OTTAWA, ON – A familiar face from the Peace region is aiming for his second gold medal when he represents Canada at the Tokyo Paralympic Games in August.
Bo Hedges of Fort St. John was named to the men’s wheelchair basketball team on Monday, making this his fourth trip to the Paralympics.
Hedges and the Canadian men’s wheelchair basketball team will look to improve on their 11th place finish at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio.
At the London 2012 Games, Hedges got his first taste of Paralympic gold, and earned a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games.
Recently, with Hedges leading the way as team captain, Canada earned its spot at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics with a second-place finish at the 2019 Parapan Am Games.
Hedges has been heavily involved in wheelchair basketball since he first discovered the sport in the 90s.
The 41-year-old captain is classified as 2.5.
According to Wheelchair Basketball Canada, “Classification is the process by which a team’s total functional potential on the court is levelled off with respect to its opponent.”
Athletes are assessed and given a score between 1.0 and 4.0 based on their functional ability. The main difference between athletes is related to trunk control and balance.
Teams are allowed a maximum of 14 points between the five players on the court.
Hedges will lead his team into competition starting August 26th with a preliminary game against Spain.
The 12 players representing Canada on the men’s wheelchair basketball team are as follows:
