Elaine Allard (born February 25, 1977) is a Canadian 1.5 point wheelchair basketball player who won a bronze medal at the 2010 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship in Birmingham, and gold at the

2014 Women's World Wheelchair Basketball Championship Separate men's and women's Wheelchair Basketball World Championship tournaments were held in 2014. The women's tournament was held at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto, Canada between 20 and 28 June 2014. It was the largest women's ...

in Toronto.

Biography

Elaine Allard was born in Montreal, Quebec on February 25, 1977. She sustained a spinal cord injury in an accident when she was 16. Before her accident she had participated in many sports, most notably swimming and

alpine skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether for ...

. She works as an account manager at the

Royal Bank of Canada Royal Bank of Canada (RBC; french: Banque royale du Canada) is a Canadian multinational financial services company and the largest bank in Canada by market capitalization. The bank serves over 17 million clients and has more than 89,000& ...

. She speaks English, French and Portuguese, and scuba dives. In 2003, she scaled Kala Patthar in the Himalayas. Allard took up wheelchair basketball in 1995 as part of her rehabilitation, and within weeks was playing competitively. She is classified as a 1.5 point player. She joined Team Canada in 2007, and played her first international game, against Argentina in a Four Nations tournament in Sydney in 2009, at which Canada won bronze. This was followed by winning silver at the 2010 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship in Birmingham, and then gold at the

2010 BT Paralympic World Cup 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

. She also won silver medals at the 2007 Parapan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and at the 2011 Parapan American Games in

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...

, Mexico. "After becoming a part of the women's national team program and participating at a few international tournaments," she recalled, "it was clear to me that my goal was to become a part of this amazing team. Ultimately, my goal was to represent Canada at the Paralympic Games." Her dream came true when she represented Canada at the

2012 Summer Paralympic Games The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Sum ...

in London. She was part of the team that won a gold medal at the

in Toronto in July 2014, and silver at the

2015 Parapan American Games The 2015 Parapan American Games, officially the V Parapan American Games and commonly known as the Toronto 2015 ParaPan-Am Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities, celebrated in the tradition of the Pa ...

in August 2015, but was omitted from the team for the

2016 Paralympic Games ) , nations = 159 , athletes = 4,342 , opening = 7 September , closing = 18 September , opened_by = President Michel Temer , cauldron = Clodoaldo Silva , events = 528 in 22 sports , stadium = Maracanã , sum ...

in Rio de Janeiro due to injury.

Awards

* Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2013)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allard, Elaine 1977 births Canadian women's wheelchair basketball players Living people Paralympic wheelchair basketball players for Canada Sportspeople from Montreal Wheelchair basketball players at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Royal Bank of Canada people