Beginning Aug. 28, Paralympic athletes will take over Paris for the 17th Summer Paralympic Games. Athletes will compete in 22 sports at quintessentially Parisian venues across the city including the Château de Versailles, the Eiffel Tower, and the Grand Palais.
Paralympians will parade down the Avenue des Champs-Elysées to Place de la Concorde as part of the opening ceremony, which is expected to draw 65,000 spectators on Aug. 28 before competition begins in earnest with a full schedule of events.
Supporters can cheer on the athletes from Aug. 28 to Sept. 8 and watch for free on CBC Gem.
Queen’s will be represented by Anne Fergusson, Sc’17, GDB’17, who will be taking part in the Paralympics for a second time. Fergusson has been on the Canadian women’s sitting volleyball team since 2013 and plays the attacker position.
In 2015, Fergusson won a bronze medal at the Parapan American Games, helping the Canadian sitting volleyball team qualify for the Paralympic Games for the first time. The team secured a spot at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games by winning gold at the World ParaVolley final in Halifax. Fergusson made her Paralympic debut in Tokyo, as the team placed fourth after dropping the bronze medal match to Brazil.
Also competing in women’s sitting volleyball is Certificate in Business student Allison Lang. Lang will be making her Paralympic debut in Paris.
Fergusson, Lang, and their teammates will look to improve on Team Canada’s silver medal performance at the 2022 World Championships for sitting volleyball. They begin their quest for the podium at noon local time on Aug. 29 in a match against Slovenia. The women’s sitting volleyball competition concludes on Sept. 7.
The university’s connection to the Paralympics extends beyond the games. Smith School of Business is the Official National Business Education Partner of the Canadian Olympic Committee and the Canadian Paralympic Committee, and is a founding partner of Game Plan, Canada’s total athlete wellness program.
Since 2016, 124 athletes have received full tuition awards to attend professional graduate programs, and 130 athletes have received full tuition awards to complete their Certificate in Business (CIB).
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This story reflects the most up-to-date list of Queen’s community members competing at the Paris 2024 Paralympics at the time of publication.
