Weekly round-up: Checking in with Paralympians

Even though Canada’s Paralympians are not able to compete right now, or train at their normal pace, they are still keeping themselves busy whether it’s doing at-home workouts, virtual chatting with friends and family, or sharing their stories in the news and on social media. Each week, we compile various top social posts and articles to see what Canadian Para athletes have been up to. Here are some highlights from the past week:

Cindy Ouellet, a member of Canada’s national women’s wheelchair basketball team, hosted this week’s edition of Team Canada Champion Chats. Special guest included Para swimmer Abi Tripp and the focus was on celebrating health and fitness, in honour of National Health and Fitness Day on Saturday.

Accompanied by his pet dog, wheelchair basketball national team member Nik Goncin gives us a taste of his workout from home routine as he prepares for what he hopes is a return to action very soon.

@goncin is providing us with some motivation during these challenging times Thanks for the inspiration Nik! ♿️ #Wheelchairbasketball #CSIO #BuildingChampions #SportforCanada @WCBballCanada @ONPARANETWORK @CDNParalympics @SportCanada_EN @ownthepodium pic.twitter.com/NX1hbqGIgh

— CDN Sport Institute (@CSIONTARIO) June 5, 2020

Para nordic skier Brittany Hudak and Paralympic legend Colette Bourgonje (Para nordic and wheelchair racing) were featured on the Canada Games Council website. They discussed the importance of the Games to provide opportunities for athletes with a disability.

Got the opportunity to speak about my Canada Games experience and the importance of having sport accessible to all. You can read the full article below #CanadaGames #NationalAccessibilityWeek #AccessibleCanada #SportForAll https://t.co/tcojMySgLF

— Brittany Hudak (@brittanyhudak93) June 7, 2020

AMI’s new wheelchair rugby documentary ‘Across the Line’ is now available to watch online. Following Canada’s quest to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, the documentary focuses on the stories of team co-captain Trevor Hirschfield and veteran Byron Green.

Senator Chantal Petitclerc, one of Canada’s most decorated Paralympians, shared some of her story this past week to help celebrate the Paralympic Foundation of Canada’s ImagiNation campaign, which supports Next Gen athletes.

This year, @CDNparalympics is celebrating the ImagiNation initiative and the impact it’s having on the Paralympic Movement.
This week, #NationalAccessAbilityWeek, stories of how ImagiNation is impacting Para sport programs and athletes will be shared. Here is mine. pic.twitter.com/JdoKo1sXlU

— Chantal Petitclerc (@CPetitclerc) June 3, 2020

Boccia player Alison Levine was featured on Radio-Canada’s website last week. Levine, the No. 1 BC4 boccia player, talks about her challenges and how sport has had a major impact on her life and happiness. (FRENCH ONLY)