Georgian College

PARALYMPIANS BRING HOME SILVER FROM PYEONGCHANG In March 2018, Georgian College alumni Adam Dixon and Brad Bowden travelled to PyeongChang, South Korea to represent Canada as members of the Canadian Men's Sledge Hockey Team. This would mark the fifth Paralympic appearance for Brad, and the second appearance for Adam, who was an alternate captain for Team Canada and named the tournament's top defenseman. "When you play for Canada, it's gold or nothing," says Brad who is all too familiar with the pressures that athletes face on the world's stage. He's a veteran of the team, a four-time Paralympian in sledge hockey (gold in Torino 2006, fourth in Vancouver 2010, bronze in Sochi 2014 and silver in PyeongChang 2018) who scored the game-winning goal against Norway at the Torino games in 2006. Twelve years later, the American squad would come out on top. The Canadians were battling the Americans for the gold medal, holding a 1-0 lead with just 37 seconds left in the game, when the Americans pulled their goalie and tied the game with the extra attacker. After Team Canada hit a post in overtime, the Americans scored, ending the game and winning the gold medal. "It was not the result we wanted, but it's still an honour to represent our country," says Brad about winning silver. "I think for a lot of people, they don't necessarily care what colour the medal is, but we care. We really wanted to win this for Canada." Brad was born with sacral agenesis, an abnormality of the lower spine. At the age of 13, he began playing sledge hockey with the Kitchener-Waterloo Sidewinders, and received the invitation in 1999 to try out for the national sledge hockey team. Adam's journey was different. He grew up playing ice Brad Bowden Art and Design Fundamentals, 2012 and Graphic Design, 2013 Canadian Men's Sledge Hockey Team 14 GEORGIANVIEW 2018 COLLEGE CHANGEMAKERS

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