The 10 biggest para sports stories of 2020
The Paralympic movement had some game-changing moments this year
From fierce comebacks to making history, the Paralympic movement had some game-changing moments this year. Those moments also set up great storylines for Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022.
Here are the top-10 moments from the past year:
Brent Lakatos won the London Marathon
Nobody should be surprised when seven-time Paralympic medallist and 11-time world champion Brent Lakatos makes a podium, but the wheelchair racer outdid himself in 2020. In October, the 40-year old from Montreal won the London Marathon, becoming the first Canadian to do so in 10 years. Lakatos finished the rainy course in one hour, 36 minutes and four seconds. He also raced on a wheelchair he helped design.
WATCH | Brent Lakatos tests self-made, Tokyo wheelchair in London Marathon win:
Kate O'Brien & Tristan Chernove win world championship medals and set records
After a devastating cycling crash in 2017, doctors questioned whether Kate O'Brien would walk or talk again. When her back tire blew during a track cycling demonstration in Calgary, she hit the pacing bike in front of her and was launched up the track. O'Brien broke her clavicle, punctured a lung, cracked some ribs and got a serious brain injury. Later in her recovery, she would also be diagnosed with epilepsy.
However, the 32-year-old defied the odds and not only got back on her bike, but eventually qualified for Canada's para-cycling team. Fast forward to January 2020, and the native of Calgary, Alta. competed at the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships (her first para-cycling event) and won two world titles in the C4 500-metre time trial and C4 200-metre time trial, setting world record times in both.
O'Brien's teammate Tristen Chernove also deserves a shout out. He won three silver medals at the world championships and also made the most of this pandemic. He completed the BC Epic 1000 in the summer, beating the previous finishing record of three days, 15 hours and 22 minutes by eight hours. The para cyclist from Cranbrook B.C., also raised over $30,000 for the Paralympic Foundation of Canada while doing it. And Chernove's not done with 2020 yet: On Dec. 27 he'll take part in a virtual Everesting challenge, biking up hills until his team covers the height of Mount Everest.
Mollie Jepsen & Mac Marcoux are back with a vengeance
You would never know Mac Marcoux spent a year off the snow based on his 2020 results. After recovering from a ruptured disc, the 22-year-old from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., hit the ground running in January with his guide Tristan Rodgers, winning eight World Cup races in a row. And that's not all: One of those was Marcoux's 50th career World Cup podium, which is notable considering he only joined Team Canada in 2013.
Marcoux's teammate Mollie Jepsen also had a great 2020 after a huge roadblock. In 2018 the four-time Paralympic medallist and IPC Crystal Globe super-G champion was diagnosed with Crohn's disease. So she stepped away from competition in 2019 to manage her health. But Jepsen, from West Vancouver, had an epic return to competition in January, making the podium in four of five World Cup events. She won three gold medals and one silver, all in super-G and slalom races. Jepsen's performance solidified her reputation as one to beat in Beijing 2022.
Rising of the Phoenix documentary debut
If you haven't seen Rising of the Phoenix yet, add it to your watch list. The Netflix documentary was released in August to 190 different countries, showcasing the Paralympic movement from its inception to its more recent strides and setbacks. The film got rave reviews and features a number of Paralympians' personal stories, inspiring a whole new generation of athletes and fans.
Wheelchair mixed doubles curling on its way to becoming Paralympic event
The IPC gave an early gift this December when they announced wheelchair mixed doubles curling was provisionally approved for the 2026 Paralympics in Italy. This is great news for Canada, whose wheelchair curling team won silver at the world championships, making their way back to the top after being relegated in 2019. Canada's already had Paralympic success in the mixed team event with three gold medals and a bronze since it became a Paralympic event in 2006.
First time a woman is named nordic high-performance director
Kate Boyd made history in 2020 becoming the first woman to take the helm of Nordic Canada's high-performance program. Boyd's already the only current female winter para-sport coach at a national level and has been instrumental to Canada's para-nordic program. Boyd, from Ottawa, helped the team to a record 16 medals at Pyeongchang 2018. So the community is optimistic about her effects on Canada's entire nordic program.
Wheelchair basketball changes eligibility standards, forcing early retirements
A bureaucratic argument officially trickled down into wheelchair basketball in 2020, forcing athletes like Canadian David Eng into early retirement.
For years, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) accused the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) of operating under their own athlete classification standards, which exist respectively in each para-sport to maintain an equal playing field. So in January of this year, the IPC forced the issue by moving to remove wheelchair basketball from the 2024 Paralympic program and threatening its removal from Tokyo 2020 as well.
The IWBF relented and reassessed every international player to make sure they fall under the IPC guidelines. The 43-year-old Eng, from Montreal, was born with one leg longer than the other, but under the IPC classification standard this is not an "eligible impairment." So despite plans to compete in Tokyo, the three-time Paralympic medallist and 2016 flag bearer is retiring early.
Shot putter comes out as trans
It was 35 years in the making, but in 2020 Canadian discus athlete Ness Murby came out as trans. Murby, who lives in Vancouver, competes in the F11 category. And if he qualifies for Tokyo, he could make history by becoming the first trans athlete to compete at a Paralympics or Olympics.
"This has shown me that it does feel better to be open, to be out, to be me. I look forward to competing unquestionably as me, because it will be the very first time," said Murby. "This is the very first time for me where the trade off won't be my self concept. And that's huge."
Historic donation to the Paralympic Foundation of Canada
The possibilities for Canadian para-athletes just got bigger after a historic, $1-million contribution was made to the Paralympic Foundation of Canada. The donors were Jim and Deb Westlake, the parents of Paralympic and world champion para ice hockey player Greg Westlake. The funds will go toward supporting all Canadian athletes with different abilities, whether they are future Paralympians or at a recreational level, to make sure they have equipment, programming, coaching, and opportunities to train and compete.
More Canadian teams qualified for Tokyo
In a year where not a whole lot got done, Canada qualified two more teams for Tokyo 2020.
Canada's women's sitting volleyball team went 6-0 at a qualifying tournament in February to punch their ticket to the Games. Tokyo will be their second straight Paralympic Games appearance after having first qualified in 2016.
Right before the world shut down in March, the wheelchair rugby team locked in their spot after defeating Colombia 57-46 at the IWRF Paralympic qualification in Richmond, B.C.
