Carrying Canada’s flag ‘a gift,’ says Gagné
TOKYO—The glint of U.S. sprinter Michael Johnson’s gold shoes at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics played a significant role in Priscilla Gagné’s dream of becoming an athlete on the world’s largest stage.
Gagné, who has retinitis pigmentosa, a visual impairment affecting her central vision, was just 10 years old during the 1996 Atlanta Games. Standing very close to the TV, she could make out the white stripes of the track lanes, the “whitish blobs” of runners going around it, and athletes’ faces during close-ups. Her aunt pointed out that Johnson wore gold spikes.
“I remember thinking, ‘Wow, he’s gutsy to wear gold running shoes. I hope he wins just because that would be horrible if he didn’t and he wore gold shoes,’ ” Gagné said with a laugh. “That was my little 10year-old thought, and he won (both the 200 and 400 metres). And seeing the smile on his face.
“So that inspired me. That was my start. I thought I’d go to the Olympics as a runner.”
Gagné’s introduction to Paralympic sports when she was 15, however, was a game-changer, she said.
Now one of the world’s finest Para judo athletes, Gagné will carry Canada’s flag into Tuesday’s opening ceremony at the Tokyo Paralympics.
The 35-year-old from Sarnia is ranked No. 2 in the world at 52 kilograms. She finished fifth in her Paralympic debut in Rio in 2016, and in 2018 became the first Canadian woman to climb the medal podium at the Para judo world championships, winning bronze.
Gagné, who will have training partner and guide Laurie Wiltshire alongside her at Olympic Stadium, said the past 19 months during the COVID-19 pandemic have been especially tough on Paralympic athletes. Able-bodied judokas on Canada’s national team trained together in a tight bubble, but Gagné and another Paralympic athlete were excluded.
“That really hurt,” said Gagné, who lives and trains in Montreal.
“It brought back a lot of times from my childhood, feelings from when I was a kid and just trying to be like the other kids. I thought we had grown so much as a society, we’ve put so much work into it, and everyone’s been so supportive and open to integrated sport, and I thought we had come so far.
“I understand that people get put in positions where they make decisions they don’t want to have to make, and there’s lots of red tape and different funding, but it still hurt a lot. And that made it very challenging.”
Stéphanie Dixon, Canada’s chef de mission for Tokyo, called Gagné in Montreal to deliver the news she’d been chosen flag-bearer. Gagné was out walking her dog at the time so it took a while to get home to call her back.
“There was no one immediate thought. It was like a whirlwind of thoughts. It’s excitement. It’s nostalgia.
“It’s everything. And rewarding, too, because of the year that we went through, and just the struggles we had with training and with bureaucracy and that kind of thing. It was so nice to have this gift. That’s what it is, it’s a gift.”
Dixon said Gagné’s passion and excellence “on and off the mat is immeasurable and this honour is well-deserved.”