Colette Bourgonje

Colette Bourgonje is one of the few athletes ever to win multiple medals in both Paralympic Summer and Winter Games. She started with two bronze medals for the 100m and 800m in wheelchair racing at the Barcelona 1992 Paralympic Games, the same year  she made her Winter Paralympic debut competing in cross-country sit-skiing at the Tignes-Albertville 1992 Paralympic Winter Games.

Colette Bourgonje began her athletic career competing in national competitions in cross-country running. A car accident in 1980 caused a spinal-cord injury that paralyzed her from the waist down, and she switched her focus to wheelchair racing. It was not until 1991 that she was introduced to cross-country sit-skiing by Para-Nordic athlete, Joe Harrison.

Colette continued to compete in both wheelchair racing and cross-country sit-skiing and went on to win two more bronze medals in wheelchair racing at the Atlanta 1996 Paralympic Games, and four fourth-place finishes at the Lillehammer 1994 Winter Paralympic Games. It was her double silver medals in the 2.5km and 5km cross-country ski events at the Nagano 1998 Paralympic Winter Games, which launched her into the record books, as a repeat medalist in both the Summer and Winter Games.

In Vancouver, Colette won both a silver and bronze medal. In Salt Lake City, she finished fourth in the 2.5km, sixth in the 10km, and ninth in the 5km events. In Torino, she placed sixth in the 2.5km, and won bronze in the 5km and 10km events.

Colette Bourgonje has also competed in wheelchair racing demonstration events at the Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

This amazing athlete received several awards in her life. At the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games Closing Ceremony, Colette received the prestigious Whang Youn Dai Achievement. The Award recognizes elite athletes with a disability that have demonstrated an exceptional level of determination to overcome their adversities through sport and the Paralympic Games. In 1996, Colette was named Saskatoon Athlete of the Year and in 1996 she was inducted to the Saskatoon Sport Hall of Fame.  In 1998, Saskatoon honoured her by naming a street after her. Colette was also an Award Recipient of the 1999 Saskatoon YWCA Women of Distinction. She was the first wheelchair student to earn a degree in physical education at the University of Saskatchewan.

She is now a full-time elementary-school teacher, and actively involved in the Saskatchewan Wheelchair Sport Association. Her discipline and talent have helped her realize her goals. In her spare time, Colette enjoys reading, gardening and outdoors activities. Her most embarrassing moment was falling into a snow bank full of thistles and having to be pulled out by national team coach Kaspar Wirz.