Midale’s Keely Shaw had southeast Saskatchewan awake early and glued to the television on August 30th, as she raced for the bronze medal in the C4 Women's 3000m pursuit at the Paralympics in France. Shaw would finish the race in a time 3:46.942, beating Samantha Bosco of the United States for the medal.
“It's funny, because that moment of knowing, having up capturing the medal, is always a little bit delayed for me,” Shaw said when asked what it was like to capture the medal. “In my event, when you cross the finish line, excuse me, when you cross the finish line in a final, a gun goes off to signify that you've won. But, at World Championships in 2020, I crossed the finish line, the gun went off, but it turns out I had lost by 75 one thousandths of a second. So, I'm always a little bit hesitant to celebrate too early. But then, obviously, when a second or two later, the second gun goes off for my opponent finishing, this might be kind of anticlimactic, but it was almost a relief.”
The medal was the second for Shaw at the Paralympics, as she also won bronze in Tokyo in the 2020 games, held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The experience between the two events was remarkable, Shaw noted, as there weren't things like restrictions in place. As well, the atmosphere was electric at the events.
“I was talking to somebody who had said we think Paris set the new standard for what the Olympics and Paralympics should be like, and I can't help but agree,” the cyclist said. “The entire atmosphere was electric from opening ceremonies to closing ceremonies with sold out stadiums, enthusiastic fans. It really made the entire experience as an athlete something exceptional.”
The fan experience was also exceptional. Shaw described the crowds at the velodrome and along the road circuit as ones that cheered on everyone, packing as much of the space as they could.
This time around, Shaw and her teammates were also able to see other events, and cheer on other athletes from Canada at the various venues.
“It allows us to really build camaraderie, friendships, teammates and teamwork, that we are one Team Canada, even if maybe we are from completely different sports, and we never get to see each other in competition in a normal situation,” Shaw recalled of the experience.
Now that the games are over, Shaw is back home. But, she isn't planning her training for her next event.
She explained so often for athletes, it's always about what will be coming up next. However, it doesn't have to be that way all the time.
“I'm just going to allow myself a little bit of time to enjoy that, to enjoy some of the achievements, not only in Paris, but since Tokyo in the past three years,” Shaw said. “Just really sit with things, allow myself to rest, ride my bike for fun, maybe do something wild and not turn on my Garmin every now and then.”