Colette Bourgonje
Colette Bourgonje (ber-gon-yah) (born January 17, 1962) is a Canadian Paralympic cross-country skier and athlete of Métis heritage.
[8] Bourgonje participated in many sports as a child and young teenager, and was successful in hockey, football and various track and field events.
On the way back, she let her boyfriend drive, and he lost control on the slippery road, and Colette was ejected from the car.
[8] Barbara Dorsey, a professor at the College of Physical Education at the University of Saskatchewan visited Bourgonje in the hospital and encouraged her to continue considering attending, regardless of the accident.
[17] She gave one of her silver medals from the 1998 Games to Pat Prokopchuk, as she brought and initiated the remodelling of the sit ski in Saskatchewan.
[8] In 2002, the Memorial University of Newfoundland made Colette a special sit ski which was much lighter but more difficult to balance.
[8] She later traded hand control model equipment for cars with the Russian team for their sit ski, which was made of titanium.
[8] She began teaching physical education part-time to continue training from 1989 to 2010, with her first position in Silverwood Heights, Saskatoon.
[6][8][21] With her physical disability, she finds ways to overcome teaching obstacles, by using student demonstrators and having the children safely set up simple equipment.
[24][25] Bourgonje spoke at the 11th annual "Training for Life Power Breakfast" in 2016, which is an event that raises money for the Special Olympics of Saskatchewan and Prince Albert Raiders Education Fund.
[25] Along with her friend and president, Pat Prokopchuk, Colette is part of SASKI-Skiing for Disabled, which gives funds to those who are struggling in the sit ski community.
[25] One of the mentees she oversees is Brittany Hudak, who is missing part of her left arm and the two met in a Canadian Tire.
[27] Bourgonje trained her to ski and she went on to win three gold medals at the 2015 Jeux du Canada Hames in Prince George, British Columbia.
[28] In 1996, received the Breakthrough Award presented by the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity (CAAWS).
