Coming off a successful 2025 Canadian Track & Field Championships presented by Bell, 26 of Canada’s best para athletes have been named to compete at the 2025 World Para Athletics Championships this fall.
“I’m incredibly excited about this team heading into the World Championships in Delhi, India. A strong core of our Paris 2024 athletes will be returning, bringing invaluable experience and leadership. With the opportunity to bring a larger team to Worlds, we’re also welcoming a number of new athletes, an exciting sign of depth and momentum in our program,” said Athletics Canada’s Para Performance Lead Carla Nicholls. “Hosting the championships in Delhi presents unique challenges, but we’re fully prepared with a world-class sport science and sport medicine team, alongside an exceptional coaching staff. Together, we’re building on the resilience and performance culture that define this team.”
Meet Team Canada
This year’s team features 17 Paralympians, including 7 Paralympic medallists who own a collective 10 Paralympic medals.
5 para athletes are making their World Para Athletics Championships debut, to go along with the 21 WPA Championships veterans. That groups includes 10 Worlds medallists who have a combined 19 Worlds medals.
This squad was chosen based on results from a qualifying period that spanned January 1, 2024 and culminated in last week’s Canadian Track & Field Championships presented by Bell.
“I had a bit of a rough go in Paris, so coming into this year I’ve had a lot of fire to get back onto the podium at World Championships and to just perform my absolute best that I can,” said Marissa Papaconstantinou, the owner of bronze medals from both the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games and the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships in Paris.
“I’m very happy to be on the team representing Canada again at a second World Championship,” said 2023 World Para Athletics long jump silver medallist Noah Vucsics. “It’s an honour coming off a Paralympics last year, and I’m feeling really good about it.”
“Coming off of Paris, it left me feeling a bit hungry for more in terms of performances,” said 2024 Paralympian thrower Julia Hanes. “I’m so excited to try and take that next step, improve my world rank, and then also really excited to go to India. I’ve never been, and I think it, it’s kind of a bucket list trip in some ways, to at least experience it. So I’m really excited for the opportunity and also the challenge that we’ll be competing in the heat and humidity and everything else.”
| First Name | Last Name | Event(s) | Club | Branch | Personal Coach |
| Addisyn | Franceschini | Women’s Discus Throw F64, Women’s Shot Put F64 | Lakehead Running | Ontario | Kyle McGillivray |
| Amanda | Rummery | Women’s 400m T47 | Green and Gold Track & Field Club | Alberta | Christine Moerman |
| Anthony | Bouchard | Men’s 100m T52 | Club d’athlétisme d’universite laval | Quebec | Nathalie Séguin |
| Ashlyn | Renneberg | Women’s Javelin Throw F13 | Saskatoon Track and Field Club | Saskatchewan | Tyrell Sawatzky |
| Austin | Smeenk | Men’s 800m T34, Men’s 100m T34, Men’s 400m T34 | Unattached- Ontario | Ontario | Geoff Harris |
| Carleigh | Hiltz | Women’s Shot Put F37 | Truro Lions Track & Field Club | Nova Scotia | Jodi Langley |
| Charlotte | Bolton | Women’s Discus Throw F41. Women’s Shot Put F41 | SISU | Ontario | Richard Parkinson |
| Chloe | Dunbar | Women’s 100m T47, Women’s 200m T47, | Crown Athletics | Nova Scotia | Phillip Hadley |
| David | Johnson | Men’s 400m T12, Men’s 100m T12 | Unattached- British Columbia | British Columbia | Geoff Harris |
| George | Quarcoo | Men’s 100m T11 | Eclipse Track & Field Club | Ontario | Charles Allen |
| Greg | Stewart | Men’s Shot Put F46 | Unattached- British Columbia | British Columbia | Patrick Waters |
| Guillaume | Ouellet | Men’s 5000m T13 | Club Citu | Quebec | Dany Racine |
| Jesse | Zesseu | Men’s Discus Throw F37, Men’s Long Jump T37 | Royal City Athletics Club | Ontario | Paul Galas |
| Julia | Hanes | Women’s Shot Put F33, Women’s Javelin Throw F34 | Athletics Victoria | British Columbia | Agnes Esser |
| Katie | Pegg | Women’s Shot Put F46 | Athletics East Nova Scotia | Nova Scotia | Jodi Langley |
| Liam | Stanley | Men’s 1500m T38 | Prarie Inn Harriers | British Columbia | Bruce Deacon |
| Marissa | Papaconstantinou | Women’s 100m T64, Women’s 200m T64 | Toronto Racers Athletic Club | Ontario | Bob Westman |
| Michael | Barber | Men’s 1500m T20, Men’s 800m T20 | Unattached- British Columbia | British Columbia | Bruce Deacon |
| Nandini | Sharma | Women’s 400m T54, Women’s 100m T54, | Unattached Ontario | Ontario | Geoff Harris |
| Nate | Tucker | Men’s 1500m T38 | Vic City Elite | British Columbia | Heather Hennigar |
| Nicholas | Neri | Men’s 1500m T13 | University of Windsor Athletics Club | Ontario | Jordan Collison |
| Noah | Vucsics | Men’s Long Jump T20 | Univeristy of Calgary Athletic Club | Alberta | Jane Kolodnicki |
| Oluwasegun | Makinde | Guide for G QUARCOO | Ottawa Lions Track & Field Club | Ontario | Charles Allen |
| Renne | Foessel | Women’s Discus Throw F38 | Cruisers Sports | Ontario | Ken Hall |
| Sheriauna | Haase | Women’s 100m T47, Women’s 200m T47 | Toronto Racers | Ontario | Bob Westman |
| Zachary | Gingras | Men’s 400m T38, Men’s 100m T38 | Unattached- Ontario | Ontario | Geoff Harris |
About Paris 2023 and Kobe 2024
The road to the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games featured two World Para Athletics Championships to help determine the team and prepare them for a Games in which they earned nine Paralympic medals – Canada’s most successful Paralympic Games in para athletics since Beijing 2008.
At the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships in Paris, the Canadian team won 14 medals (2 gold, 7 silver, 5 bronze), representing our country’s best World Para Athletics Championships since 2013. In so doing, the team also nailed down 10 qualification spots for Paris 2024 and cemented their status as a team to watch next summer. 2023 world champion Nate Riech is among the lineup of this year’s team.
Paris 2023 World Para Athletics Championships recap.
The following year, a smaller team travelled to Kobe to earn crucial quota spots for last summer’s Paralympics. Kobe 2024 silver medallists Greg Stewart and Cody Fournie booked their tickets to Paris, where they would both become Paralympic champions.
Kobe 2024 World Para Athletics Championships recap.
About New Delhi 2025
The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium will host over 1,000 athletes during the New Delhi 2025 World Para Athletics Championships, which will take place from September 27 to October 5, 2025.
New Delhi 2025 will be the 12th edition of the World Para Athletics Championships and the largest Para sport event ever held in India. The competition programme will feature 186 medal events (101 men’s, 84 women’s and one mixed), 15 more than at Kobe 2024.