Athlete Director
Tony Walby retired from competitive sport after the 2016 Paralympic Games. In December 2018, he was elected chair of the Canadian Paralympic Committee’s Athletes’ Council on a platform to continue to build the council’s influence in the Canadian sport system.
Taking up judo at the age of seven, Walby fought alongside sighted athletes into his mid-thirties despite the effects of cone dystrophy, a deteriorating genetic condition. For 16 years, Walby was a member of the national able-bodied judo team. In his last year of competition, he earned the title of national heavyweight champion.
Walby retired from able-bodied sport at age 35, around the same time he was declared legally blind. A 12-time Senior National Medalist in sighted judo, Walby quickly excelled in visually-impaired judo, taking two gold medals at the 2010 Parapan American Championships.
