Wheelchair racer Cody Fournie strikes gold in Paralympic Games debut

PARIS – Wheelchair racer Cody Fournie produced a giant upset on Tuesday morning with a gold medal performance in the men’s T51 200-m race for Canada’s second  victory in less than 24 hours at the Paralympic Games.

It was his first Paralympic Games appearance.

Fournie, now based in Victoria, smashed his Canadian record by over two seconds clocking 37.64 in a stunning and decisive victory. Toni Piipanen of Finland was second in 38.55 and Peter Genyn of Belgium third in 38.65.

Pre-race favorite and reigning world champion Rober Habsch of Belgium was fifth in 42.35.

‘’It feels really good,’’ said the soft-spoken 35-year-old, a world championship silver medallist earlier this year. ‘’All I can say is the hard work, the nutrition, the hydration has all paid off.’’

In the race, Fournie was second from the inside in lane four and by the end of the turn he was already rolling to the finish uncontested.

‘’In the first 100 metres my coach and I have been working on a different style of push,’’ he said. ‘’It was basically doing short spurts quickly and then I was able to get into my long strides.

‘’I was actually worried when I saw no one around me. Roger has always kept me working hard and I’m the one always trying to catch him. I was hoping to be neck and neck with him because I love racing him.’’

Fournie switched to racing from wheelchair rugby. He played many years at the national level but missed the cut for Tokyo 2020.

‘’Because of wheelchair rugby I was already used to the training,’’ said Fournie, who became a quadriplegic following an accident at age 11. 

‘’What was the most difficult part in racing was figuring out this chair. Not having stomach muscles I had to learn to use my head to change the direction of the chair.

‘’That took quite awhile to figure out.’’

He’s figured it out and has a Paralympic Games  gold medal to prove it.

Don’t miss a moment of the Paris 2024 action! Join our CAN Crew community today and stay up-to-date with all the latest news and updates from the Canadian Paralympic Team directly to your email inbox!