(Submitted photo/Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame).

By Jeff D’Andrea

Local legend

Paralympian Bourgonje inducted into Sask Sports Hall of Fame

May 22, 2021 | 12:45 PM

Legendary Paralympian Colette Bourgonje has won a ton of awards over the years. After winning 10 Paralympic medals spread out over 10 different Paralympic games, Bourgonje was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2019, the Canadian Disability Hall of Fame in 2010, and Saskatoon’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1998. She’s won two different Female Athlete of the Year Awards, and even has a school named after her in Saskatoon.

But there’s something about being recognized by her home province that means that little bit extra. After growing up in Porcupine Plain and now training a new generation of young athletes out of Prince Albert, Bourgonje was inducted into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame on Thursday.

“I’m really honoured and humbled to be put into the Saskatchewan Hall of Fame,” Bourgonje told paNOW. “When it comes from your home, it’s just a special moment, for sure… I give a lot of credit to volunteers in Saskatchewan and to Sask Sport, we are so lucky to live in this province. That’s been very helpful as well in my long career.”

Bourgonje competed at the national high school level in able-bodied cross-country running before suffering injuries in a car accident in 1980 that left her paraplegic. Bourgonje quickly shifted her training to the Paralympics, where she won three silver medals and seven bronze medals at both the Winter Paralympic Games (seven) and the Summer Paralympic Games (three).

In her final Paralympic games in 2010 in Vancouver, Bourgonje won the first-ever Paralympic medal by a Canadian on Canadian soil–a silver medal in the 10-km Para-Nordic sit ski. Even though she fell during the race, Bourgonje looks back on the race and is still very proud she could still make history.

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Other highlights in her long and storied career include being Canada’s flag bearer, and receiving the Dr. Whang Youn Dai Achievement Award in Vancouver.

“Taking the flag out at the first Paralympic Games in Nagano, Japan was a pretty awesome moment, then in 2006, having that same honour. Those are really, really special times in your life,” Bourgonje said. “To receive the Dr. Whang Youn Dai Achievement Award, the pure gold medal in 2010 was really an honour from an amazing woman that’s done a lot for the Paralympics.”

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW