Renee Foessel has added a few more medals to her already large collection.
Foessel, who competed in both the 2016 and 2020 Paralympic Games, hurled and tossed her way to two first-place finishes, securing the title of 2022 Canadian Women’s Para-Ambulatory Discus and Shot Put Champion at the Canadian National Track and Field Championships in Langley, B.C.
“Discus is my main international event and then I also competed in shot put as well. I’d qualified in it with my distance and I just figured it would be nice to take part in the event to increase the para-field, as well as to give myself the opportunity to jump outside my comfort zone and enjoy a different event, which doesn’t happen too often,” said Foessel, who was born with cerebral palsy that affects one side of her body.
The event, Foessel told BarrieToday, was a great experience.
“I always love attending the national championships, and for me it was also unique because I’d taken a solo driving road trip out west, which was a bit of a bucket-list thing,” she said. “Prior to that, I had competed in Alberta; I did a couple of events in B.C. prior to the national championships.”
Bringing home the titles for both sports was “phenomenal” said Foessel, who works as a records and information management clerk with Barrie Police Service.
“Having some of my athletes there and sharing that experience with them, and then coming home … Barrie police is always so supportive of me. I got a warm welcome and congratulations from a whole lot of people at work,” she said, adding her goal is to compete in the next summer games in Paris in 2024. “I want to share each step along the way with the people who support me, and Barrie police is a big part of that, my family is a big part of that, and the community is as well. I am very proud to come home with both titles and am excited for what comes next.”
Foessel will head to Morocco in September as part of her classification as being a para-athlete, which will be her final competition of the 2022. The 2023 season, she said, will be a busy one, with the world championships as well as the Pan Am Games.
“Paris is the big goal, but between then and now, we have two world championships, a pair of Pan Am Games and one other major event,” she said.
Foessel, now 27, was the youngest Canadian para-athlete at the 2011 International Paralympic Committee World Championship. In 2013, she was also named most outstanding female field performer by Athletics Ontario. In addition, she hurled her way to a fourth-place finish against some of the top athletes in the world at the 2020 Paralympic Summer Games in Tokyo.
