Josh Vander Vies (born December 28, 1984) is a Canadian lawyer and former Paralympic athlete. He won a bronze medal for doubles boccia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London before retiring.
Early life
editVander Vies was born on December 28, 1984, in Sarnia, Ontario[1] to parents Gary and Sandy. He was born without fully formed arms or legs.[2] He is a graduate of High Park French Immersion School and Northern Collegiate Institute. He earned a diploma in general arts and science from Lambton College before enrolling at the University of Western Ontario.[3]
Career
editVander Vies made his international debut in Boccia at the 2003 World Cup in Christchurch, New Zealand.[4] Following this, he qualified for the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens but failed to medal in his debut.[5] He was then elected to the International Boccia Committee as an Athlete Representative[6] and competed at the 2006 Boccia World Championships.[4] As a law student at the University of British Columbia,[6] Vander Vies also competed internationally at the 2010 World Championship and 2011 World Cup.[4] In 2010, he was appointed one of 25 torch bearers prior to the 2010 Winter Paralympics.[7]
After failing to qualify for the 2008 Summer Paralympics, Vander Vies returned to the Paralympics in 2012 for doubles boccia. He played boccia Mixed Pairs-BC4 alongside Marco Dispaltro and won a bronze medal against Great Britain by a score of 8–2.[8] Following the Games, Vander Vies retired from the sport but remained president of Athletes CAN, the association of Canada's national team athletes.[4]
In 2020, Vander Vies was named Canada's assistant chef de mission during the 2020 Summer Paralympics.[9] The following year, he announced he was running for the Liberal Party in the riding of Vancouver East at the next federal election.[10] The election was held on September 20, 2021; Vander Vies came second to New Democratic incumbent Jenny Kwan.
References
edit- ^ "Vander Vies, Josh" (in French). CBC Radio. Retrieved August 28, 2021.
- ^ Meagher, John (April 30, 2001). "Défi athletes are sport's real heroes". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved August 28, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ Van Brenk, Deborah (Fall 2020). "Miles past that". University of Western Ontario. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
- ^ a b c d "Canadian boccia star Vander Vies retires". Paralympics. May 10, 2015. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
- ^ "Josh Vander Vies". Paralympics. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
- ^ a b Puri, Simmi (September 5, 2012). "UBC student wins Paralympic bronze". University of British Columbia. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
- ^ "Canadian Paralympic Committee announces torch bearers for the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games Torch Relay". Newswire. March 3, 2010. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
- ^ Kingston, Greg (September 4, 2012). "Josh Vander Vies of UBC captures Paralympics boccia bronze". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
- ^ "Josh Vander Vies, Karolina Wisniewska, and Shacarra Orr join Tokyo 2020 Canadian Paralympic Team in support roles". Newswire. January 14, 2020. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
- ^ "Campagne électorale et Jeux paralympiques: le double défi de Josh Vander Vies" (in French). CBC Radio. August 25, 2021. Retrieved August 30, 2021.