James Anseeuw (born September 16, 1959) is a Canadian Wheelchair curler. As the oldest Canadian Paralympic athlete, he helped Canada win a bronze medal at the

2018 Winter Paralympics ) , nations = 49 , athletes = 569 , events = 80 in 6 sports , opening = 9 March , closing = 18 March , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Eun-jung Seo Soon-seok , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic ...

in South Korea.

Early life

Anseeuw was born on September 16, 1959, in

Oak Bluff, Manitoba Oak Bluff is an incorporated community located in the Rural Municipality of Macdonald, Manitoba, Canada. It is situated seven kilometres southwest of the City of Winnipeg, between Manitoba Highway (PTH) 3's intersections with PTH 2 and PTH 10 ...

, Canada.

Career

In the 1990s, Anseeuw was a semi-professional snowmobile racer until he became paralyzed after a crash on March 27, 1999. At the time of the accident, Anseeuw was team manager for the Flying Canucks and

Arctic Cat Arctic Cat is an American brand of snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles manufactured in Thief River Falls, Minnesota. The company was formed in 1960 and is now part of Textron Inc. Arctic Cat designs, engineers, manufactures and markets all-terr ...

's Canadian Racing Coordinator. Arctic Cat began a trust fund in his name, and mentee

Blair Morgan Blair Morgan (Born October 9, 1975) is a multi-time CMRC Canadian National championship-winning motocross racer who was racing for Ski-Doo Racing. He is also a multi-time World Snocross snowmobile champion and a 5-time X-Games gold medalist. He ...

began raising money for spinal cord research. In 2014, Anseeuw was convinced to try

wheelchair curling Wheelchair curling is an adaptation of curling for athletes with a disability affecting their lower limbs or gait. Wheelchair curling is governed by the World Curling Federation, and is one of the sports in the Winter Paralympic Games. Overview W ...

Dennis Thiessen Dennis Thiessen (born April 20, 1961, in Crystal City, Manitoba) is a wheelchair curler who was part of the winning team in wheelchair curling for Canada at the 2014 Winter Paralympics. He played on the winning Canadian team at the 2013 World W ...

. He trained with the Assiniboine Curling Club and competed with Team Manitoba at the 2014 Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championship, where they finished in first place. Three years later, he again won gold with Team Manitoba at the 2017 Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championship. At the age of 58, Anseeuw was the oldest athlete selected to compete for Team Canada at the

in South Korea. The Canadian

team was eliminated in the semi-finals, which earned them a bronze medal.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Anseeuw, James 1959 births Living people Canadian male curlers Canadian wheelchair curlers Paralympic wheelchair curlers for Canada Paralympic medalists in wheelchair curling Paralympic bronze medalists for Canada Wheelchair curlers at the 2018 Winter Paralympics Medalists at the 2018 Winter Paralympics Curlers from Manitoba