CANADIAN ALLIANCE ON MENTAL ILLNESS AND MENTAL HEALTH ANNOUNCES 2022 CHAMPIONS OF MENTAL HEALTH

PARIS – Canadian swimmer Sebastian Massabie has set a new world record while claiming gold at the Paralympics.

The 19-year-old Toronto native finished with a time of 35.61 seconds in the men’s S4 50-metre freestyle event on Friday.

That reset his previous Paralympic record of 36.95 from Friday morning’s heats and broke the world record of 36.25 by Israel’s Ami Omer Dadaon from June 2022.

Japan’s Takayuki Suzuki grabbed silver (36.85), while Dadaon took bronze (37.11).

The gold is Massabie’s first career Paralympic medal in his debut at the Games.

He finished fifth in the 100 freestyle and sixth in the 200 freestyle earlier in the Paralympics.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

PARIS (AP) — Gold medal-winning high jumper Roderick Townsend and U.S. flag bearer and sitting volleyball star Nicky Nieves took different routes to the Paris Paralympics.

But they agree that, given a dip in diverse representation among Paralympians compared to Olympians, there is untapped athletic talent among Black people and other people of color with disabilities. The reasons for that, they say, include money, the stigma of identifying with a disability, and proximity to para clubs where they can train.

“I want us to be as represented as much as possible,” Nieves said. “I’m a firm believer of, ‘If you can see her, you can be her.’”

Roster material provided by the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee shows that the percentage of of the American Olympic team this year that identified as white was 64%, and that 68.6% of the Paralympic team identified as white.

The data for the rest of each team also included people who identified as Black or African-American; Asian; American Indian or Alaskan Native; Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander; two or more races; other; or, prefer not to say.

Black athletes made up 17.8% of the Olympic roster and 12.7% of the Paralympic team, the second-largest group in each case. In whole numbers, that translated into 28 athletes on the Paralympic squad’s smaller roster of 220 athletes. There were 106 athletes on the Olympic team who identified as Black, including some of the United States’ biggest stars.

By comparison, for people who identified as just one race in the 2020 census, 61.6 % said they were white alone while 12.4% identified as Black or African-American alone.

Watching the teams in competition can offer a little bit of insight as to who is playing which sport. More than a dozen athletes on the Paralympic track and field team are people of color, for instance.

The roster for men’s wheelchair basketball, meanwhile, includes two Black players, two-time gold medalists Brian Bell and Trevon Jenifer.

“I would say it’s something I noticed,” Nieves’ teammate, Whitney Dosty, said. “And reasoning — I can’t put my finger on it.”

But sprinter Brittni Mason, a silver medalist in Paris, pointed to one reason for the difference – money.

“Every athlete’s completely different based on sponsors, how long they’ve been in the sport. (Financials) are definitely a hurdle,” she said. “Not everyone’s making all these glamorous incomes.”

Paralympians say they do what they have to do to stay competitive. Townsend and his wife, Tokyo Games Olympian Tynita Townsend, relocated from Louisville to Arizona because of a better sports culture and access to facilities. Nieves uses funds from the Challenged Athletes Foundation to cover travel expenses for training related to para competition.

In 2017, the Centers for Disease Control estimated that one-in-four Black people have a disability. For white people, the number was one-in-five.

And in 2023, a White House briefing document said the highest poverty rate for Black people with disabilities sat at 36%, “the highest among any group.” Taking into account that disability care expenses already are costly, that makes it harder for families with a disabled person to spend more for either able-bodied or para-sport aspirations.

Para clubs often are not as accessible as clubs for people without disabilities. Athletes sometimes have to move or travel just to find a local para club.

“I’ve lucked out, being able to be close to, like a semi Paralympic-Olympic training center in Alabama, Lakeshore Foundation,” Bell said. “Most people are not able to have those type of facilities, like just right in their backyard. So I was definitely fortunate in that regard.“

Townsend was a decathlete at Boise State for two years, where he won all-conference honors. He said the stigma “definitely” exists in the Black community — the impact of which is a person may feel like they will miss out on opportunities by identifying disability.

“Nobody would’ve blamed me if I said, ’Hey, I just want to pursue an Olympic career,” said Townsend, who has an upper right shoulder impairment after sustatining nerve damage at birth. But he’s glad he decided to go the para sport route. “I would have missed out on making so many connections, touching so many lives and helping so many people had I not stepped aside and looked at the bigger picture.”

Though Nieves is using her platform to speak out to people of color, there’s sometimes not enough opportunity for people from minority communities to realize that para sport is an option.

Townsend and Mason told similar stories of being discovered by someone seeing them compete in able-bodied track and noticing an impairment. Mason said she “probably” wouldn’t have run if that person didn’t reach out. Sprinter Ryan Medrano, also a silver medalist, found out about the games through fellow CBS’ “Survivor” participant and para long-jumper Noelle Lambert.

While the economic side is a hurdle for aspiring para athletes, Paralympians continue to use their voice to grow their game.

“It is just as much about exposure and finding” para sports, Townsend said. “When I make these calls to other young athletes, it’s very important to be able to spread that awareness.”

As the 2024 Paralympics conclude and Team USA readies for the Los Angeles Games in 2028, an opportunity to get more Black athletes playing para sports exists. Athletes recognize this opportunity.

“We’re going to see a lot of representation from a lot of demographics,” Townsend said. “I believe that there will be a wealth of information in those communities specifically.”

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Avery Hill is a student in the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State.

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AP Paralympics:

Veteran forward Tyson Beukeboom, who won a record 68th cap for Canada in May, leads coach Kevin Rouet’s 35-player training squad ahead of the WXV women’s rugby tournament that kicks off later this month.

Rouet has also called in seven members of Canada’s silver medal-winning sevens squad from the Paris Olympics: Olivia Apps, Caroline Crossley, Alysha Corrigan, Chloe Daniels, Fancy Bermudez, Florence Symonds and Taylor Perry.

Third-ranked Canada faces No. 4 France, No. 10 Ireland and No. 1 England in the elite division of the three-tiered WXV tournament that runs Sept. 29 to Oct. 12 in Vancouver and Langley, B.C. No. 2 New Zealand and the seventh-ranked U.S. make up the six-team WVX 1 field.

WXV 1 features the top three teams from both the Pacific Four Series and Women’s Six Nations. Canada finished runner-up to England in last year’s inaugural WXV 1 in New Zealand.

The Canadians are coming off a historic win over New Zealand in May in Christchurch, dispatching the reigning World Cup champion 22-19 to win the Pacific Four Series. The Canadian women had lost all 17 previous meetings with the Black Ferns, with 10 of those defeats by 27 points or more.

Beukeboom won her 68th cap in the New Zealand victory, surpassing Gillian Florence on Canada’s all-time caps list.

The Canadian players open camp Saturday in Langford, B.C., and are scheduled to leave for Vancouver on Sept. 21 ahead of their Sept. 29 tournament opener against France at B.C. Place Stadium.

“The players and staff are all excited to be back together again after a very exciting spring and summer for women’s rugby in Canada,” Rouet, who will name his final squad prior to the tournament, said in a statement. “We have a strong group of players coming into camp to prepare for WXV 1.

“We have seen significant growth and development in the squad through our recent success at the Pacific Four Series and the Olympics in Paris with many of the players also continuing to play at a high level both internationally and in Canada. WXV 1 represents the next step in our journey as we look forward to the 2025 Rugby World Cup.”

Twenty-five of the players invited to camp were part of Pacific Four Series squad that also registered wins over No 5 Australia and the seventh-ranked U.S.

Gabrielle Senft, Fabiola Forteza and Justine Pelletier join the Canada squad after helping Stade Bordelais to the French club title in June.

Veterans Karen Paquin and Brianna Miller return for the first time since the 2021 World Cup after playing in this summer’s Quebec Ontario Rugby Championship.

But star forward Sophie de Goede, Canada’s captain, remains sidelined as she recovers from knee surgery,

The second-tier WXV 2 and third-tier WXV 3 are slated to run Sept. 27 to Oct. 12, in South Africa and Dubai, respectively.

WXV 2 features Australia, Italy, Japan, Scotland, South Africa and Wales while WXV 3 is made up of Fiji, Hong Kong, Madagascar, the Netherlands, Samoa and Spain.

The tournament has 2025 World Cup qualification implications, although Canada, New Zealand and France, like host England, had already qualified by virtue of reaching the semifinals of the last tournament.

Ireland, South Africa, the U.S., Japan, Fiji and Brazil have also booked their ticket, with the final six berths going to the highest-finishing WXV teams who have not yet qualified through regional tournaments.

WXV 1 SCHEDULE(All times ET)

Sept. 29, at B.C. Place Stadium, Vancouver

U.S. vs. England, 3:30 p.m.

Canada vs. France, 6:45 p.m.,

New Zealand vs. Ireland, 10 p.m.

Oct. 5, at Willoughby Stadium at Langley Events Centre, Langley, B.C.

U.S. vs. France, 3:30 p.m.

Canada vs. Ireland, 6:35 p.m.

Oct. 6, at Willoughby Stadium at Langley Events Centre, Langley, B.C.

New Zealand vs. England, 4 p.m. ET

Oct. 11, at B.C. Place Stadium, Vancouver

U.S. vs. Ireland, 3:30 p.m.

Oct. 12, at B.C. Place Stadium, Vancouver

New Zealand vs. France, 6:45 p.m.

Canada vs. England, 10 p.m.

Canada’s Women’s Rugby WXV Camp Squad

Forwards

Abby Duguid, Edmonton, Loughborough Lightning (England); Alexandria Ellis, Ottawa, Stade Francais (France); Brittany Kassil, Guelph, Ont., Guelph RFC; Caroline Crossley, Victoria, Castaway Wanderers; Courtney Holtkamp, Rimbey, Alta., Red Deer Titans Rugby; DaLeaka Menin, Vulcan, Alta., Exeter Chiefs (England); Emily Tuttosi, Souris, Man., Exeter Chiefs (England); Fabiola Forteza, Quebec City, Stade Bordelais (France); Gabrielle Senft, Regina, Stade Bordelais (France); Gillian Boag, Calgary, Capilano RFC; Julia Omokhuale, Calgary, Leicester Tigers (England); Karen Paquin, Quebec City, Quebec East; Laetitia Royer, Loretteville, Que., ASM Romagnat (France); Maya Montiel, Dieppe, N.B., Saracens (England); McKinley Hunt, King City, Ont., Saracens (England); Mikiela Nelson, North Vancouver, Exeter Chiefs (England); Pamphinette Buisa, Gatineau, Que., Ottawa Irish; Rori Wood, Sooke, B.C., BC Blue; Sara Cline, Edmonton, Western Force (Australia); Tyson Beukeboom, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England).

Backs

Alexandra Tessier, Sainte-Clotilde-de-Horton, Que., Exeter Chiefs (England); Alysha Corrigan, Charlottetown, P.E.I., CRFC; Brianna Miller, Pointe-Claire, Que., Quebec West; Claire Gallagher, Caledon, Ont., Leicester Tigers (England); Chloe Daniels, Sutton, Ont., Queen’s University; Fancy Bermudez, Edmonton, Westshore RFC; Florence Symonds, Vancouver, UBC; Julia Schell, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England); Justine Pelletier, Riviere-du-Loup, Que., Stade Bordelais (France); Mahalia Robinson, Fulford, Que., Town of Mount Royal RFC; Olivia Apps, Lindsay, Ont., Lindsay RFC; Paige Farries, Red Deer, Alta., Saracens (England); Sara Kaljuvee, Ajax, Ont., UBC; Shoshanah Seumanutafa, White Rock, B.C., Chiefs Manawa (New Zealand); Taylor Perry, Oakville, Ont., Exeter Chiefs (England).

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2024