6 years later, B.C. athlete heads back to Paralympics

Mel Pemble is excited — and nervous — as she prepares to head to the 2024 Paris Paralympics games at the end of August.

The 24-year-old from Victoria is no stranger to the pressures of competing in the Olympics. She's been there before.

In PyeongChang in 2018, it was Para alpine, but this will be her first time in Para cycling. Pemble switched sports in 2020.

Ten months ago, once the possibility of going to Paris was on the table, Pemble moved to Beaumont, Que., to begin training. While she loves the Victoria track, she says she can only really train there in the summer and realized year-round training would increase her chances of getting to Paris.

It all paid off three weeks ago when she discovered she had qualified for the Canadian Paralympic Team.

What is it like to shift gears and go back to the Games after all this time? CBC News spoke with Pemble to find out.

The following transcript has been edited for clarity and length.

How are you feeling about the upcoming Paris Games? 

It's absolutely amazing to have it be so close, but there is also that kind of daunting feeling. Making the team is something I've worked towards for the past four years.

But even just watching the Olympics now, it's getting that excitement going. I'm squeezing it in between training sessions. There is always time to cheer on the Olympic athletes.

I understand you used to be a skier. Can you tell us a bit about your athletic journey? How did you transition to cycling?

Yeah, that's correct. My first sport was in Para alpine.

I was 14 when I was invited to a talent search at the Canadian Sports Institute. It was there that I was picked up for cycling. 

I initially just used cycling to cross-train in the summer, to train for skiing. I