Seven Para cyclists named to Team Canada for Paris 2024 Paralympics
Four of the seven have won Paralympic medals before.
Seven Para cyclists will compete for Canada at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, after being officially named to the team on Monday.
Four of the seven have won Paralympic medals before — Charles Moreau won two bronze medals at Rio 2016, Mike Zametz won a bronze in Rio as well, Kate O’Brien earned a silver at Tokyo 2020, and Keely Shaw picked up a bronze in Tokyo.
Moreau is the most experienced member of the team, going to his third Paralympics this summer after competing at the last two. Zametz, O’Brien, and Shaw will be making their second Paralympic appearances, with O’Brien and Shaw also competing in Tokyo and Zametz returning from Rio 2016 after missing out on Tokyo.
O’Brien is also an Olympian, competing at Rio 2016 before a training accident in 2017 resulted in a severe head injury.
Nathan Clement and Mel Pemble have competed in the Paralympics before, but not in Para cycling. Clement competed at Rio 2016 in Para swimming, while Pemble went to PyeongChang 2018 in Para alpine skiing before returning to the sport of cycling in 2020. Alexandre Hayward will be making his Paralympic debut in Paris.
“I can't describe how it feels being selected for the team for Paris 2024,” said Pemble in a press release. “It truly feels unreal when I think back on four years ago; restarting this sport and being unsure on where it would lead. Though I've been lucky enough to have a Winter Games experience, in a way, this still feels as if it's my first Games with a different kind of excitement of what is to come and what is possible to achieve in Paris.”
Qualification slots for the Paralympics were earned through results at world championships and World Cup events in 2023 and 2024.
At the 2023 Parapan Am Games in Santiago, Canadian Para cyclists won 12 medals. Hayward led the way with four (two gold, one silver, one bronze), Pemble won a gold and a silver, Clement earned a gold and bronze.
Shaw won a silver in Santiago, Sametz picked up two bronze, and Moreau added a bronze of his own.
“Since being introduced to Para sport as a competitive 15-year-old who’d just had his life turned upside down by a hockey injury, the goal of one day representing Canada at the Paralympics immediately played a huge role in my life,” said Hayward in a press release. “The feeling of fulfilling that dream 12 years later is hard to put into words and to be heading there with the realistic goal of returning with a medal is a huge cherry on top.”
Everyone but O’Brien will compete in the road events. Hayward, Pemble, and Shaw will compete on both the road and track, and O’Brien will only compete on the track.
Track events take place from August 29 to September 1 at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome, while road races take place from September 4-7, starting and finishing in Clichy-Sous-Bois.
Thank you for reading this post on True North. To be the first person to read future posts, and listen to new podcast episodes, subscribe for free using the button below, or share the article with someone you know.