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THE BAJA POST
NEWSROOM
SOURCE: PR NEWSMEDIA
A team of seven Para cyclists will race for Canada at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, the Canadian Paralympic Committee and Cycling Canada announced Monday.
Paris 2024 Canadian Paralympic Team – PARA CYCLING
- Nathan Clement – West Vancouver, BC – MT1 (classification)
- Alexandre Hayward – Quispamsis, NB – MC3
- Charles Moreau – Victoriaville, QC – MH3
- Kate O’Brien – Calgary, AB – WC4
- Mel Pemble – Victoria, BC – WC3
- Mike Sametz – Calgary, AB – MC3
- Keely Shaw – Midale, SK – WC4
The team includes four Paralympic medallists: Charles Moreau (two bronze at Rio 2016), Kate O’Brien (silver at Tokyo 2020), Keely Shaw (bronze at Tokyo 2020), and Mike Sametz (bronze at Rio 2016).
Moreau is the most experienced of the team, with two Games appearances (2016, 2020). O’Brien, Shaw, and Sametz will participate in their second Paralympic Games (O’Brien has also represented Canada in cycling at the Olympic Games, in 2016). For Sametz, it is a return to Paralympic competition after injury and illness kept him out of the sport for the Tokyo Games.
Nathan Clement and Mel Pemble will be making their Paralympic debuts in Para cycling but are already Paralympians in other sports – Clement in Para swimming (2016) and Pemble in Para alpine skiing (2018). Alexandre Hayward will become a first-time Paralympian in Paris.
«I can’t describe how it feels being selected for the team for Paris 2024,» said Pemble. «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.»
At the 2023 world championships in Scotland, these athletes won nine medals, including two gold – Clement in the men’s T1 road time trial and Pemble in the women’s C3 omnium on the track (which is not a Paralympic event). O’Brien, Shaw, Clement, and Sametz also secured podium finishes.
«Being selected for the Paris Paralympic Games is an honour beyond words,» said Clement. «Wearing the maple leaf at my second Games is incredibly humbling. I’m thrilled for this chance to give it for my community and country. Without my team in Vancouver and the support of the city, this dream would not be possible. Thank you to everyone. I can’t wait to hear that starting siren and see my teammates achieve their goals and race on the biggest stage alongside them!»
Last fall at the 2023 Parapan Am Games in Santiago, Canadian Para cyclists won 12 medals with Hayward leading the way with four (two gold, one silver, one bronze). Pemble added a gold and silver, Clement notched a gold and bronze, and Shaw won silver. Sametz took home two bronze and Moreau contributed his own bronze medal performance.
