When Billy Bridges joined the National Para Hockey Team in 1998, players had to buy their own Canada jerseys at a sporting goods store.
They paid to have their name stamped on the back of the ” mom and pop shop said Sami Jo Small, three-time Olympic medalist on the Canadian women’s hockey team and wife of Bridges. “We still have some of those jerseys… the names are coming off,” she added with a laugh.
Bridges remembers paying for national team trips out of his own pocket, often housing six players in a hotel room. His father fashioned his sticks from tree trunks. He now has a stick sponsorship contract.
Bridges and cross-country skiing legend Brian McKeever competed in their sixth Paralympic Games in Beijing, while Para hockey player Greg Westlake played in his fifth.
The three are not only among the greatest Paralympic athletes in the world, they have also pushed the boundaries of parasport in Canada and helped redefine the way Canadians and the world view athletes with a disability.
“When I started it was a little more amateurish, people had day jobs,” McKeever recalled. There wasn’t a lot of funding and very few of us were, say, full-time professionals. »
The 42-year-old from Canmore, Alta., won three gold medals in Beijing to cap off a successful career. With 16 victories, he tied Germany’s Gerd Schönfelder for the most winter sports titles won by a male Paralympic athlete.
McKeever is retiring after winning 20 medals in six Games, many with his brother Robin as his guide. Robin is the head coach of Canada’s Para-Nordic Ski Team, and the two shared a long hug after Brian’s final race on Sunday, a sixth-place finish in the open relay.
Brian McKeever said he and his brother are “super proud” of how they’ve taken Para-Nordic skiing to the next level. “The level hasn’t necessarily increased as much over the years, but there’s more depth because now you can’t win without being a full-time professional. We’ve also instilled a lot of those values in our teammates, that you have to train like they do in the Olympics,” said McKeever.
McKeever added that he didn’t know when he started his career that the prefix “para-” in “paralympics” meant “side games” and not “paraplegics,” a common misconception. “So we also have a bit of a marketing problem,” he noted.
Greg Westlake, meanwhile, is retiring after his fifth Paralympic appearance and with one gold, two silver and one bronze.
The level hasn’t necessarily increased as much over the years, but there is more depth because now you can’t win without being a full-time professional
Born with foot deformities and having both legs amputated below the knee before he was 18 months old, the 35-year-old from Oakville, Ont., said he made sure to soak up every moment of his last Paralympic appearance. “I liked to follow the Games through the eyes of the youngest… It was really special and really fun for me to be here. I left everything there. I was able to enjoy every moment, and I can’t say the same for some previous Games. »
Bridges, meanwhile, is undecided about his future. The 37-year-old would like to continue if his body allows him. “I want to play as long as I can. I never want a pass. I don’t want to be given a place, I want to deserve it, and I want to be able to contribute to the success of this team. »
Unequal funding
While Canadian athletes have contributed enormously to expanding the boundaries of parasport over the past two decades, there is still much work to be done.
Canadian Olympians who won medals at the Games in Tokyo or Beijing were rewarded financially — $20,000 for a gold medal, $15,000 for a silver medal and $10,000 for a bronze medal. Paralympic medalists received no awards.
“It’s long overdue,” said Josh Dueck, Canada’s Chef de Mission in Beijing and three-time Paralympic medalist in sit-skiing. I have the impression that it will materialize in the next two years. I’ll believe it when I see it, but I really feel like some of the conversations going on behind the scenes are that everyone knows it’s more than enough. »