'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
Robert Pickton stabbed with toothbrush and broken broom handle: victim's family
The family of one of Robert Pickton's victims says the convicted serial killer suffered an incredibly violent death at the hands of another inmate.
Republicans join Trump's attacks on justice system and campaign of vengeance after guilty verdict
Embracing Donald Trump's strategy of blaming the U.S. justice system after his historic guilty verdict, Republicans in Congress are fervently enlisting themselves in his campaign of vengeance and political retribution in the GOP bid to reclaim the White House.
Daughter of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt files court petition to remove father's last name
A daughter of actors Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt filed paperwork to legally remove "Pitt" from her name on the day she turned 18.
U.S. defense secretary says war with China neither imminent nor unavoidable, stressing need for talks
United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told a gathering of top security officials Saturday that war with China was neither imminent nor unavoidable, despite rapidly escalating tensions in the Asia-Pacific region, stressing the importance of renewed dialogue between him and his Chinese counterpart in avoiding "miscalculations and misunderstandings."
Ex-husband charged with murder in death of Lumby, B.C., woman
The ex-husband of Tatjana Stefanski – the woman whose disappearance and death set the small town of Lumby, B.C., on edge last month – has been charged with her murder.
Hezbollah fighters shoot down an Israeli drone in southern Lebanon
The militant Hezbollah group said it shot down an Israeli drone over southern Lebanon on Saturday, after hours Israeli drone strikes killed at least one person and wounded others.
Is intermittent fasting better than counting calories? Maybe not, but you might stick with it
As weight-loss plans go, it's easy to see the allure of intermittent fasting: Eat what you want, but only during certain windows of time — often just eight hours a day.
Hostage families call for a ceasefire deal pushed by Biden. Israel says conditions must be met
Families of Israeli hostages held by Hamas called for all parties to immediately accept a proposal detailed by U.S. President Joe Biden to end the nearly eight-month-long war and bring their relatives home, but Israel's government said conditions for a ceasefire still must be met.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.