All your favorite teams and sources in one place

Build your feed

Your Teams.
All Sources.

Build your feed

© 2024 BVM Sports. Best Version Media, LLC.

No results found.
The amazing journey of Canadian Para-triathlete Leanne Taylor
(Courtesy: Triathlon Canada/Facebook)

The amazing journey of Canadian Para-triathlete Leanne Taylor

WINNIPEG, Manitoba – A 28-year-old Canadian Para-triathlete Leanne Taylor’s life took a nasty turn three years ago when she went for a routine biking ride with her boyfriend Scott Dyck on the Bison Butte Trail in the southwest part of Winnipeg and hit a bump. She went over the handlebars of the bike and landed on her back. She knew something was wrong when she tried to get up. She couldn’t feel her legs at all.

The accident left her paralyzed from the waist down. Leanne dislocated her spine between the 10th and 11th thoracic vertebrae. Her positivity made her realize that she had a great potential to have a great life and have things in her life that she was happy and proud of.

It motivated Taylor to gain the strength to get back on her bike, but a different one than she knew of. After eight months of her accident, she took part in her first para-triathlon. She knew in her heart when she finished the swim, finished the bike, and was halfway through the run she was going to make it.

Leanne Taylor caught the attention of the Canadian Olympian Silken Laumann and was hopeful for the Paralympics. Taylor, who is a triple Olympic medallist, fought through physical adversity to achieve her dreams after a rowing accident which resulted in a serious leg injury.

She used wheelchairs to compete until recently, but a donation from Laumann made things easier for her. She purchased a new race chair and hand-cycle and is eagerly waiting for races to begin after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although she lost out on the Tokyo Olympics 2021, her eyes are set on Paris 2024.

In an Instagram post, she wrote, “After an absolute whirlwind of a 2021 triathlon season I finished a little shy of making the cut for the Tokyo Paralympic Games. I thought I would be disappointed, maybe even embarrassed to tell you this but it turns out I’m pretty darn proud. It’s not easy to put your heart and soul into something when you know that you are chasing slim odds. You worry that the countless hours of training and preparing might feel like they were for nothing if you don’t achieve your goal. I feel the opposite. I’m proud that I was brave enough to try, excited about how close my efforts brought me, and ready to set my sights on Paris 2024.”

In her recent post, she writes, “Had a great time hand-cycling the Manitoba Marathon yesterday! Watching the Olympic & Paralympic Games, 2021 was very different for me. In previous years I’ve watched the games and focused on the amazing wins but this year I couldn’t help but notice all of the heart-breaking results as well. From false starts, to crashes, to falling short of expectations there is no shortage of challenge and disappointment in sport.

So how do we get through those tough times? What keeps us coming back? For me it’s Community. The incredible people in this Winnipeg community lifted me up from being a newly injured 25-year-old to a Paralympic hopeful in just a few short years. I certainly felt the support of that community again in every mile of the marathon. So I want to thank everyone who has been part of my journey so far and congratulate everyone who risked disappointment and showed up at the start line yesterday. ”

Her indomitable spirit and the bond with her boyfriend Scott Dyck have helped her fight her battle with being a paraplegic every day of her life and reach her athletic realm. He helped her to achieve her goals, first in the hospital, then in a rehab facility in Regina, and then as she began her foray into the world of para-triathlon. Meeting the representatives of the Canadian Paraplegic Association encouraged taking up para-sport.

Now, she has bought a house, loves her job and sport, and she is happy. Scott says she trains two times a day.

Leanne Taylor is a true inspiration for athletes from all over the world who needs a push forward in life.

This is an unedited user writing submission. The views, information, or opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Best Version Media or its employees.