‘Just special’: 3 northeastern Ont. athletes ready for upcoming Paris Paralympic Games

3 northern Ont. athletes headed to the Paralympics With the Olympics underway, preparations continue for the Paralympics next month, where three northern athletes will wear the red & white.

Three athletes from northeastern Ontario are training hard and are ready to don the red and white of Team Canada at the 2024 Summer Paralympic Games in Paris, France, next month.

North Bay native Rob Shaw will be competing in wheelchair tennis, while Sudbury’s Lance Cryderman is once again picking up a boccia ball to compete and Timmins’ own Meghan Mahon will re-join her goalball teammates.

North Bay’s Rob Shaw

Shaw will be making his second consecutive Paralympics appearance. He’s looking to improve upon his opening-round defeat in his debut at Tokyo 2020.

“In Tokyo, we didn't get to have a regular games experience there. There was no mingling with other athletes,” Shaw said.

“There were no fans in the stands. It'll be my first true Paralympic Games experience the way it’s supposed to be experienced.”

A two-time Parapan Am Games medallist, the 34-year-old won gold at the Lima 2019 Games and silver at Santiago 2023. He also was the runner-up in last year’s men’s quad doubles at Wimbledon.

He was Canada’s co-flag bearer for the Santiago 2023 Parapan Am Games opening ceremony.

Shaw is building off some momentum recently winning the German Open and then the Swiss Open.

“It felt good to put together eight solid matches in a row. It’s given me a bit more confidence going into Paris,” he said.

Shaw was partially paralyzed from the neck down after a diving accident when he was 21 years old, but he didn’t let that stop him from playing the game he loves.

With hard work and training, Shaw adapted to playing tennis in a wheelchair. From there, he quickly rose in the world rankings to 8th in the world heading into the Paralympics.

“It’s completely part of my identity, tennis. There’s not a day that goes by where that doesn’t cross my mind,” he said.

Greater Sudbury’s Lance Cryderman

Cryderman will be joining Shaw in France next month.

The boccia player’s first Paralympic games goes all the way back to 2000 in Sydney, Australia. He said he will be thinking of his trainers, coaches, Laurentian University co-workers and family when he competes.

“I’ll be thinking of my mother, who was a huge supporter of mine during my first stint in the sport,” Cryderman told CTV News.

“Unfortunately, she passed away earlier this year.”

Cryderman first became involved in boccia when he was 12 years old when he joined the Sudbury Shooting Stars.

He went on to win bronze at the 2018 Défi Sportif AlterGo National Open, a silver medal at the 2018 Canadian Boccia Championships, a silver medal at the 2019 Canadian Boccia Championships, a silver medal at the 2021 Canadian Boccia Championships and a silver medal at the 2023 Parapan Am Games.

Cryderman lives with cerebral palsy. He took a hiatus from boccia in 2001 and then chose to return to the sport 16 years later. After years of dedication and determination, Cryderman aims to bring a gold medal back to Sudbury.

“It’s all about the mindset. If you have the right mindset, you can overcome a lot of things,” he said.

“If I can achieve these goals and still maintain my full-time role at Laurentian and cope with these challenges, what’s stopping anyone else from achieving the goals they set for themselves?”

Timmins’ Meghan Mahon

Meanwhile, from Timmins, Ont., Meghan Mahon will be re-joining her goalball teammates that won gold at last summer’s Parapan Am Games. She’s been a member of the women’s national goalball team since 2016.

“It really did cement a feeling in our team that we are a strong team, and we are ready to compete with anyone in the world,” said Mahon.

It will be her third Paralympics.

“Every time you’re nominated to the Paralympic team, it’s just as special as the first,” she said.

“These games are really exciting. The team didn’t finish where we wanted to in Tokyo. We finished 9th and that wasn’t our goal going into it.”

Mahon was honoured with a large banner with her name on it by her hometown for attending her first Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro back in 2016.

As a member of the junior Canadian team in 2015, Mahon won gold at the IBSA World Youth and Student Games.

Born with a genetic cone-rod retinal condition (achromatopsia), Mahon has 10 per cent vision. She wants to be a role model for younger female athletes who have disabilities.

“Continue to push forward and don’t allow anyone to tell you that you won’t be able to do it because of limitations that are put on you,” she said in her message to them.

All three athletes are thankful of the support from their hometowns and describe the opportunity as an ‘honour’ to represent Canada on the international sports stage.

The Paralympics run from on Aug. 28 until Sept. 8.