Welcome to “Diverse Dreams,” a podcast series that celebrates the diversity and resilience of para-athletes. We invite you to explore the inspiring narratives, triumphs, and challenges of individuals who redefine the boundaries of possibility in sports.
Across four episodes, “Diverse Dreams” offers a unique glimpse into the lives and experiences of para-athletes from Canada and beyond. From their humble beginnings to their moments of glory on the world stage, each episode unveils the profound impact of sports on their lives and communities.
In Episode 1, immerse yourself in the narratives of individuals who defy odds and push boundaries to pursue their athletic dreams with unwavering determination. Episode 2 offers a exploration of Canada’s para-sports, from its rich legacy of hosting international events to challenges in funding future champions. As the series progresses, it offers a peek at the electrifying atmosphere of the Parapan American Games in Santiago 2023, where Canadian para-athletes showcased their talent and skill on the global stage. Finally, we will experience the profound impact of sports as a catalyst for empowerment and change, as para-athletes inspire communities with their remarkable journeys of determination.
“Diverse Dreams” is a celebration of diversity, perseverance, and the universal power of sports to unite and inspire. Join us as we honour the extraordinary achievements of para-athletes and envision a world where everyone has the opportunity to pursue their dreams, regardless of obstacles.
Transcripts:
Episode 1: All Dreamers Are Equal?
0:00 [Podcast Intro Music]
CREDITS
EVA: Diverse Dreams series was produced with the support of Met Radio 1280 AM and CKUW 95.9 FM
[MUSIC]
EVA: Episode 1 – All dreamers are equal?
0:18 TIAGO: Hello, my name is Tiago Cordeiro and I worked in the last Paralympics, in Tokyo. In this podcast series we’re gonna talk a little bit about this fascinating sports world with people who go beyond their limits.
0:36 TIAGO: The modern Olympic Games began in 1896 in Athens, Greece, and since that year are conducted every four years. But the Paralympic games took a little more. Only in 1960, Paralympic athletes could be the first in one Olympic Village and also try to be first at Rome. Although, no Canadians.
Only eight years later, Canada would be in a Paralympic Game, in Tel Aviv, Israel. Sending 25 athletes, the Canadian Team won 19 medals. Canada’s participation is largely made possible through the efforts of Toronto orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Robert Jackson, who later becomes the first president of the Canadian Wheelchair Basketball Association and the founder of the precursor to the Canadian Paralympic Committee. Although his effort made history, until today Canadian Paralympic sports depend too much on individual initiatives and the perseverance of each para athlete.
[Transition Music]
1:45 TIAGO: Bronze medal Winner in Para badminton at 2023 Parapan American Games, Olivia Meier is one representative of the newest generation of Canadian Paralympic athletes and explains how she began.
2:18 OLIVIA: I’ve been playing badminton since I was eight years old and I started using internments both provincially and nationally when I was about 10 up until I was a teenager. And then in 2016, they started, it was announced that Badminton was going to be in the Paralympics for the very first time and Badminton Canada was trying to put a team together. And at that point I went to their first national tournament. And I kind of met what was the kind of the core of the team. And yeah, I’ve kind of, I’ve known these people since I was 16, I’ve known most of my team members since I was 16. 3’10” – OLIVIA
3:00 TIAGO: Meier has an impressive background despite her 24 years. She competed at her first major Games in 2019 at the Parapan in Lima and in September 2021, she became the first Canadian athlete to ever compete in Para badminton at a Paralympic Games, as the sport made its debut at Tokyo 2020. She went 1-2 in the preliminary round and did not advance. It was her first tournament in 18 months due to the pandemic.
3:40 OLIVIA: I initially got started in badminton because it’s been in my family for a long time. Both my grandpa played during his entire life pretty much, and then same with my mom, she played kind of like on and off.
3:59 TIAGO: Family is a number one reason to put a children with any disability on a journey to become an athlete. If not all the families have one favorite sport to be a family tradition, many homes share the passion to challenge your own body. Liam Stanley grew up pursuing a career on soccer, but in para athletics he became a phenomenon, like the soccer ball was not his goal. Despite that, the sport of Pelé and Messi helped to give him the physical preparedness of a top athlete. He discovered that in para athletics he could become a phenomenon like Ronaldo and other stars of ball Not kicking but running.
4:46 TIAGO: What would you say inspired you to pursue this career in Para sports and the Paralympic games in Paris?
4:56 LIAM: Yeah, so I started playing sports just like recreationally when I was about five or six years old, just locally with I did soccer and basketball, I did rugby when I was younger. And then when I was around 14, I started playing para sports with para soccer. And I did that for about five or six years and then I realized I was really good at track. So I decided to see if I could qualify for the Rio games in 2016 through track because we didn’t qualify through with soccer, with my soccer team I played on so, that’s kind of how it started. And, yeah, and then I just found I was pretty good and I stayed in the program and I got onto the Tokyo team as well. And I’m trying to get on the Paris team now.
5:54 TIAGO: How do you think that the past as an an athlete of soccer helped you in the other spots, because I do believe that the preparation of the exercise are really different.
6:05 LIAM: Yeah, so I think it made me more athletic, made me a little bit more powerful. I don’t think it burned me out as much either because I did multiple sports when I was young.
6:15 TIAGO: Stanley had won the silver medal at para athletics, Men’s T38 1500m on the Parapan American Games using his background as a former soccer player. He competed at two Paralympic Games and three world championships.
6:35 TIAGO: In November, Canada’s Minister of Sport and Physical Activity, Carla Qualtrough, gave an interview to CBC, putting the need of financial support in focus. If Canadian athletes receive money when they win medals, para-athletes receive only a shake of hands if so. Qualtrough remember this is the unfair criteria that has lasted for the last 25 years, describing it as a “bizarre tale” and explaining the issue isn’t just about the cash but about recognition, “plain and simple”.
7:24 TIAGO: But why do para-athletes receive more than recognition, you may say?
[Transition Music]
7:30 TIAGO: When Olympic athletes score big, they not only bring home the medal but also get a hefty bonus – a tangible acknowledgment of their hard work, dedication, and representing the maple leaf on the world stage. This becomes a virtuous cycle that encourages more people to become athletes and more audience to watch sports attracting more sponsors. Without this, the Olympic sport would retreat and Canada would not be one of the countries with more medals in every Olympic game.
In another site, the Para athletes have been acing it on the Paralympic scene, overcoming unique challenges, yet the cash register stays silent. So, you only have para athletes who can pay the bills with another job or have a family to give financial support. A not professional situation in high-performance sports.
Qualtrough, also a former Paralympian, guaranteed “exciting news coming before Paris”, making the Canadian Paralympic community think a change is coming. In other words, the bonus program, called the Athlete Excellence Fund, which rolling cash for Olympic winners will not leave para athletes out in the cold anymore.
Former and actual paralympians like Karolina Wisniewska and Patrick Anderson support the request for a change. But what kind of change could financial support bring? To answer that, in our next episode, we’ll face how far Canadian para athletes are going with almost just themselves and not much support in our next episode.
CREDITS
Diverse Dreams series was produced with the support of Met Radio 1280 AM and CKUW 95.9 FM
Scripting, Production and Hosting
Tiago Cordeiro and Eva Maia Miranda
Editing
Ugonna Chigbo
This podcast series used material from the Canadian Paralympic Committee.
Music: Ages ago, by Brock Hewitt.
FADE OUT
