World Para Athletics Championships, Paris 2023. July 9 2023. Bianca BORGELLA (CAN), 100m T13 heats

Borgella wins bronze at World Para Athletics Championship

by Internationallinkinbio

On July 7, 2021 we got a sneak peak of what the future had in store. That Wednesday evening in Ottawa at a Twilight Meet, Bianca Borgella broke the Canadian T13 record in the women’s 100 metres. It was her first time racing the distance in a Lions uniform and was the first in a string of Canadian records for the University of Ottawa student.

Today, Borgella added another title to her growing track resume – World Championship medalist. The 20-year-old sprinter placed third in the T13 100 metres with a time of 12.16 seconds at the World Para Athletics Championship taking place in Paris, France this week. 

“I’m really happy with the result,” said Borgella of today’s run. “Not the time that I was expecting, but as it being my first world, I’m just happy that I’m able to experience it and take home a bronze in the end.”

Bianca had entered the Championship as a medal favourite with her Canadian record time of 12.12 seconds from earlier this season topping the world rankings prior to the Championship. 

She would be knocked out of that spot in the rankings in Sunday’s semi-final when Azerbaijan’s Lamiya Valiyeva took top spot in 11.89 seconds with Borgella close behind in a new Canadian record of 12.03 seconds. 

For Borgella, today’s result appears to be just another stepping stone on her journey in athletics. 

“All I can do is my best for that day and hopefully the next day just be stronger and keep training and work harder. And one day bring back a gold in the 100.”

Borgella will return to action at the Championships early on Tuesday as she is scheduled to compete in the T13 200 metre semi-finals at 4:14am Eastern time.

For results, visit the International Paralympic Committee page.

The championships can be live streamed on the IPC YouTube page.

Bianca-Borgella-2022-CDN-100m-Champ

Borgella starts season on top of the world

by Internationallinkinbio

Best in the world. That’s how Bianca Borgella kicked off her season yesterday. The University of Ottawa student blasted out of the blocks Saturday at the LSU Alumni Gold meet in Baton Rouge to record a pair of new personal bests in both the 100 and 200 metres within the span of a couple of hours. 

In Louisiana as part of an Athletics Canada training camp, Borgella recorded times of 12.31 and 25.31 seconds respectively over the 100 and 200 metre events. While placing in the bottom half of the hotly contested Southeastern Conference fields, the 20-year-old’s performances now rank her among the best on the planet in the World Para Athletics T13 category.

Borgella has Leber congenital amuarosis, a term covering a group of inherited diseases that affect the retina during early childhood, causing severe vision loss or blindness. 

Since receiving her T13 classification in early 2021, Borgella has emerged as a dominant force in Canadian Para running, having re-written the national record book multiple times in every event from 100 through 400 metres. Saturday’s performances were both national record times, and also have Bianca ranked second globally in the T13 100 metres and in top spot on the planet in the T13 200 metres. 

While she leads the world at 200 metres, don’t expect to see her next summer at the Paralympic Games running the half lap event. The women’s T13 200 metres did not make the cut for next year’s Games, but don’t fret as we expect Bianca to be donning the red and white in both the 100 and 400 metre events. 

Before next year’s adventure, she’ll get a trial run at this summer’s World Para Athletics Championship – also to be held in Paris.