MONTREAL – Before his motorcycle accident at age 17, two-time Paralympian Alexandre Dupont was not interested in sport.
Today he is one of Canada’s best wheelchair racers and owner of Révolution Sport with his wife Ilana Dupont, also on the national wheelchair racing team.
Dupont’s life is now basically all sports, all the time.
‘’Everything revolves around sport for me,’’ said Dupont. ‘’It’s my work. It’s through it that I met my wife and it’s now a business for both of us as designers and fabricators of sports equipment for people with a disability.’’
It seems only fitting that Dupont will be the ambassador of the Canadian Paralympic Committee’s Paralympian Search Montreal event. It is set for this Saturday (June 9 from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.) at the Institut national du sport du Québec which is situated in the Olympic Stadium building.
Open to athletes of all experience levels, Paralympian Search is a one-day identification event designed to test participant aptitudes to excel in various Paralympic sports, and maybe one day represent Canada at the Paralympic Games.
‘’I’m very flattered to be asked to be ambassador of this great event,’’ said Dupont, who won the gold medal in the 1500-m race at the Commonwealth Games in Australia in April. ‘’I feel this is such an important event for Paralympic sport and it’s something we have to make sure keeps happening.’’
Dupont competed at the 2012 and 2016 Paralympic Games earning a bronze in Rio as a member of the 4x400-m relay team.
‘’I think the message I want to convey to the participants is not to be scared to try new things,’’ said Dupont who started racing in 2005. ‘’Come out to the Paralympian Search try the different stations and see what you like.
‘’When I caught the sports bug, I was hooked.’’
