January 17, 2019
Colette Bourgonje
Twelve years after being paralyzed at the age of 18 in a car accident, Colette Bourgonje competed in her first Paralympic Summer Games, winning 2 Bronze medals in wheelchair racing at Barcelona in 1992. She then competed in both the 1992 and 1994 Paralympic Winter Games in Albertville (1992) and Lillehammer 1994. In 1996 Colette won 2 more Bronze medals at the Atlanta Paralympic Summer Games. Subsequently, she competed at the 2000 Paralympic Summer Games in Sidney, Australia and in Paralympic Winter Games in Nagano (1998), Salt Lake City (2002), Torino (2006), Vancouver (2010) and Sochi (2014), eventually winning three more Silver medals and three more Bronze medals.
2010 Paralympic Winter Games
The highlights of Colette’s competitive career as a winter and summer paralympian are below:
- 1980: paralyzed in car accident
- 1984: first graduate from University of Saskatchewan Physical Education Department who used a wheel chair
- 1991: tried sit-skiing for first time
- 1992: won 2 bronze medals in Paralympic Summer Games (Barcelona, Spain)
- 1992: competed in Paralympic Winter Games (Albertville, France)
- 1994: competed in Paralympic Winter Games (Lillehammer, Norway)
- 1996: won 2 bronze medals in Paralympic Summer Games (Atlanta, USA)
- 1996: Saskatoon’s Athlete of the Year
- 1998: won 2 silver medals in Paralympic Winter Games (Nagano, Japan)
- 1998: inducted into Saskatoon Sports Hall of Fame
- 1999: Saskatchewan Female Athlete of the Year
- 2000: competed in Paralympic Summer Games (Sidney, Australia)
- 2002: competed in Paralympic Winter Games (Salt Lake City, USA)
- 2006: won 2 bronze medals in Paralympic Winter Games (Torino, Italy)
- 2010: won 1 silver, 1 bronze in Paralympic Winter Games (Vancouver-Whistler, Canada)
- 2010: recipient of prestigious Whang Youn Dai Achievement Award at Vancouver Paralympics closing ceremonies. The solid gold medal recognizes individuals who conquer adversities through the pursuit of excellence in sport
- 2014: competed in Paralympic Winter Games (Sochi, Russia)
Sources: Cross Country Canada, Wikipedia, Canadian Olympic Committee