CW Connections at the Paris 2024 Paralympics
Canada West is well represented as Paralympics begin Aug. 28
Aug. 28, 2024 – The City of Light is ready to host another sporting spectacle over the next 11 days, as the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games get underway today. The competition, set to run from Aug. 28 to Sept. 8, is the world's largest event for athletes with various motor, sensory and intellectual disabilities and impairments.
There are plenty of Canada West connections, including both athletes and coaches, for fans to cheer on at this edition of the Paralympic games.
CW Member Paralympic Connections
- Alberta Pandas sprinter Amanda Rummery has punched her ticket to Paris, officially qualifying for the 2024 Paralympic Games after narrowly missing a spot at the 2021 Tokyo Games. The MacEwan University graduate and current University of Alberta Education student and Pandas Track athlete met the standard in the Para Ambulatory 400m with a time of 59.08.
- The Canadian Women's Sitting Volleyball team has a medley of CW connections, including head coach Nicole Ban, who has ties to both MacEwan and the University of Alberta. Two of Ban's assistant coaches also have MacEwan ties, including former Griffins women's volleyball player Kate Rozendaal and former Griffins women's volleyball assistant coach Chelsea Hobbs. On the court, current MacEwan student Heidi Peters, as well as MacEwan alumni Allison E. Lang and Sarah Melenka, will all suit up for the team, alongside UBCO Heat alum Jenn Oakes. Oakes has been a member of the women’s sitting volleyball team since 2015 and will be competing in her third Paralympic Games.
- Former Calgary Dinos distance runner Stefan Daniel will be competing at the Paris Paralympic Games in the triathlon. Daniel claimed silver in the event at Rio 2016 and bronze at Tokyo 2020.
- Manitoba Bisons women's basketball head coach Michele Sung will be in Paris coaching the Canadian women's wheelchair basketball team.
- Thompson Rivers WolfPack fans will be cheering on Greg Stewart as he looks to defend the gold medal in shot put that he won at the Tokyo Paralympic Games. Stewart played for both the WolfPack men’s basketball and volleyball teams during his time at TRU and was a two-time CW Defensive Player of the Year as well as the 2010-11 U SPORTS Defensive Player of the Year in men’s basketball.
- The UNBC Timberwolves will be cheering on a trio of alums in the Paralympic Games, including Kady Dandeneau as she suits up for the Canadian women's wheelchair basketball team. Dandeneau played for the T-Wolves WBB program from 2007-13 and was a member of the Timberwolves' inaugural season in Canada West. She has been a also a previous Legacy keynote speaker at the university. And while not Timberwolves alumni, the entire Prince George community will be cheering for a pair of UNBC grads in Joel Ewert and Bo Hedges. Ewert was named to Canada’s Wheelchair Rugby team and has been part of the national wheelchair rugby team since 2017. Hedges will represent Canada in Wheelchair Basketball.
Did we miss a CW connection in Paris? Email jamin.heller@canadawest.org to fill us in!