Patrice Dagenais is eager to relive his Paralympic podium experience from 12 years ago

PATRICE DAGENAIS
Sport: Wheelchair Rugby
Age: 39
Hometown: Embrun
Local Club: Ottawa Stingers
Fourth Paralympics

VIEW PATRICE’S COMPETITION SCHEDULE HERE.

By Adam Beauchemin

Wheelchair rugby player Patrice Dagenais was a rookie when he won a silver medal at his debut Paralympics in 2012. Now he’s a veteran for Team Canada, and heading into his fourth Games in Paris, he has one clear goal in mind: get Canada back on the podium.

“It would be great — it’s been a while. London were my first Games, but also my favourite ones with the whole experience of winning the silver medal,” reflects the 39-year-old national team co-captain. “I’ve been playing this sport for awhile now, and being one of the leaders on the team — I think it’s important and it’s something I take pride in.”

Dagenais and Team Canada finished fourth and fifth in the two most recent Paralympics. Currently ranked fifth in the World Wheelchair Rugby rankings, the Canadians will have to battle their way through a tough eight-team field to earn another medal.

“The top six — even top seven — are really close and it’s going to be a fight,” Dagenais highlights. “It’s not going to be easy, but it is possible for us to sneak in a couple close wins and hopefully end up on the podium.”

Canada will be competing in Group A in the preliminary rounds against Australia, Great Britain and the United States.

In March, Canada competed in the final Paralympic qualification tournament in New Zealand. They started the event with four straight wins to waltz their way to one of the three available Paris 2024 berths, but lost in the finals to Australia by a single point.

In June, the Canadians also competed in the Canada Cup in Richmond, B.C. While the team’s sixth-place finish was lower than they had hoped, Dagenais says the event was nonetheless helpful.

“It gave us the opportunity to try different things. We weren’t very successful as far as the results, but we did learn a lot from the games,” he signals. “We watched some video, we had some team meetings, and we made some adjustments. Now, it will just be a matter of executing those little adjustments.”

Dagenais became paralyzed from the chest down as a result of a construction accident when he was 18. He is considered a 1.0 classification player, a position that typically serves as a blocker and inbounder on the court.

The Canadian team has a strong veteran presence, and Dagenais is a big part of the leadership group, often offering another set of coach’s eyes when he’s not on the floor.

“I have more experience now. I know what to expect,” he notes. “Now that I’m going to my fourth Paralympic Games, I spend more time getting ready mentally and not really being distracted by anything that’s going to happen, because I’ve been there and done that. I’ll mostly concentrate and focus on the game and what we need to do to achieve a podium finish.”

Dagenais is also excited to experience the atmosphere of the Games in Paris, which will be a welcome change of pace from the COVID-restricted Tokyo Games. While the Canadian team will be featuring many returnees, several fresh faces will also be entering the mix, which Dagenais considers exciting in its own right.

“I was so excited for my first games, and I want to just witness my teammates who never experienced this or experienced it in Tokyo, but it was different and see the look in their eyes, with how exciting it is for them to play in front of so many people, and wear the Canadian Lululemon kit,” highlights Dagenais, whose face was splashed across commercial breaks during CBC’s Olympics coverage in the Bell for Better advertising campaign.

Dagenais will have lots of support both in Paris and back home. His parents, his brother, his aunt and uncle, and his girlfriend will all be there to cheer him on live, while his local team, the Ottawa Stingers, sent him off with a pile of positive encouragement at his final club practice last week.

“I take a lot of pride in being from the Ottawa area and being from a small community,” says the Embrun resident and Stingers club president. “Obviously, there’s a lot of support from a lot of people who know me and whatnot, so it’s nice to receive those messages of good luck.”

Alongside the swell of support, Dagenais feels that he and his team are in a strong position to be able to relive the glory of his first Paralympic podium.

“I’m more confident now than I might have been in some of the past Paralympics,” he indicates. “I’m really excited for that.”

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