Paralympic power on display in Canadian Sport Award nominations

OTTAWA – There were an impressive 11 nominations with Paralympic connections in 18 categories for the Canadian Sport Awards announced Thursday by AthletesCAN.

The names of the winners will be unveiled at a black-tie event to be held at the Brookstreet Hotel in Ottawa on Thursday, September 20.

There are two Paralympic athletes named in the People’s Choice Award – Performance of the Year category. They are Para nordic skier Mark Arendz of Hartsville, P.E.I., who won six medals in six events to lead Canada at the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games in PyeongChang and Para alpine skier Mollie Jepsen, a quadruple medallist in her Games debut.

They are up against Olympic champions Mikael Kingsbury in freestyle skiing and figure skaters Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir as well as swimmer Taylor Ruck and beach volleyball players Melissa Humana-Paredes and Sarah Pavan.

Canadians can vote for the People’s Choice Award winner via CBC’s website. 

There are two Paralympic sport nominees in two other categories as well. For the winter sport team of the year the nominees include the men’s Para ice hockey team and wheelchair curling squad, silver and bronze medallists respectively in PyeongChang.

In the summer sport male athlete of the year category, wheelchair racer Brent Lakatos of Dorval, Que., and Para runner Nathan Riech of Victoria, both national record setters this summer, are finalists with their able-bodied sport counter parts – sprinter Aaron Brown and decathlete Damian Warner.

Para nordic skier Brian McKeever of Canmore, Alta., who collected four medals – including three gold – in PyeongChang is a finalist for the winter sport male athlete of the year. He is now the most successful Canadian Winter Paralympian of all time with 17 medals.

In the Influencers section, Paralympic nominees are: Chelsey Gotell, the Chairperson of the International Paralympic Committee’s Athletes Council for the Bruce Kidd Leadership Award; Todd Nicholson of Ottawa, Canada’s Chef de Mission at the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games, for the AthletesCAN Social Responsibility Award; and Para ice hockey star Billy Bridges of Mississauga, Ont., along with his wife Sami Jo Small, for the Inclusion Award – Obliterating Barriers in Sport.

In the Corporate Excellence category, the Canadian Tire Corporation’s Parasport Jumpstart Fund, which is a program in partnership with the Canadian Paralympic Committee, is a nominee for National Initiative Support.

The 41st Canadian Sport Awards, hosted by Olympians and CBC broadcasters Perdita Felicien and Alex Despatie, will be held in Ottawa on Thursday, September 20, 2018 at the Brookstreet Hotel, as part of the 26th annual AthletesCAN Forum. Tickets are available at: https://athletescan.com/en/canadian-sport-awards-ticket-portal.