'Finding para sports again was amazing': Canada's Paralympic squad looks to bolster ranks with sit-skiers
Lily Brook wasn't even a teenager yet when a degenerative bone disease put a stop to almost all activity.
No more running or skiing. Even walking is now challenging.
"I love sports so much. I always have," she said.
"For that short part of my life where I didn't have sports because I wasn't able to (play), I hated it, so coming back and finding para sports again was amazing for me."
Brook is now training to sit-ski. It's a category of para Nordic skiing where the athlete sits on a sled and manoeuvres themselves with poles.
This weekend, athletes wanting to learn the sport – or get better at it – are gathering in Canmore, Alta., for a development camp.
Trainers say the earlier athletes try sit-skiing, the further they can go with it.
"My goal is to get them as young as possible, so if they enjoy racing they can be champions and not just participants," said Colette Bourgonje, a bronze-medal-winning Paralympian and sit-ski coach.
"To have a couple 12-year-olds, a 13-year-old and a 17-year-old right now, it's exciting to see what the future can be for them."
Canada's Paralympic squad wants to expand the number of sit-skiers competing – its team of one a few years ago has grown to a team of four already.
But trainers also say people can pursue the sport without having an eye on international competition.
"We are chasing podiums all the time. That's our team – that's what we want to be achieving," said Kate Boyd, high-performance director with the para Nordic ski team.
"But certainly, from a domestic standpoint, can we grow the sport and grow our talent pool and develop more skiers, whether it’s recreational or competition."
Brook says high-level competition is her long-term hope.
"My goal in sit-skiing is to take it as far as I can," she said.
"I want to eventually one day get up there with the other sit-skiers who've been competing internationally. I want to be one of those people."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canadians are eyeing moves to these cities for more affordable housing
Faced with elevated housing prices, half of Canadians in the country's largest cities are considering moving to places with more affordable housing.
Poilievre says Canadians 'fleeing' to Nicaragua, Liberals say it shows he 'doesn't have a clue'
Liberal parliamentarians are criticizing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre over a new video in which he promotes the idea that some Canadians are 'fleeing' Canada to live in Nicaragua because they can't afford a house in this country.
With DNA break, police ID victim in decades-old Newfoundland case
A skull was found along a backroad near St. John's more than 20 years ago. Now, police have finally identified the victim of the homicide.
'Do not drive': Nissan warns Canadian drivers of explosion risk impacting 48,000 vehicles
Car manufacturer Nissan has issued a do-not-drive warning for some older vehicles equipped with Takata airbag inflators, due to the risk of explosion during a crash.
Infant dies in ATV crash, N.S. RCMP says alcohol may be a factor
An infant has died and three others, including another child, were taken to hospital following an ATV crash in Forties, N.S., on Monday.
Tessa Virtue reveals she's expecting her first child. Here's what Canadians had to say
Canadian figure-skating icon Tessa Virtue is expecting her first child, she revealed via social media Tuesday.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's housing plan defeated in House of Commons
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's housing bill has been defeated in the House of Commons with the Liberals, New Democrats and Bloc Quebecois voting against the legislation.
B.C. man to be extradited to U.S. on charges of sexually assaulting stepdaughter
A British Columbia man will be extradited to the United States, where he faces a possible life sentence if convicted of charges that he repeatedly sexually assaulted his stepdaughter, after losing his appeal of the extradition order Tuesday.
Trudeau must more publicly support ICC decisions amid Israel-Hamas war: ex-ministers
A group of prominent former politicians and current academics is asking Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to change his tone on the possibility of arrest warrants for senior Israeli leaders.