Paralympians take it higher

The Olympics are where heroes are made. The Paralympics are where those who are already heroes compete. One encounter with a Paralympian will make a believer of you. Recently, the Georgia Straight met with three local athletes on Team Canada’s Para-Nordic ski team. Metro Vancouver is particularly well represented in this category. We have a story about a B.C. wheelchair curler, and we’ll introduce you to all the other B.C. residents on the Canadian Paralympic team.

Lou Gibson

The Georgia Straight first interviewed Lou Gibson three years ago at an International Paralympic Committee race at Mount Washington Alpine Resort on Vancouver Island. The Para-Nordic sit skier was still in rehab following a spinal-cord injury incurred when he was struck by a car while cycle-training for a triathlon in 2003. Imagine my surprise when a recent arranged encounter at Vancouver International Airport—as the Barbadian-born Langley resident prepared to head to Canmore, Alberta, for the Canadian national championships—found him no longer confined to a wheelchair but walking, despite his disability.

“After my accident, I was paralyzed from the waist down for two-and-a-half years,” he explained. “Now I’m standing and walking. I don’t know what the end result will be, but I keep getting better. I stay open-minded. Because the doctor felt he had to give me the worst-case scenario, he told me I wouldn’t walk again. I have to believe in a higher power and try to understand what I can do to help myself.”

The Canadian national team member doesn’t expect to win at the Whistler Paralympic Park, where he will compete in two biathlon events as well as the 10-kilometre sprint, but Gibson entered both disciplines for the simple reason that he loves them. “I’m in too tough a class for a medal, but it’s the Olympics—miracles happen.

“You have to be smart,” he observed of the Callaghan Valley course. “The track can reward as easily as punish. You have to be thinking all the time.”

Gibson feels that the Russians are the ones to beat in his class. “The men could have a podium sweep because of their team’s depth. On the other hand, the Canadian women will be strong, especially Colette Bourgonje.”

Competition may be in Gibson’s blood, but medals aren’t his primary motivation. “My recovery from injury is spurred on by training,” he affirmed. “The Paralympics coming here really helped me push. I eat, sleep, breathe physical training at home, where I’ve built a gym. I’m a simple person. I make the resources I have work for me right down to the last penny. I look around and everyone is living too high on the hog.” Gibson worries that without serious reevaluation, the current Canadian lifestyle will prove detrimental to society, especially the elderly. “Take a look at the Europeans and see what they’re doing right compared to North Americans.”

Gibson races on an aerodynamic, egg-shaped sit ski built for him by Rob Mulder, a carbon-composite specialist in North Vancouver best known for his Roberts-brand windsurfing boards. “At first, we experimented with my legs extended instead of kneeling like I do now. Given we had no idea what we were doing, it worked well,” he said with a laugh. “We overbuilt. At nine pounds, it was solid and held up through a lot of crashes. Now it’s smaller and half the weight, especially since I’ve trimmed down due to training. It’s nice, warm, and comfy,” which perfectly mirrors the personality of the athlete.

As Gibson’s world ranking is not within six percent of first place, he receives no support from the Own the Podium program. “Only two things are certain in life: death and taxes. As far as I’m concerned, the Own the Podium program is not putting a competitive perspective on what might happen at the Games. They’re not alone. Companies in general in Canada don’t support grassroots.”

By any measure, Gibson exemplifies true amateurism. “Most Paralympians compete because we love sports. What I get is health and wellness.”

> Jack Christie

Tyler Mosher

Like most athletes, cross-country skier and current adaptive-snowboarding world champion Tyler Mosher is a born competitor. “From the tips of my toes to the top of my head, I’ve always felt that being active makes me happy and gives me a better quality of life. But I don’t think a lot of people understand that being happy takes work. It’s like a relationship: it’s not always easy, but what you get back is intangible.”

After sustaining a back injury in 2002 while backcountry snowboarding at Whistler, Mosher focused his life on two key insights: stay true to himself and he’ll achieve his goals; and it takes an instant to become injured but a lifetime to become healthy. “You never choose when to have your injury,” he pointed out. “That’s the thing about disabled sport.” Although his level of paralysis—40 percent below the waist—hasn’t changed since his accident, Mosher thrives on competition. “The big thing I want people to know is that the top athletes in my division, like Brian McKeever, could compete against the top Olympians. Even if some athletes are born without an arm and only use one pole, they’re still in the same great shape.”

As well as competing as a Paralympian, Mosher races at World Snowboarding Federation events. Last year, the Whistler resident won the inaugural world championship in New Zealand. Following the Paralympics, Mosher heads to adaptive contests in Quebec and Colorado. Although adaptive snowboarding is not an accredited sport at the 2010 Games, during downtimes count on Mosher to introduce fellow athletes to the challenges and delights of carving in soft spring snow. Thanks to the Whistler Adaptive Sports Program’s facilities on Whistler Mountain, the resort has become a leader in marketing to this sport-tourism niche.

“I will stick with snowboarding until it becomes a Paralympic sport,” the 37-year-old vowed. “That will be my legacy. That’s the positive of my negative experience.” Is he optimistic snowboarding will be included at the 2014 Winter Games? “The Canadian Paralympic Committee fully supports the idea. You’d think that by then it would be, even though it’s up to the Russians. Excluding my bias, it’s like being an American and voting for hope.”

Mosher pointed out that the level of competition is similar among elite able-bodied and adaptive snowboarders. “The top athletes are pushing the limits. The only difference is that because snowboarding is not in the Paralympics there’s not the same level of competition or the same progression. There’s certainly more spectators for adaptive-snowboard events than Para-Nordic.” The main reason he took up cross-country skiing was to keep healthy and keep him on the path to achieving goals. “Now neighbours and coworkers are coming out of the woodwork to watch me. No one has ever come out to see me before.”

Mosher’s appearance in the Callaghan Valley in the 10-kilometre free-technique race on March 18 and again in the sprint classic on March 21 will change that. “I was never supposed to walk again. Sport creates healthy living. It improves people’s health and happiness. We really need to get behind that, whether at an elite level or not.”

Mosher discovered that cross-country skiing is not something one masters in a couple of years. “It’s so difficult, you can take a lifetime getting better.” With a nod to his upcoming marriage to Debra Davis in May, he concluded: “It’s a family sport. I like that.”

> Jack Christie

Mary Benson

According to teammate Courtney Knight, Mary Benson is the heart and soul of Canada’s Para-Nordic ski squad. “She keeps everyone laughing,” the Burnaby athlete told the Georgia Straight. Before Benson, a former recreational therapist, suffered brain damage in 2005 from a reaction to prescription medication that left her unable to walk or, temporarily, to talk, she recalled, her life was going along quite nicely. “No one in the Paralympic world ever imagined it would happen to them.” Small wonder that when looking ahead to the 2010 Paralympic Games, the South Surrey resident feels that whether she’s on the podium or just crosses the finish line, she’s already won. “Spectators will have their minds blown by what the human spirit can do,” said the lifelong athlete, who played international-level ringette, field hockey, and baseball before being introduced to cross-country skiing to aid her recovery. “We compete at an elite level that’s not appreciated until you see a Paralympic competition. We fly around courses like there’s no tomorrow.”

From race experiences in locales as diverse as Finland, France, and New Zealand, Benson sized up the Callaghan Valley as “one of the tougher courses. I’m a coastal gal now, and our snow has grip rather than the slippery conditions found elsewhere.” Although wet snow slows sit skiers, it benefits standing athletes, especially on uphill climbs. After an eighth-place finish earlier this season in Germany, Benson is optimistic about her chances in the standing 5-kilometre sprint and the 3.2-kilometre relay loop. “I’m in the perfect place right now to reach the podium. Watching the Olympics has made me realize anything can happen.”

During her rehab as a day patient at the GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre, a recreational therapist helped Benson visualize small goals and successes. “I couldn’t walk down the street on my own. It was terrifying for me to even be around wheelchairs. My therapist encouraged me to join the Learn to Ski program at Cypress. I took one stride and it triggered a body memory, a truly ”˜wow’ moment. I thought, ”˜Maybe I can move like that and get back to my life as I’d known it.’ ” The more Benson skied, the healthier she became. “With the help of poles, I ski better than I walk. The doctors are amazed.” As her balance improved, semiannual CAT scans confirmed her recovery. “Neurologists used to think the rewiring of brain waves only happened with kids, but now they realize it can happen with adults too.”

Benson hails from a large prairie family in Manitoba. “There were enough of us that we always had a team,” she said, beaming. “They’ll all be here to cheer me on. It will be a pretty wild time. My sister is making outfits for the whole family.” Her partner, Kathy Oxner, will be rooting just as hard. “I’ve been married for 22 years. At G.F. Strong, I was told 80 percent of couples don’t survive a disabling accident. We’ve always been committed to trying to work things out. As corny as it sounds, she’s the wind beneath my wings. Kathy looks after things no one else thinks about. Sport can be homophobic. I haven’t had issues because I’m a little older and don’t care what people think. We’re just like everybody else, and if they think otherwise, that’s their problem.”

> Jack Christie

Sonja Gaudet

The Paralympic Games are going to be special for Team Canada curling lead and 2006 gold-medal holder Sonja Gaudet.

Firstly, the 43-year-old mother of two will have her husband, Dan, and both their children watching her compete in the mixed curling events. As well, her son, Colten, turns 16 during the Games.

On a technical level, her team leader, Wendy Morgan, told the Georgia Straight that Gaudet—born on the North Shore and based in Vernon—has overcome the curler’s equivalent of “changing her golf swing” and moved from the position of alternate to lead within one year.

“I’ve known Sonja since 2005,” Morgan said from her home in Burlington, Ontario. “I was a member of the team in the same role [team leader], actually, and we went to Torino together. Sonja’s a real competitor. She was the new kid on the block then, and she just stepped up and proved herself. And she ended up at that time having the highest shooting percentage of any player at the Paralympics in Torino. She was dynamite.”

Gaudet relied on the same determination following a horse-riding accident in 1997 that, she said, left her paralyzed “from the bra line down”.

“I realized soon, right as soon as I’d had my accident, through talking to the right people, there still isn’t anything that you can’t do with the right equipment and the right attitude,” Gaudet told the Straight.

Gaudet said she connected “right away” with B.C.’s Man in Motion Rick Hansen, along with Paralympic paraglider Lars Taylor and wheelchair-basketball player Marni Abbott.

“I would say that giving up was not an option for me at all,” Gaudet added of her regimented recovery. “I mean, that’s the thing. People often say, ”˜Well, you had a choice.’ And I think about it, and in my mind I think, no, I didn’t have a choice. I had two kids at home that were three and six. What choice did I have but to get better and to get back home?”

Gaudet joked that she “won’t have the same pressure” as Canada’s recent silver medallist and able-bodied skip Cheryl Bernard—who missed the decisive gold-medal rock against Sweden—as she throws the first two rocks. Her team is rounded out by Ina Forrest (second), Darryl Neighbour (third), and skip Jim Armstrong. There is no brushing.

“The whole precision of our sport comes in because we are trying to hit an area down at the other end of the house, and it’s all dependent on our weight control, our line of delivery, our technique,” Gaudet said. “So once we’ve delivered the rock, there’s no one else to save it or make it better. Or make it worse. There’s no one to blame, either; you can only blame yourself.”

Gaudet said that now she just wants to get going.

“You know, you have been waiting for it for so long, and you anticipate it while you watch the Olympics, and there’s this long break, and you feel like you want to go as soon as the Olympics are over,” she said. “So I’m thrilled. I’m looking forward to it. I love Vancouver, of course. Who doesn’t in the sunshine? We’re going to have so much support behind us; it’s just awesome.”

And her family will be front and centre.

> Matthew Burrows

The Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games run March 12 to 21 and will feature 1,350 athletes from 44 countries, including 55 Canadians. For detailed information, visit www.paralympic.ca