Team Canada will look to build off the moniker as a competitive Para Athletics nation, as events kickoff Friday morning, at Stade de France.

This was a big strength in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games and track and field athletes are expected to lead Canada’s medal charge in Paris.

Canadians won 21 medals in 2021, with eight coming from Para Athletics – including two gold medals.

A team of 20 athletes will represent this nation in Para athletics, comprised of five returning medalists and 11 making their Paralympic debut in Paris.

Returning Paralympic medalists

Among the five returning medalists from Tokyo 2020 are two defending champions.

Greg Stewart (Victoria, B.C.) set the Paralympic record in the Men’s F46 shotput event in 2021 to capture his first-ever gold medal at the Games. He was named Field Event Athlete of the Year by Athletics Canada later that year.

Stewart retired from competition in 2022 before returning to the throwing ring over a year later. The shot putter would earn a silver medal at the 2024 World Para Athletics Championships in Kobe, Japan earlier in May.

Nate Riech (Victoria, B.C.) is the reigning Paralympic champion in men’s T38 1,500m in Tokyo, where he set a Paralympic-record time of 3:58.92. The 29-year-old is also a two-time World Champion – 2019 and 2023 – in this event.

The Canadian Paralympic Committee gave Riech the award for Best Paralympic Debut by a Male Athlete at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

Brent Lakatos will be appearing in his sixth Paralympic games to compete in four track and field events (T53 400m, 800m, 1,500m and 5,000m). The wheelchair racer from Dorval, Que is mining for his first Paralympic gold medal in eight years after grabbing silver in each of his four events at Tokyo 2020.

The 11-time Paralympic medalist won gold in the T53 800m and silver in both 400m and 1,500m events at the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships.

Marissa Papaconstantinou will look to upgrade from the bronze medal won in the women’s T64 100m event at Tokyo 2020. The sprinter from Toronto, Ont. will compete in the T64 100m and 200m races, having won bronze in both events at the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships.

Papaconstantinou first appeared in the Paralympic scene as a 16-year-old at Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

Zachary Gingras captured a bronze medal in the men’s T38 400m event at Tokyo 2020. The native of Markham, Ont. won silver in the event at the 2023 World Para Athletics Championship.

Decorated veterans seeking their first medal

Austin Smeenk has seen his para athletic career breakthrough in grand fashion. The wheelchair racer from Oakville, Ont. set world record times in the men’s T34 400m and 800m events at this year’s World Para Athletics Grand Prix.

Smeenk was named team co-captain for the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships, where he won silver in the T34 100m and bronze in the 400m races. Paris 2024 will mark the Canadian’s third paralympic games.

Renee Foessel has made notable progress in the discus throw event since setting several new Canadian record times at the 2019 IPC World Athletics Championships.

The native of Orangeville, Ont. qualified for her third paralympics at the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships, where she won a silver medal in the women’s F38 discus event and served as the team’s co-captain alongside Smeenk.

Foessel also won bronze in the 2023 ParaPan American Games in Santiago, Chile. She was named Senior Female Athlete of the Year at the 2023 Ontario Cerebral Palsy Sports Association (OCPSA) Awards.

Paralympic debutants to watch

Bianca Borgella is quickly rising up the IPC rankings after impressive runs in the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships, where she secured silver in the women’s T13 200m and bronze in the 100m events.

The sprinter from Ottawa, Ont., only started to train competitively in 2021 after catching the attention of track coach Craig Blackman at a Ontario Blind Sports Association (OBSA) sports camp.

The 21-year-old is among the favourites in the Women’s T13 100m race.

Noah Vucsics was a breakout star for Canada in 2023. The University of Calgary-alumni won silver in men’s T20 Long Jump at the World Para Athletics Championships with a 7.35m leap, setting a new Canadian record. He captured bronze in the event at the Para American Games just a few weeks later.

The 24-year-old is a legitimate contender to capture a gold medal in his first Paralympic games.