and it feels so right.’’ Based on her pairs experience she can add We Can Work It Out to her soundtrack.

Rob Shaw wins German Open

There was more Canadian Para sport success this past weekend.

Wheelchair tennis player Rob Shaw of North Bay, Ont. won the German Open tournament in Berlin in quad singles, his first singles victory this season in 11 tournaments. It was a big one as he defeated Francisco Cayulef of Chile.

It was Cayulef who beat Shaw in the 2023 Parapan American Games final.

Shaw, a 2020 Paralympian who has battled injury this season, is currently ranked ninth in the world.

‘’What a week,’’ Shaw wrote on Instagram. ‘’Feels good to be back in the winner’s circle for singles! Thank you @german_open_wheelchair_tennis for the awesome tournament and to @fco_cayu for forcing the best out of me as a player.’’

through September 8. Audiences can tune in for CBC/Radio-Canada’s coverage of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games from August 28 to September 8 on CBC, CBC Gem, CBC’s Paris 2024 website (cbc.ca/paris2024) and the CBC Paris 2024 app in English and on ICI TÉLÉ, ICI TOU.TV, Radio-Canada.ca/paris2024, and on the Radio-Canada Paralympiques app in French.