Calgarian headed to Santiago after being named to Canadian para cycling team
Next month the Parapan Am games take place in Santiago, Chile
A Calgary man is headed to the Parapan Am games in Santiago, Chile, next month after being named to Canada's para cycling team.
Mike Sametz is a Rio 2016 Paralympian, a Paralympic bronze medallist, and a Toronto Parapan Am silver medallist. In 2019, injury and illness took him out of the sport completely, but after four years he's ready for his comeback, and he's currently training in Ottawa with the national team.
He's one of eight athletes that have been named to the Canadian Parapan Am Team.
Sametz said he crashed during a race in 2019 and was also dealing with symptoms of relative energy deficiency in sport, a newer issue being identified in high performance athletes.
"It's an energy imbalance — so your energy expenditure is much higher than your energy input … that was a bit of a roller-coaster recovery from that," he said on CBC's The Homestretch.
"I just finally said enough was enough and took some time away from the bike to fully get myself — my head — back into it and recover and see where I wanted to go with the sport."
But, he said, he was itching to get back, and earlier in 2023 he started training again for competition.
Canada's para cycling team is comprised of:
- Nathan Clement — West Vancouver, B.C.
- Tarek Dahab — Beloeil, Que.
- Shelley Gautier — Niagara Falls, Ont.
- Alexandre Hayward — Quispamsis, N.B.
- Charles Moreau — Victoriaville, Que.
- Mel Pemble — Victoria, B.C.
- Mike Sametz — Calgary, Alta.
- Keely Shaw — Midale, Sask.
In a media release, the Canadian Paralympic Committee said the team is comprised of four Paralympians in the sport of para cycling, all of whom have Paralympic medals — Gautier, Moreau, Sametz, and Shaw.
Clement and Pemble are also Paralympians, but competed in other sports — para swimming and para alpine skiing, respectively.
The Santiago 2023 Parapan Am Games will take place from Nov. 17 to 26 in Santiago, Chile. Canada is expecting to send a team of approximately 140 athletes.
Samez said he has his eyes on Paris next — where the 2024 Paralympic Games will be held.
"It's a good trajectory that I'm on, and I just want to keep the ball rolling."