Sports journey comes full circle for Quebecer, Paralympic hopeful at 40th Défi sportif

Saoud Messaoudi's gold medal victory as a teenager during the 2016 Défi sportif AlterGo still hangs prominently on his wall.

Since then, he's developed an appetite for winning, and it didn't matter what sport he competed in.

"I really caught that bug thanks to the Défi sportif and thanks to that gold medal," said Messaoudi, who is now 21. "I just chased that feeling again and I wanted to do everything." 

Messaoudi won gold in swimming during that event and it was his first taste of para-sport competition. He was also exposed to dozens of other adapted sports including para-hockey. Seven years later, he's now on the cusp of representing Canada on the ice at the Milano-Cortina Paralympic Games in 2026. 

"[Participating in 2016] was such a big self-confidence boost," said Messaoudi who is back at this year's Défi sportif AlterGo — the event's 40th edition — as an event ambassador. 

"My first Défi sportif, I saw the other ambassadors living their life, being really successful, whether it be in sports or school or work or with their families and just seeing that just really told me that it was possible to be fully independent, fully autonomous as a disabled person in Canada." 

Messaoudi and his family immigrated from Casablanca, Morocco when he was 10 years old. 

He was born with spina bifida and the condition led to the amputation of his left leg. His parents worried about what life would be like for their disabled son in Africa and decided to make the move to Canada.

"I've overcome a lot of challenges ever since I was a kid and I think I just got in that habit of, I see a challenge and then I overcome it," Messaoudi said. 

Messaoudi said he grew up watching and loving soccer and when he discovered para-hockey as a teenager