Several Calgary based athletes are in the midst of training for the 2016 Rio Paralympics, and cycling coach Stephen Burke, is doing all he can to help them achieve their goals.

Burke, head coach with the National Cycling and Training Centre at the University of Calgary, brings a passion and dedication into his approach for coaching athletes with disabilities.

Athlete Ash Michael Wilson has balance issues as a result of a very rare condition that produces symptoms similar to a stroke and rides a tricycle.

Ash’s speech is impacted by the condition which can cause communication issues. Despite the fact Ash may be difficult to understand, Stephen Burke remains patient and provides encouragement to the cyclist.

Stephen's work with disabled athletes was supposed to be short term following his graduation with a degree in kinesiology.

“When I first started out, I had no idea there was a career and a lifelong passion associated with that,” said Burke. “I thought I'd just do it for a little while, get some experience and then go back to teachers college.”

“Fifteen years later, I'm still doing it.”

Michelle Salt is also training under the tutelage of Burke. Salt is an above the knee amputee and cycles using one leg. The cyclist, who lost a leg in a motorcycle crash near Cochrane, competed at the Sochi Paralympics as a snowboarder.

Now, Salt has her focus on Rio and has high praise for her trainer.

“You know, he's a fantastic coach and he was the coach that really encouraged me to get back on right after my accident,” said Salt. “I think it was very shortly after, within seven months, that I was back on a bike.”

Burke says he's inspired by how hard the disabled athletes work and how much the level of competition has increased since he first began coaching.

“It's truly a world class sport now,” said Burke. “Where before, when I first started, if you happened to have a disability and happened to have a bicycle and you could ride more than five or ten kilometres you were pretty much on the team.”

“Now, you're definitely looking at a three to five year training window before you're eligible for the national team.”

For the way he pushes and encourages disabled cyclists, Stephen Burke is this week’s Inspiring Albertan.

With files from CTV's Darrel Janz