All-rounder Liam Stanley of Victoria had a chance to qualify in two sports for the 2016 Rio Summer Paralympics, the opening ceremony of which is today, with Stanley among several Island athletes entering Maracana Stadium with the Canadian team.
Bruce Deacon, the former Victoria marathoner-turned-coach who competed in two Summer Olympics, made Stanley a deal. If the Glenlyon Norfolk School student didn鈥檛 make it in soccer, Deacon said he would coach Stanley to the Paralympic Games in track.
sa国际传媒 failed to get to Rio in men鈥檚 soccer, so Stanley turned his attention to the 1,500 metres.
鈥淏ruce said he would take me on, so I took him up on the offer,鈥� said Stanley, the 2014 Canadian para soccer player of the year.
Now Stanley is ranked No. 2 in the world in the 1,500 for ambulatory track Paralympians (labelled the T37 classification) behind Michael McKillop of Ireland, who has gold medals in the 800 and 1,500 from London 2012 and gold in the 800 from Beijing 2008. That ranking for Stanley shouldn't surprise anybody because this is a remarkable 19-year-old who has come up competing in able-bodied sports. Stanley suffered a stroke at birth, rendering the right side of his body partially paralyzed. He was told he might never walk. Now few can outrun him.
Stanley鈥檚 infirmity didn鈥檛 stop him from playing in two Colonist Cup finals and winning three sa国际传媒 single-A high school championships for GNS in soccer. He also played on the GNS basketball team and ran able-bodied track for the school before graduating from Grade 12 in the spring with the intention of entering Camosun College with the aim of working in physical therapy.
Frank Stanley, Liam鈥檚 father, remembers all those early mornings of hearing 鈥渢hump, thump, thump鈥� while the rest of the family was still in bed.
鈥淭hat was Liam in the garage getting his touches in [on the soccer ball] before anybody else was up.鈥�
Once the Canadian soccer team was eliminated, that same level of commitment was transferred to the track.
鈥淟iam is relentless at practising. Pain drives him. Guys who can suffer are the ones who win races,鈥� said Deacon.
鈥淗e is so fit right now that he has taken the event by storm. Liam is ready to drop another five to six seconds off his personal best [4:13]. The world record is 3:59, and I don鈥檛 see why not for Liam.鈥�
Another 19-year-old Victoria Paralympian to watch for in Rio is Stefan Daniel, the defending world men鈥檚 PT4-category champion and also the Canadian able-bodied junior champion, who was born with radial club hands.
鈥淚 want to win gold,鈥� said Daniel, when the Canadian Paralympic triathlon team for Rio was announced in July at Crystal Pool.
While Stanley and Daniel are Paralympics rookies, sailor John McRoberts of Victoria is heading to his fourth Games in Rio after winning silver at Atlanta in 1996, bronze at Beijing in 2008 and placing fourth at London in 2012.
McRoberts had a fierce will to stay active despite becoming a paraplegic at age 18 after diving into a shallow sandbar in Lake Erie. He found the way in sailing. After competing in the Skud 18 class with the since-retired Stacie Louttit of Victoria at Beijing and London, McRoberts turned to his wife Jackie Gay as his partner both in life and on the water. The pair qualified for Rio.
Gay sailed as a child with her father in England. She lost a leg in a car accident at age 30.
鈥淚 knew I wanted to get back on the water but had never heard of the Paralympics,鈥� said Gay.
Gay met McRoberts at a Paralympics sailing event.
鈥淧eople think it鈥檚 crazy for a husband and wife to compete together,鈥� said McRoberts.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had our ups and downs as a competitive team, but in this sport, you really find out about yourself and of what you are made. This [becoming a competitive team] has been important to our relationship.鈥�
Bruce Millar, in the single-man 2.4-metre class, is another Royal Victoria Yacht Club sailor competing in the Rio Paralympics. The former flight instructor broke his back in an ultra-light crash 19 years ago. He went from air to water and was ninth in the 2004 Athens and eighth in the 2012 London Paralympics.
鈥淓veryone鈥檚 goal is to win medals . . . but it鈥檚 tough competition,鈥� said Millar.
The Canadian wheelchair rugby team 鈥� silver medallist at Athens 2004 and London 2012 and bronze medallist at Beijing 2008 鈥� has several players based in Greater Victoria and who train at PISE. The captain of the team for Rio is Ballenas Secondary-graduate and veteran international Trevor Hirschfield of Parksville, the Oceanside hockey product who was a BCHL prospect with the Cowichan Valley Capitals, before a car accident in 2000 while visiting his grandparents in Sicamous.
The most famous Island Paralympian is also from that area. Parksville-Qualicum MLA Michelle Stilwell, the sa国际传媒 social development minister, is heading to her fourth Paralympics. The politician/athlete won wheelchair basketball gold at Sydney 2000 and then switched over to the track to win two gold medals at Beijing 2008 and gold and silver at London 2012.
