The Paralympics are set to begin on August 28, with Midale’s Keely Shaw preparing to showcase her cycling talents on an international stage.
Preparing for the games, Shaw said she is excited to show what she can do at her second Paralympic Games. “When I allow myself to get into the mindset of the Paralympic Games, I am beyond excited and beyond honoured to have the opportunity to represent Canada at my second Olympic Games.”
Canada, which fared well at the Paris Olympics, has set the stage for a great showing at the Paralympics. “Every time we hit the stage, whether it’s a World Cup, World Championship, or Paralympic Games, we’re going to go out and give it all we can to make sure we represent Canada to the best of our abilities.”
Shaw noted that Para sports have come a long way in Canada, including cycling. She added that new talent is emerging in the sport, including Nathan Clement, who transitioned from swimming and won the cycling world championship, and Mel Pemble, a former alpine skier who won her first world championship and has continued to medal since. “I think we, at least on the cycling side of things, we’re set up really well. We’ve got a lot of really great athletes who have joined us from other sports, and I’m excited to see what we can do from a medal count once we get to Paris.”
Shaw will be competing in both track and road cycling. “My main event is the 3-kilometre individual pursuit on an indoor velodrome, but I will also be splitting my focus a little bit on the time trial on the road,” said Shaw. “Which is 14 km, you and your bike against the world, against the clock kind of event.”
She added that she will participate in the 500-metre time trial on the track to warm up and get her first race jitters out of the way. “I will be doing both track and road with my primary focus being the track pursuit and my secondary focus being the time trial.”
Cycling classifications for athletes with disabilities are designed to ensure fair and safe competition. The B Class is for visually impaired athletes, who ride tandem with a pilot and a stoker. T Class athletes use tricycles, catering to those with severe balance impairments. H Class features hand bikes for athletes with spinal cord injuries or double leg amputations, allowing them to compete using their upper body strength. Finally, the C Class is for athletes riding standard bicycles, suitable for those not fitting into other specific categories.
Sometimes modifications are made to ensure safety based on disability. “To make it safe for us to ride based on our disability. Sometimes they don’t. My bike in particular has it set up so that everything is done with my right hand. So all of my braking is done with my right hand. All of my shifting is done with my right hand and that's a little bit different from a standard bike.”
Within each class, athletes are further divided based on the severity of their impairment. In the C Class for cycling, there are subcategories from C1 to C5, with C1 representing athletes with the highest level of impairment and C5 the lowest. “I’m a C4 so I'm kind of on the higher end of the classification, and I will be racing the C4s in all of the events for the time trial on the track and the road race, in which case we’ll race against the C5 as well.”
This is Shaw’s second time competing at the Paralympic Games, and she is looking forward to experiencing the full event as her time in Tokyo was significantly impacted by the pandemic. “I'm really looking forward to experiencing a quote-unquote true games. I'm looking forward to exploring the village a little bit, mixing and matching with some of the other sports. Some of the other countries, maybe having a little bit more freedom to take in some of the other sports, some of the other competitions and really just revel in the magic that is the Paralympic Games.”
Shaw’s first event is the 500 meters on August 29. “My main event, the individual pursuit, I will race on August 30; if I do well enough and am able to qualify, I’ll race twice that day. Once is the qualifier and once in the medal round.” Following that race, she will have a few days to prepare for her next event, the time trial on the road, taking place on September 4, followed by the road race on September 6.
“I think the Paralympics just brings so much magic, so much energy, so I'm really hoping to be able to be part of that and really just appreciate the moment, be present and not get too caught up in the emotions of it all.”