As Paris Paralympics come to close, 4-year competitive cycle for athletes begins anew

Canadian Para athletes, much like their Olympic counterparts, tend to live in four-year cycles.

Three years ago, as Tokyo 2020 came to a close, the Paralympic movement was in flux. Fans weren't able to attend, some sports were sending significantly fewer athletes, and the Games, for lack of a better term, had a different vibe.

In the years since, relative newcomers to the Paralympics, like Para canoe, have had a chance to further develop and the broader Paralympic movement has managed to reach new athletes in new countries, while garnering increased social media attention. This is all while the Paralympic movement manages its sporting obligations with its social ones — trying to make the world a better place for the billion-plus people who have a disability worldwide.

So, with another Paralympics having come to a close, it's time to look at some of the key storylines that played out in Paris, while looking forward to the next winter edition in two year's time, and outlining what the next cycle could look like for Canada's Paralympians.

When the Games began on Aug. 28, the Canadian contingent was led down the Champs Élysées by Patrick Anderson and Katarina Roxon — two athletes with a combined eleven Games between them.

There was an air of experience, of trepidation at a Games that would finally see fans return, and an opening ceremony that delivered just as many messages about the development of disability culture as it did about adaptive sport.

The vast majority of Canada's success came in the pool and on the track, but there were a number of first-time results for the red and white. Alexandre Hayward nabbed a medal on his debut in Para cycling, Reid Maxwell — the youngest Canadian athlete at the Games — took home