Press Releases

Saskatchewan’s elite athletes to demonstrate Paralympic sports on International Day for Persons with a Disability

30 November 2007

SASKATOON, SK (November 30, 2007) – Double Paralympic gold medalist Amy Alsop, multi-gold medalist Lisa Franks and Paralympian Karen Van Nest will mark International Day for Persons with a Disability on December 3 by promoting the important role sport can play in the lives of people with a physical disability. These elite Saskatchewan athletes along with Paralympic hopefuls Alexandre Dupont, Kyle Shaw and Shawna Ryan will demonstrate several Paralympic sports to students and staff at Bedford Road Collegiate in Saskatoon on December 3 beginning at 11 a.m.



“I hope this event will start the public and media talking about the upcoming 2008 Paralympic Games,” said Alsop, who won gold on Canada’s goalball team at both the Athens 2004 Paralympic Summer Games and the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Summer Games. “The event today acknowledges December 3 by celebrating the achievements of Saskatchewan’s Paralympic athletes, and I’m proud to be a part of that.”

Organized by Saskatchewan Paralympic athletes and the Bedford Road Collegiate, the event recognizes the athletes from Saskatchewan who are aiming to qualify for the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Summer Games, running from September 6-17, 2008 in China. Student volunteers from Bedford Road Collegiate will assist the athletes with the Paralympic sport demonstrations.

“We are excited about this opportunity to raise awareness of disability issues while recognizing some remarkable athletes whose perseverance and dedication set an excellent example for our students,” said Bedford Road Principal Brian Flaherty.

“Our Canadian Paralympic Summer team will be out in force in Beijing in 2008 and our country will have the honour of hosting the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver and Whistler,” added CPC President Carla Qualtrough. “The goal of the Paralympic Movement is to make the perception of disability disappear, replacing it with accessibility, integration and equality. The event at Bedford Road Collegiate should help contribute to this goal.”

Both Canada’s women’s goalball and wheelchair basketball teams have already qualified for the 2008 Paralympic Games. Alsop will be attempting to qualify for the women’s goalball team and to represent Canada at her third Paralympic Games.

Franks was a member of the women’s wheelchair basketball team that qualified for Beijing with a second-place finish at the 2007 Parapanamerican Games held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in August. Moose Jaw, SK native Franks was a wheelchair racer before switching to basketball. In racing, she won two gold medals at the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games, and four gold medals and a silver at the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games. In 2006, she became the first player from Saskatchewan to be named to Canada’s national wheelchair basketball team.

Van Nest finished fifth in Athens and fourth in Sydney in shooting, and has also competed at the international level in rowing.

Dupont and Shaw participate in wheelchair athletics, while Ryan competes in goalball.

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