Austin Smeenk

Wheelchair racer Austin Smeenk seems to make progress each season.

In 2019, Smeenk lowered Canadian records in the 100m, 400m, 800m and 1500m and capped the year with three top-five finishes at the IPC World Championships including fourth in the 800m.

In 2018 he kicked off the track season with silver in the 100m and bronze in the 200m in the T34 wheelchair race at the Swiss Open.

He neared the world championship podium in 2017 with top-five finishes in the 100m and 200m. This came a year after he made his Paralympic debut at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, where he made two finals in the 100m (6th) and 800m (8th).

In 2015, he was scheduled to compete in three T34 events at the Parapan American Games in Toronto. However, when he arrived at the athletes village to move in, he was told that all three of his events had been cancelled due to an insufficient number of competitors. 

Despite qualifying for the 2012 Paralympic Games in London, Smeenk decided not to compete at the event. Having discussed his options with his parents and coach (the late Ken Thom) he came to the conclusion that it would be too soon for him to compete at the highest level given his young age, especially as he was using a borrowed wheelchair at the time. 

Smeenk says having a disability shouldn’t deny anyone from playing sports or doing chores. He says there just needs to be an openness to trying and doing things differently.