Wheelchair racing power couple fulfilling Paralympic dreams in Rio

RIO DE JANEIRO — Wheelchair racer Ilana Dupont had barely crossed the finish line in her 100-metre T53 final at the Paralympic Games on Thursday night before she set her eyes on what she says will be her most competitive event: the 400.

"I'm coming in a lot stronger than I have ever been before." Dupont said. "The 400 has been my strongest race this year so I'm just excited to see where I'm standing against the other girls."

She and her husband — three-time Paralympian Alex Dupont — will be competing in a combined seven events at these Games. Ilana, who won bronze in the 100 at the 2008 Games in Beijing, came back to elite level competition last year at the Parapan Ams; the Games in Toronto took place one year after giving birth to the couples' first child, a daughter, in 2014.

"It didn't take me as long as I thought to get back into it," the 2015 Parapan Am 100 silver and 800 bronze medallist remarked. "I thought for sure my body changed shape a bit and there was fitting into my custom chair to deal with as well.

"It was a lot to get back in but I'm coming back tougher than I ever was."

The wheelchair racing couple have been working towards their dream of competing together at the Paralympics for the past four years since Alex won bronze in the 1500 at the 2012 Games during a time Ilana was taking a break from competition.

"This is our first Paralympic Games together," Ilana said. "We actually have one day of overlap in our competition so we'll maybe even be in the call room at the same time.

"Our races are just a few minutes apart on our 400 day, so we'll be able to watch each other race and encourage each other through this whole process."

Teamwork on and off the track

With their daughter Amélia having just turned two this past August, the pair has had to deal with the challenge of balancing their workouts around their parental responsibilities.

"We could only train one at a time while the other parent was taking care of her," Alex recounted. "We would wait for her to nap and when she was sleeping we would go down to train. We kind of made our schedule around hers."

Working as a team has become second nature for the couple who have learned to help each other out with their strengths and weaknesses, with Ilana providing much of the emotional stability.

"Sometimes I get wound up in stuff and she's pretty good at bringing me back to earth," Alex explained. "I'm usually the one who takes care of all the maintenance on the equipment and on our [wheelchairs,] so that's my part."

Being away from Amélia — who is back home in Quebec during the Games — is a challenge, but the Duponts believe the legacy they leave her will outweigh the sacrifice of being apart.

"It's really tough but in the end I think it's going to be a very great thing for her," Ilana said. "She's going to grow up knowing that she can achieve all her goals just by setting her mind to something. I hope that we can make her proud."

Ilana will hit the track next in the 400 T53 on Saturday morning, while Alex will open with his first event, the 100 T54 on Sunday.