Multi-medallists and promising rookies look to add to Canada's Paralympic success

Canadian athletes faced tough challenges amid the COVID-19 global pandemic. Training facilities shuttered for weeks at a time. Opportunities to compete internationally were few and far between because of travel restrictions.

And so, Josh Dueck isn't setting a medal target for Canada's team at the Beijing Paralympics, which open on Friday. It's too difficult to gauge where Canada stacks up against the rest of the world.

"The reality is that there's no real context or point of reference to make an educated statement in terms of how we can predict our athletes will do," said Dueck, Canada's chef de mission for the Paralympics.

"What I will say is that our teams look good, and more than looking good, I feel a lot of gratitude amongst the ranks, the athletes are just so thankful to be here. There's that sigh of relief, and just an overwhelming sense of positivity. So, when you blend those things, I think the sky's the limit."

Canada has 49 athletes competing in Beijing, down slightly from the largest ever team of 54 athletes who captured 28 medals — eight gold, four silver and 16 bronze — four years ago in Pyeongchang.

They'll compete in hockey, curling, alpine and Nordic skiing and snowboarding over 10 days.

The athletes range from veterans Brian McKeever, a 17-time Paralympic medallist in Nordic skiing, and eight-time biathlon and Nordic skiing medallist Mark Arendz, to promising rookie snowboarders Tyler Turner and Lisa DeJong. Turner captured two gold and a bronze at the recent world championships, while DeJong came home with a gold and two silvers.

While Dueck won't predict how many medals Canada might win in the coming days, just getting to Beijing amid COVID-19 was a major victory. A positive test in the past couple