Top 10 Canadian Athletes to Watch at the 2024 Paralympic Games

Paralympian Aurelie Rivard holds her five Paralympic swimming medals at a news conference, Sept. 8, 2021 in Montreal. Rivard won two gold, a silver and two bronze medals at the 2020 Tokyo Games. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

All eyes will be on the pool this week when Canada’s top female swimmers take to the water at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.

Leading the charge is veteran swimmer and 10-time Paralympic medallist Aurélie Rivard from Saint-Jean-sur-Richeleau, Que.

She kicked off her medal-winning streak at the age of 16, taking silver at the 2012 Games in London and has been a dominant force on Canada’s Para swimming team ever since.

But that success did not come easily for Rivard, who has spoken publicly about the bullying she endured as a teenager because of her disability. Rivard was born with an underdeveloped left hand.

Now 28, Rivard’s career includes five golds, three silvers, and two bronze during her three previous Paralympic appearances. She has also won 19 world championship medals, making her the most decorated Canadian woman in Para swimming World Championships history.

While Rivard leads the medal count among team Canada’s swimmers, Katarina Roxon and Danielle Dorris are two other competitors to watch in the water.

Another veteran of the pool, Roxon will be the centre of attention today when she and co-flag bearer wheelchair basketball player Patrick Anderson lead the Canadian contingent into Place de la Concorde for the opening of the Paralympic Games.

Roxon, 31, will be the first Canadian female swimmer to compete in five Paralympic Games. The two-time Paralympic medallist from Corner Brook, N.L. started swimming at the age of five, competed in her first world championship at the age of 13 and in her first Paralympics at 15.

Roxan, who was born missing her left arm below her elbow, won a gold medal in breaststroke in the 2016 Games in Rio and a bronze as part of the women’s 100-metre freestyle relay team in Tokyo four years later.

At just age 21, Dorris will be making her third Paralympic appearance.

A 13-year-old Dorris made history at the 2016 Games in Rio as the youngest Canadian swimmer ever to compete. Her breakthrough came four years later in Tokyo where she won gold in the women’s 50-metre butterfly S7, setting a world record time of 32.99 seconds, and silver in the 100-metre backstroke S7.

Born with underdeveloped arms, a condition known as bilateral radial dysplasia, the Moncton, N.B., resident was a double gold medallist at the world championship in England last year with victories in her signature event and the 100-metre backstroke.

Rowing

Jacob Wassermann is a Paralympic novice, but will be on the radar of hockey fans, despite his new passion for rowing.

Wassermann, 24, will make his debut at the Games six years after surviving the deadly Humboldt Broncos bus crash in 2018. He was the No. 1 goaltender for the Broncos before the crash left him paralyzed from the waist down.

The Regina resident discovered Para rowing in late 2022, and has risen rapidly in the sport, winning a gold medal at the Canadian Para Rowing Championships in 2023. He also nabbed silver at the 2024 World Rowing Americas Paralympic Qualification Regatta in Rio de Janeiro.

Wassermann said at a recent press conference that he entered the regatta for experience, but with no real expectation of winning.

He described rowing as a sport he “happened into” and said he “got lucky” in Rio.

“Things fell into place, and I ended up getting a silver out there and qualifying for Paris,” he said.

He will race for Canada in the PR1 men’s single sculls on Aug. 30.

Wheelchair Basketball

Leading the charge in men’s senior wheelchair basketball is Patrick Anderson. Aside from being one of this year’s flag bearers, this veteran player has brought home three gold medals and one silver in his previous six Paralympic Game appearances.

He was confined to a wheelchair in 1989 at the age of nine when he was struck by a drunk driver and lost both of his legs below the knee.

Now 45, the Fergus, Ont., resident is considered one of the best wheelchair basketball players in the history of the sport and is known as the “Michael Jordan of wheelchair basketball.”

Anderson has played professionally in Australia, Germany, and Spain where he played a pivotal role in guiding the men’s basketball team to victory in 2000, 2004, and 2012 with Paralympic golds. He was also instrumental in the team winning a silver in 2008 and a world championship title in 2006.

He has maintained an average of 21.7 points, 12 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game throughout his Paralympic career.

Canada's Brent Lakatos races to win the men's elite wheelchair race at the London Marathon in London, England, Oct. 4, 2020. John Sibley/Pool via AP

Wheelchair Racing

Wheelchair racer Brent Lakatos is the reigning world champion in the 800 metres and has won 11 Paralympic medals. The 44-year-old has won eight silver medals: four in Tokyo, one in Rio, and three in London. He also brought home a gold and two bronze.

Lakatos was involved in a skating accident while playing hockey when he was six. The impact of hitting the ice caused a blood clot to form in his spine, resulting in paralysis.

He has been racing competitively since the age of 24 and this summer set three world records in the T53 100-metre, 200-metre, and 800-metre.

Paris will be his sixth Games and will give the Dorval, Que., resident a chance to be on the podium once again.

Fellow wheelchair racer Austin Smeenk has had the best season of his career this year, breaking the world record in both the T34 400-metre and the 800-metre in June at a Grand Prix in Paris.

The 27-year-old was also a double medallist at the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships, taking silver in the 100-metre T34, and a bronze in the 400-metre T34.

This will be his third Games and, while he has not previously won any Paralympic medals, his performance earlier this summer suggests his dry streak could be over.

The Oakville, Ont., resident was born with spastic paraplegia, a hereditary disease that causes progressive stiffness and contraction in the lower limbs.

Track and Field

Track star Nate Riech is the reigning Paralympic and world champion and world-record holder in the men’s 1,500-metre T38.

He won gold in his first Paralympic Games in Tokyo and took the top spot on the podium again in 2023 at the World Para Athletics Championships in Paris.

The Victoria resident suffered from a brain injury at the age of 10 when a golf ball hit him in the back of the head. He was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury which affected the right side of his body.

He started running in Grade 8 and competed throughout his university years against non-disabled runners. The now 29-year-old blasted onto the Paralympics scene in 2019 when he won the gold medal in the men’s T38 1500-metre at both the IPC World Championships and the Parapan American Games, setting records at both events.

Triathlon

Five-time world champion Stefan Daniel won Paralympic silver in 2016 and bronze in Tokyo. The 27-year-old from Calgary, who was born with bilateral radial club hands, first gained international recognition when he won his first world title in Para triathlon in 2015.

Daniel has dominated in the sport ever since, winning several world championship titles, including five consecutive golds from 2015 to 2019, and another in 2022. This will be his third Paralympic performance.

Wheelchair Rugby

Trevor Hirschfield is widely considered to be one of the best low-point players in the world. He started with Team Canada in 2006 and became co-captain in 2012. He has been one of its key players ever since.

The Parksville, B.C., resident has been paralyzed below the neck since the age of 16 after being injured in a car crash.

The 41-year-old boasts four appearances at Paralympic Games, having secured a silver medal in 2012 and a bronze medal in 2008.

“On the court, he is known for his intelligence and his ability to ‘play up’ and guard athletes with a higher point value,” the Canadian Paralympic Committee said, referencing his ability to play against players with more mobility.

“These talents have earned him several World Championship All Star awards, as well as become the first low-point player to ever be named IPC Athlete of the Month.”