Para sport notebook: Turner, Massie win silver at Para snowboard World Cup

PYHA, Finland – Tyler Turner and Alex Massie each won a silver medal on Sunday in their respective snowboard cross races at the second stop on the Para snowboard World Cup circuit.

In the men’s lower limb 1 (LL1) category, experience took centre stage as Daichi Oguri of Japan secured the win. In the final he triumphed over Turner, the reigning Crystal Globe holder and Paralympic Games champion from Campbell River, B.C., and China’s Zhongwei Wu.

Only one of two days of racing was held on the weekend, as Saturday’s races were cancelled due to cold weather.

The most thrilling final was the men’s LL2 as Ben Tudhope of Australia won a nail-biter over Massie, a two-time Paralympian from Barrie, Ont. Reigning globe holder Emanuel Perathoner of Italy was third.

The third stop on the circuit is scheduled for Thursday and Friday in Lenk, Switzerland.

Governor General Mary Simon references Paralympians in letter to Canadians

Last Wednesday, Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada, shared a letter with Canadians with her reflections on hope, reconciliation, respect and thoughtful discourse.

In concluding the letter, the Governor General asked Canadians to follow the example of Canada’s Paralympians.

“As we begin this new year, I would like to convey to you the sense of hope and resilience I felt alongside our Paralympic athletes in Paris in August,’’ she wrote. “Every day, they pushed themselves to be their best. We must do the same.

“Let us continue building a nation where hope flourishes, and where everyone has a voice. It is hard work, but it is work worth doing, and it can only be done together.”

Liza Puri and Mégane Ravary added to 2025 National Boccia team

Liza Puri of London, Ont. and Mégane Ravary of Montreal were added to the 2025 National Boccia Team to bring the squad’s total to 10.

Puri captured a bronze at her first-ever Canadian Championships in November 2024. She competed in the sport off and on for 10 years but retired due to medical challenges.

She ended her retirement in 2023.

‘’I feel proud to have won a medal at my first national level competition ever, competing for Team Ontario. I take my role as an athlete very seriously but love playing my favourite sport,’’ she said. ‘’I had tears of happiness running down my face at Nationals. I was super proud of myself, after everything I’ve gone through.’’

In addition, Boccia Canada named its seven-member National Espoir Team. They are Andrew Woodrow and Joe Phipott of Newfoundland and Labrador, Carter Plumb, Jim Davis, Josh Gautier and Kyle Scott of Ontario and Fattima Abderamane from Quebec.

Eight wheelchair players named to Tennis Canada’s national high performance program

Two-time Paralympian and world top-10 player Rob Shaw of North Bay, Ont. was among eight wheelchair tennis players named to Tennis Canada’s national high performance program.

Also named to the team are Anne-Marie Dolinar and Shawn Courchesne of Ontario, Natalia Lanucha and Frédérique Bérubé Perron of Quebec, and Thomas Venos, Barry Henderson and Mitch McIntyre from B.C.

“Canadian wheelchair tennis keeps on progressing and reaching new milestones, as we saw last year,’’ said Kai Schrameyer, national wheelchair tennis coach at Tennis Canada. “We are very fortunate to have such a talented group of athletes to continue to work with.’’

Five more wheelchair players were named to the national development program: Se Youn Moon, Patrick Levis, John Chen and Lachlan Sanford from B.C., and Hisham Mohammad from Ontario.