Dfi sportif serves as source of inspiration for the next generation of Paralympians

Gowrish Supbramaniam and his school mates from Philip E. Layton loosened things up with a little break dancing ahead of their day of sports competition at the 33rd annual Dfi sportif Tuesday.

It's Supbramaniam fourth year attending the event and he was bursting with excitement.

"It's the best day ever. Dfi sportif, it's the best thing ever," he exclaimed.

Supbramaniam is one of more than 5,000 athletes at this year's event who will participate in adapted sports competitions, which include in everything from track and field to volleyball to sledge hockey.

He loves to participate but he also feels like this is the perfect place to encourage others.

"You have a great talent in your own way, you've just got to look for it in our body. You've got to find it. You cannot put yourself down. When somebody says you cannot to this and stuff, you have to find it in you. You have to show the person that I have the power. I have my own power."

Dfi sportif serves as source of inspiration for the next generation of Paralympians

8 years ago

Duration 1:41

The 33rd annual Dfi sportif is underway this week

A starting point for paralympians

Canadian wheelchair basketball playerCindy Ouellet is one of many paralympians who got a first taste of competition at the Dfi sportif.

Today she was back, not to compete, but rather to pose for a photo op next to a clock which was counting down the seconds until the start of the paralympics in Brazil.

She says in being here she hopes it inspires the next generation just as the previous generation inspired her.

"(Back then) I saw some paralympians like Chantal Petitclerc and it's just amazing that you can meet them and one day it's just like you dream and you go to the paralympics," Ouellet said.

Ouellet made her paralympic debut for Canada in Beijing in 2008. However, she has yet to reach the podium and that's something she hopes to change in Brazil.

Petitclerc leads Canadians from Dfi sportif to Rio

Chantal Petitclerc's days of competing are behind her now, but her role in adapted and paralympic sports might be more influential than ever.

She is the Chef de Mission, the symbolic head of the Canada paralympic team, for Rio and also continues to serve as a spokesperson for the annual Dfi sportif.

She says the event serves as a great starting point for young elite athletes but also has great value for kids who don't take the high performance track.

"It really is unique and it does have a life lasting aspect," she says. "If your are a kid with a disability in a school, and maybe you're the only one with a disability, you don't have access to a lot of performance opportunities."

The Dfi sportif provides those opportunities and it runs until Sunday, May 1.