Cindy Ouellet

Started: She began playing wheelchair basketball at age 16 in Quebec, QC, Canada, and took up Para Nordic skiing in 2017. (Athlete, 20 Jul 2016; sirc.ca, 16 Nov 2022; Toyota Times Global YouTube channel, 01 Feb 2022; Athlete, 20 Jul 2016) Reason: She was encouraged to try wheelchair basketball by her physiotherapist and Canadian wheelchair racer Dean Bergeron. "I had a chance to meet Dean Bergeron and he said, 'Cindy, you know you can go to the Paralympics'. So my physio and Dean were like, 'Let's switch your life around and let's do sport again'. I was really missing sport. It was a huge part of my life growing up. I don't like doing sport just for fun, I want to compete. So I went to basketball practice and got into a chair and really fell in love with the sport. There was a lot of contact and it was super fast. I've played basketball ever since.'' (NPC Media Guide, 2007; paralympic.ca, 13 Aug 2019, 13 Aug 2021; Toyota Times Global YouTube channel, 01 Feb 2022) Ambition: To compete at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (infodimanche.com, 16 Dec 2021; paralympic.ca, 16 Apr 2024, 18 Apr 2024; cbc.ca, 20 Apr 2024) Awards: She was named Most Valuable Player [MVP] at the 2023 and 2024 editions of the Canadian Wheelchair Basketball League [CWBL] Women's National Championship. (wheelchairbasketball.ca, 24 Mar 2024, 16 Apr 2023) She was named in the All-Star team at the 2024 Canadian Wheelchair Basketball League [CWBL] National Championship in Fredericton, New Brunswick. (wheelchairbasketball.ca, 28 Apr 2024) In 2021 she was named Female Sports Personality of the Decade at the Sports Quebec Gala in Canada. (sportsquebec.com, 10 Jun 2021; lesoleil.com, 11 Jun 2021) She received the Female Athlete of the Year award in 2012, 2016, 2017, and 2018 from Wheelchair Basketball Canada. (paralympic.ca, 2017; wheelchairbasketball.ca, 31 Dec 2019) She was named the Most Valuable Player [MVP] at Canadian National Wheelchair Basketball Championships in 2011, 2013, and 2016. (wheelchairbasketball.ca, 04 Nov 2011; wheelchairbasketball.ca, 31 Dec 2019) In 2011 she was named to the All-Star team at the U25 World Wheelchair Basketball Championships in St. Catharines, ON, Canada. (wheelchairbasketball.ca, 04 Nov 2011) In 2007 she was named Junior Athlete of the Year by Wheelchair Basketball Canada. (wheelchairbasketball.ca, 04 Nov 2011) Additional Info: MULTI-SPORT ATHLETE She has competed in wheelchair basketball, Para Nordic skiing, and Para ice hockey. She competed in cross-country skiing at the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, but decided not to target a spot at the 2022 Games in Beijing, which took place six months after she played wheelchair basketball at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. "It was too fast. Going from basketball to skiing, I only had two months of training. Mentally, I wasn't there yet either. I have great projects with the Sport'Aide organisation, the Quebec Games and various upcoming conferences. I thought it was more important for me to do these projects than to focus on the [2022] Games." (sirc.ca, 16 Nov 2022; infodimanche.com, 16 Dec 2021; journaldemontreal.com, 17 May 2020; ici.radio-canada.ca, 13 Apr 2020; Athlete, 20 Jul 2016) COMIC BOOK STAR In 2020 she was depicted in a comic book series called 'The Adventures of Cindy', which was created by Canadian non-profit organisation Sport'Aide. It tells her story of overcoming bullying and depression in school to become a Paralympic athlete. "Starting high school is always an important step in a child's life. When I went back to high school, I had no hair, I was finishing my chemo. The kids were laughing at me. I was on crutches at the time, I didn't have a wheelchair yet. The kids were kicking my crutches so I would fall to the ground. It was a difficult time, because I didn't understand why. I've had cancer before, so why, on top of that, get bullied after getting through it all? These have been difficult stages in my life, but I think it has made me stronger. I grew up reading comics, but it's funny to see myself as a superhero now. It's mostly for a good cause. We, the top athletes, are always seen as superheroes but we have our ups and downs and it's also important to talk about the lows I've had and how I've overcome them. I got help, I went to get help, from my family or from organisations like Sport'Aide. This is important because it is often said that going for help is for the weak. But in fact, those who go for help are, for me, the strongest people." (ici.radio-canada.ca, 16 Nov 2020) FURTHER EDUCATION In 2015 she completed her master's degree in exercise physiology from the University of Alabama in the United States of America. She earned a master's degree in biomedical engineering from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, CA, United States of America, in 2018, and earned a PhD in biomedical engineering from the same university in 2020. Her ambition is to do research for prostheses and work in neuromuscular technology and nanotechnology. She has planned to study for another PhD degree in neuroscience at Laval University in Quebec, QC, Canada, after the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (Facebook profile, 17 Nov 2022; paralympic.ca, 13 Aug 2019; montrealgazette.com, 24 Aug 2017; plus.lapresse.ca, 22 Feb 2017; paralympic.ca, 18 Apr 2024)