Danielle Kisser and Jean Laroche win Canadian Sport Awards

OTTAWA – Legendary Para athletics coach Jean Laroche and Para swimmer Danielle Kisser were among the recipients at the virtual 43rd Canadian Sport Awards held from October 23-25.

Kisser was the named the winner of the inaugural “People’s Choice Award for Most Viral Moment of the Year”. 

Voting for the social media award took place on an online platform hosted by CBC Sports, where viewers were asked to pick their favourite viral moments out of a short list of 10. Following thousands of votes, Kisser’s story of building her own pool to train during the pandemic was the overwhelming choice of the public.

It was even the subject of a report on NBC News.

Danielle Kisser, Paralympic swimming hopeful, builds backyard pool https://t.co/gUCw99jYGj pic.twitter.com/a1zgJfWowz

— NBC OlympicTalk (@NBCOlympicTalk) April 27, 2020

Kisser beat out several superstars for the award including tennis players Eugenie Bouchard and Félix Auger-Aliassime, NFL Super Bowl champion Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and the power combo of women’s hockey legend Hayley Wickenheiser and actor Ryan Reynolds.

Laroche received the Leadership in Sport Award. He has coached some of Quebec’s top Para athletes in a 40-year career including André Viger, Jacques Martin and Diane Roy, all Paralympic Games medallists. Find out more about Laroche’s incredible career HERE.