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Lions sprinter Bianca Borgella’s first Paralympic Games in Paris ended in a dramatic display of courage and resilience. The 21-year-old Paralympic rookie, who had fought through a hamstring injury to even make it to the Games, saw her dreams of a podium finish slip away during the T13 women’s 100-metre final.

Racing in lane seven, Borgella was in a strong position early in the race, holding fourth place when disaster struck. Around the 30-metre mark, she clutched her left leg and collapsed to the track. Despite the setback, Borgella pulled herself up and hobbled across the finish line, recording a time of 25.11 seconds.

After two days of reflection and recovery, Borgella took to Instagram to share her thoughts on Tuesday’s final: “What an incredible journey this has been! Coming to these Games felt like a miracle, especially after injuring my hamstring six weeks ago during a 200m race. Initially, I feared I wouldn’t compete, but I knew I had to give it my all.”

In the lead-up to the Games, Borgella focused on recovery, working closely with her coaches and support team. She highlighted the importance of listening to her body, a lesson she learned after her initial hamstring injury. “Trusting my instincts has been vital in reaching the Paralympics,” she wrote. With the support of her coaches, friends, and family, she pushed through, feeling stronger than ever by the time she reached Paris.

Borgella’s performance in the preliminary heats had shown promise. She finished second in her heat with a time of 12.15 seconds, the fourth-fastest overall, securing her place in the final. However, the final didn’t unfold as she had hoped. “Just ten minutes before the race, my hamstring ached, but I refused to turn back. I wanted to represent Canada despite the risks of re-injury,” she shared.

Though the race ended in heartbreak, Borgella remains proud of her achievements. “I am proud to say that I finished the race, even after suffering a grade 3 muscle tear in the process. I placed in the top 8th in the world, and most importantly, I made it to the Paralympics.” 

Azerbaijan’s Lamiya Valiyeva claimed gold with a new world record time of 11.76 seconds, while Brazil’s Rayane Soares da Silva and Ireland’s Orla Comerford took silver and bronze with times of 11.78 and 11.94, respectively.

Despite the disappointment, Borgella is determined to come back stronger. “This isn’t the end for me – I will return better, stronger, and faster just you wait!!” Her journey may have been interrupted, but her resolve remains unshaken, and she is already looking ahead to future competitions.

A world number one and a Club number two performance. That’s just scratching the surface of what was the busiest weekend of the year so far for Club athletes as the Lions played host to the Ottawa Spring Kick Start.

After a pair of grand prix victories in Dubai and a couple Canadian records in Louisiana, Bianca Borgella made her season’s debut in front of a home crowd Saturday and did not disappoint. The University of Ottawa student set the track a blaze in the heats of the 100 metres, besting her own Canadian T13 record with a time of 12.12 seconds. Borgella’s performance also moved her to the top spot on the World Rankings, leap frogging Brazil’s Rayane Soares Da Silva.

Bianca would better her time in the final, placed second overall with a time of 12.06 seconds. However, the wind gauge registered a reading of 2.6 metres per second – in excess of the allowable limit of 2.0 m/s.

Running the second fastest time in Club history was Kiera Christie-Galloway as she took top spot in the 100 metre hurdles at the Western Athletic Conference Championships on Saturday. The Grand Canyon University student won in a time of 13.01 seconds – completing the conference sweep after taking home gold in the 60 metre hurdles at the indoor championships.

Keira’s previous best of 13.10 seconds had been set almost four years prior to the day in 2019. She is currently ranked 20th amongst NCAA Division I 100 metre hurdlers.

Back in Ottawa, a pair of female jumpers made their first leap into the Club’s top-10 list. Katy Magoffin moved into a three-way tie for fifth on the women’s pole vault list at 3.50 metres. The former Western Mustang athlete was competing in her first competition as a member of the Lions. 

Maria Okwechime leapt to eighth on the women’s long jump list with her winning performance of 5.73 metres.  Okwechime had registered a best of 5.56 metres last season.

For results from the Ottawa Spring Kick Start, please visit https://ottawalions.com/results/2023-results/2023-ottawa-spring-kick-start/

For updated Club rankings, please visit https://milesrowat.shinyapps.io/ottl_rankings/

Date: May 13, 2020

Dear Members,

It is with a heavy heart that I announce my resignation as President of the Board of Directors of the Ottawa Lions. My love for our Club and for the sport of track and field motivated me to step forward first as Vice-President of the Board of Directors, and then later as President. I am grateful for the opportunity to have served on this Board – in a short time, we’ve revised our Mission, Vision, and Values, updated our Policy on Harassment, Abuse and Sexual Misconduct, and laid the groundwork for the continued growth and strengthening of our Club.

Together, the Club, its Staff and its Members have been confronted with and overcome many challenges. Now, in these uncertain and unprecedented times, we are facing yet another challenge. I have the greatest confidence in our Members, Staff and Board of Directors to overcome this too.

Sincerely,

Nathalie Côté

With the school year wrapping up with final exams for our university athletes, both the University of Ottawa and Carleton University announced their annual award winners.In total, seven of our athletes were recognized at their respective schools.

At the University of Ottawa, Madison Clarke was nominated for the school’s top female athlete award. While the human kinetics graduate student didn’t take home the top prize, she was named the women’s MVP for track and field after capturing All-Canadian honours in the 600 metres at the USports Championship. Clarke was the most successful Gee Gee this past season with three top five finishes at the national championships and a pair of silver medals at the OUA Championships. 

The men’s track and field MVP for the Gee Gees was second year student Kyle Sprague. The math and physics student was the top performer among the men all season, excelling in both the high jump and 300 metres. Sprague cleared a personal best 1.95 metres four times this past season, including at the OUA Championships where he placed fourth – the highest finish for a Gee Gee’s male at the Championship.

Cross Country MVP honours went to veteran leaders Nic Roberts and Rebecca Brennan. The pair of athletes were the Gee Gees lone representatives at the USports Championship last fall in Kingston. Brennan placed a career best 27th overall while Roberts was 99th. The pair were the top Gee Gees at the RSEQ Championships, where Brennan placed 8th and Roberts was 11th.

At Carleton, a trio of athletes were recognized for their success. Pippa Norman was named the team’s rookie of the year after finishing the season ranked 27th in RSEQ at 3000 metres. Norman was also the top Raven at RSEQ Cross Country.

Third year commerce student Darrell Hill was named the Raven’s most improved played for the season as he lowered his personal best for both the 1000 and 1500 metres by more than three seconds each.

Rounding out the awards, sprinter Michael Pinnock was named team MVP. The second year student was the team’s finisher in the 60 and 300 metre events at the RSEQ Championships where he placed 18th in both.

Since re-designing the website last summer, one of the final remaining pieces was to port over the vast history of performances, awards, and medalists the Club had amassed over its 40 plus year history. We’re happy to report the overwhelming majority is now live on our website.

The move will hopefully allow for more frequent updating of historical performances and records as well as providing a more user friendly environment to view the information. Given the tablular nature of many of the historical performances, landscape mode will provide the best viewing experience on mobile devices.

The improved record delivery began last summer when some may have noticed the inclusion of Club, Meet and Facility records included in our posting of Twilight Meet Results. This continued over the winter with the addition of Dome and Meet records to the results during our indoor season.

We hope you’ll take the time to peruse the new information on the site to see what the athletes and coaches before you have accomplished and see where you rank among Club history. For our younger athletes, we hope the performances of your predecessors will only add fuel to your fire as you strive to become the best athlete you can.

All of this new information can be found by clicking “Statistics” in the menu or directly at ottawalions.com/awards-and-records