Following his adventure in Tokyo, Okotokian and HTA grad Zak Madell is back in the Foothills after a 5th place finish in the 2020 Paralympics.

The wheelchair rugby player had gold medal wins in the 2019 National Championships and the 2015 World Wheelchair Rugby Games. He also represented Canada at the 2012 and 2016 Paralympic games, bringing home silver in 2012.

It wasn't the finish they wanted, but going up against the best will always be a challenge, says Madell.

“I don't think that what happened and where we placed was a huge disappointment. We were number five coming in so obviously we would have liked to have done better."

He adds, "The fact that the only two games we lost by a handful of points were two of the two teams that were in the gold medal match I think kind of shows that we're able to compete and hang with the best teams in the world.” 

This wasn't his first go at the Paralympics but these games stuck out to Madell due to the lack of people in the stands. 

"We've played plenty of tournaments where there's not a big turn out in the past, but obviously somebody who's experienced that Paralympic atmosphere before with the 15, 18, 20 thousand people. It's definitely a little bit of a disappointment."

The lack of spectators wasn't the only difference. The athletes had limited access to explore the local area, something Madell missed this year.

"There's no pools or anything like they were in Rio 'cause they're trying to discourage any kind of social gathering places. So besides the dining hall, there wasn't really a way to like, mingle or meet anybody else."

Over the years he has made friends from different sports and different countries around the world but was unable to socialize like previous games.@WCRugbyCanada

Zak certainly showed his skills to the world along with some fancy chair work seen in a video from Wheelchair Rugby Canada.

"I'm so glad that highlight came up somewhere. As it was happening I thought for sure I was falling over so I had a very calm composed look on my face but inside I was freaking out a little bit."

Now back in Okotoks, Madell will be enjoying some downtime to relax before they are back to training.

"Everything’s happening pretty quick. Next year we're going to have World Championships. We are 14 months out from that. We will have a qualifier of some sort coming up in the spring and then the year after that will be Pan-Am. Then the following year is Paris already 'cause we're a year late on this quadrennial cycle."

He was blown away at the support he saw back home and had some thanks to give to those who joined him from a world away. 

"Big thanks to everybody back home, family, friends, anyone who was supporting and for being there for us. At the end of the day, they're the reason we want to do this. To hopefully make everybody back home proud and just going out and represent our country to the best of our abilities."

Keep up to date by following him on social media.