At home, Carter and Leah Balaberda are a happily married couple. But at the 7th World Dwarf Games, which are being held in Guelph, Ont. until Aug. 12, they are fierce rivals, competing to see who can bring the most medals home.
“She's a very good athlete, and she has, I believe, 30 medals if not more,” Carter said of his wife’s athletic career. “I think I'm about 20, 25 -- so I am catching up. She's currently beating me!”
Carter is representing Canada at the World Dwarf Games while Leah represents Great Britain. In Guelph, Leah is competing in track and field, soccer, basketball, boccia and badminton. Carter is competing in so many events that it’s tough to keep track.
“Probably about six, seven,” he said. “It’s a busy week -- a very busy week.”
Carter’s main event is powerlifting, though he hopes competing in multiple events will help him catch up to his wife’s impressive medal count.
“We’re both very competitive,” he said.
The two, who met at a convention for little people, quickly decided that an ocean couldn’t keep them apart.
“We were introduced to each other, and I was just like, ‘Oh, hi! I'm Carter,’ and all this,” Carter reminisced.
“We just got talking,” Leah added, “and then we just hit it off.”
“We just fell in love, made it work, and I asked her to marry me,” Carter said. “And now I live in England.”
Happily married now for two-and-a-half years, they do disagree on some things, like how often to go to gym.
“Carter’s like, ‘Four times a week -- come on Leah,’” she said. “I’m like, ‘No -- three times a week.’”
As for the reward for whoever wins the most medals in Guelph this week? That’s still up for negotiation, the couple said. But Leah is already in the lead with a gold in team bocce.
“Whoever loses has to cook for a week,” Carter said.
Leah has her eye on a different prize.
“I said if he wins, he has to take me on holiday,” she said.
With a report from CTV Kitchener’s Krista Simpson
