The Paris Paralympic Games kick off are set to begin Wednesday, and there are a few athletes on Team Canada with connections to the Hamilton area.
Some 4,400 athletes are expected to compete for 549 medals, across 22 sports over 11 days. A team of 126 athletes will represent Canada across 18 sports.
The Games kick off with Wednesday’s opening ceremonies and run until Sept. 8. Audiences can tune in to CBC/Radio-Canada’s coverage on CBC, CBC Gem, CBC’s Paris 2024 website and the CBC Paris 2024 app.
Here are some of the local athletes from the Hamilton area who will be competing:
Katie Cosgriffe: Para Swimming, Burlington/Oakville
Hailing from Burlington, 17-year-old Katie Cosgriffe qualified for Paris 2024 after participating in the Women’s 100m Butterfly S10 and Women’s 100m Backstroke S10 events in the Paralympic Trials in May. She will be competing in the S10 classification.
Cosgriffe got her international classification in April 2023 and went on to represent Canada at the Manchester 2023 Para Swimming World Championships. She was named Breakout Para Swimmer of the Year for 2023 by Swimming Canada.
“Involved in competitive swimming since the age of nine, Katie turned to para swimming after being diagnosed with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease in early 2021, one of the most common inherited neurological disorders,” reads her biography on the Canadian Paralympic Committee website.
The committee notes she is the youngest swimmer on the team.
Emma Grace Van Dyk: Para Swimming, Hamilton/Port Colborne
Hamilton-born Emma Grace Van Dyk got into swimming when she was young as a form of physiotherapy. Now, it’s taking her all the way to the Paralympic Games in Paris.
Earlier this year, at the Paralympic team trials in May, she broke the Canadian record in the S14-class 100-metre backstroke. She also holds records in the 400-metre individual medley and the 200-metre butterfly.
Van Dyk also rows at a high level, and often competes with her sister, according to the Canadian Paralympic Committee. She has also worked for Parks Canada at Fort George in Niagara-on-the-Lake as a player in the War of 1812 re-enactment.
She will compete in the Women’s 100m Backstroke on Sept. 6.
Melanie Hawtin: Wheelchair Basketball, Oakville/Hamilton
Melanie Hawtin was born in Hamilton and grew up in Oakville, Ont. She competed as a wheelchair racer for several years until surgery forced her to take a hiatus in 2012. Afterwards, Hawtin pivoted to wheelchair basketball. The Wheelchair Basketball Canada’s website says Hawtin competed with the Burlington Vipers club before going on to represent Ontario at the women’s national championship in 2013.
Hawtin, who was born with spina bifida, also competed in the 2016 and 2020 Paralympic games.
The first game for the women’s team is scheduled for Aug. 28 where they will be playing against China.
Puisand Lai: Wheelchair Basketball, Toronto/Hamilton
McMaster University engineering student Puisand Lai will be in Paris representing Canada on the women’s wheelchair basketball team.
Lai grew up in Toronto. When she was six years old, she was diagnosed with transverse myelitis, a rare neurological condition.
Paris won’t be Lai’s first time at the Paralympics. She played previously in the Tokyo 2020 Games where the Canadian women’s team landed fifth place. She hopes that team Canada will be able to bring back a medal this year.
Her mother, Jenny Lai, spoke to CBC Hamilton earlier this month about her hopes for the team.
“I hope the Canadian team will go to the finals but I guess most importantly, I just want them to have fun and have this very special, memorable experience,” Jenny said.
The first game for the women’s team is scheduled for Aug. 28 where they will be playing against China.
Brian Hnatiw and Michelle Salt discuss how athletes, and CBC, are preparing to take on the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games on the eve of the opening ceremony.