N.L.'s Liam Hickey has gold in his sights at the 2022 Paralympic Games

The Olympics are over, but Newfoundland and Labrador is still on the global sports stage, with Liam Hickey of St. John's gearing up for the upcoming 2022 Paralympic Games in Beijing.

This year will mark Hickey's second appearance with Team Canada's Paralympic para hockey squad. In 2018, the team brought home a silver medal.

Hickey will also serve as an alternate captain this year. 

"It's been going good. It's been an interesting year, for sure, with all of the COVID situations and everything like that," Hickey told CBC News on Wednesday. 

"We're just happy to be where we are right now getting ready for Beijing."

Originally from Holyrood, Hickey was born without a femur in his right leg, but that didn't stop him from being physically active and setting a very high bar for athletics in his life.

The pandemic disrupted the team's training schedule over the last year, said Hickey, with practices being held in person just once a month. He said most preparations were left to the individual players to take on at their home rinks. 

Despite those challenges, Hickey said, it's been a good year. 

"This is a great opportunity for us. We have a young team this time around," he said. 

"We're really excited to show what we've worked toward. We've got … eight or nine new guys that have never been to a Paralympics. [It's] a super-exciting time for everyone and especially for them."

Hickey got involved with parasports when he was eight years old. Wheelchair basketball and sledge hockey gave him a sense of freedom, he said, and something he could use to push himself. 

Since then, in addition to his Paralympic silver medal, he's notched gold and silver medals from world championships in para hockey. He also represented Canada at the 2016