PARA-NORDIC SKIING
COLETTE BOURGONJE
DATE OF BIRTH
AGE AT SOCHI 2014
BIRTHPLACE
HOMETOWN
RESIDENCE
HEIGHT/WEIGHT
DISABILITY TYPE
CLASSIFICATION
COACHES
PERSONAL WEBSITE
TWITTER
LANGUAGE
PARALYMPIC HSTORY
JANUARY 17, 1962
52
SASKATOON, SASKATCHEWAN
PORCUPINE PLAIN, SASKATCHEWAN
PRINCE ALBERT, SASKATCHEWAN
1.70 M/48 KG
SPINAL CORD INJURY
LW10
ROBIN MCKEEVER, BRUCE CRAVEN
Facebook (colette-bourgonje)
n/a
ENGLISH
1992 (winter AND summer), 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002,
2006, 2010
Colette Bourgonje has competed in six Winter Paralympic Games (Albertville, Lillehammer, Nagano, Salt Lake City,
Torino, Vancouver) and three Summer Paralympic Games (Barcelona, Atlanta, Sydney). In the Summer Games, as a
wheelchair racer, she won two bronze medals in Barcelona and Atlanta. In sit-skiing, she was a double Paralympic
medallist in 1998, 2006 and 2010.
At her most recent Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver 2010, Colette won silver and bronze medals in cross country
skiing. Colette put her name in the history books as the first-ever Canadian to win a Paralympic medal on home snow
after she claimed the silver in the women's 10-kilometre sit-ski race. At the closing ceremonies for Vancouver 2010, she
received the prestigious Whang Youn Dai Achievement Award, which recognizes individuals who conquer adversities
through the pursuit of excellence in sport.
She competed nationally in cross country skiing before – in her final year of high school – she was struck by a car in 1980
which left her a paraplegic. After a transition period, Colette pursued her sports career and education and was the first
graduate of the University of Saskatchewan’s physical education department who used a wheelchair. She acquired a
teaching certificate and works as an elementary school teacher.
Colette has been nominated four times for Saskatchewan’s female athlete of the year and won in 2010. She was
inducted into the Canadian Disability Hall of Fame in 2010 and the Saskatoon Hall of Fame in 1998. In 1996 she was
named Saskatoon Athlete of the Year, the Canadian Association of Disabled Skiing's [CADS] Nordic Athlete of the Year
and was also awarded the Breakthrough Award by the Canadian Association for Advancement of Women in Sport and
Physical Activity [CAAWS].
Off the race course, Bourgonje is an advocate of active and an ambassador of In Motion, Saskatchewan’s movement to
increase physical activity. “I would tell someone if they want to get the most out of life and really start living, they
should try doing something physical - even if it is just a 15 minute walk once a day. Your mind, body and spirit are all
enhanced when you exercise.”
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Double medallist 1998, 2006 and 2010 Paralympic Winter Games… Double medallist at 1992 and 1996 Summer
Paralympic Games… 2011 World Champion sit-skiing… 1998 and 2005 World Cup sit-skiing champion…
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
Sochi 2014 will be her tenth Paralympic Games…First Canadian to win a Paralympic medal at a home Games…Only
Canadian to compete at six Paralympic Winter Games so far…Sochi will make seven.
PERSONAL
GETTING INTO THE SPORT: grew up in Porcupine Plain in Northeast Saskatchewan…Her first time ever in a sit-ski was in
one her brother made for her on a family holiday. She tried Para-nordic skiing for the first time in 1991… She was
introduced to the sport by para-Nordic skier Joe Harrison.
ODDS AND ENDS: has a street named after her in Saskatoon (Bourgonje Crescent)… She has worked on a Canadian
project called 'SASKI Skiing for Disabled' that recruits people with impairments and teaches them the basics of skiing.
NOTABLE INTERNATIONAL RESULTS
YEAR
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
2012-2013
8TH- 12 KM
11TH – 5 KM
2011-2012
2010-2011
WORLD CUP
6TH – 10 KM (RUSSIA)
SILVER – 5 KM (USA)
BRONZE – 10 KM (USA)
BRONZE – SPRINT (NORWAY)
BRONZE – 5 KM (FINLAND
BRONZE 10 KM (FINLAND)
--
SILVER – 10 KM
BRONZE – 5 KM
10TH – 1 KM
BRONZE - SPRINT
2007-2008
2006-2007
SILVER – 5 KM (CANADA)
SILVER – 9 KM (CANADA)
SILVER – 5 KM (GERMANY)
SILVER – SPRINT (GERMANY)
GOLD – SPRINT (FINLAND)
SILVER – 5 KM (FINLAND)
GOLD – BIATHLON SPRINT
(CANADA)
GOLD – 10 KM (CANADA)
GOLD – BIATHLON 10 KM
(CANADA)
GOLD – SPRINT (CANADA)
2005-2006
2004-2005
--
GOLD – 10 KM
2009-2010
2008-2009
PARALYMPIC GAMES
4TH (CANADA)
5TH (CANADA)
2013-2014
---
--
BRONZE – 5 KM
BRONZE – 10 KM
6TH – 2.5 KM
BRONZE – 2.5 KM
BRONZE – 10 KM
GOLD – 15 KM (GERMANY)
GOLD – 2.5 KM (GERMANY)
GOLD – 5 KM (SWITZERLAND)
GOLD – 2.5 KM (SWITZLERAND)
--
2003-2004
-2002-2003
--
2001-2002
4TH – 2.5 KM
6TH – 10 KM
9TH – 5 KM
--
2000-2001
-1999-2000
-1998-1999
1997-1998
-SILVER – 2.5 KM
SILVER – 5 KM