Three Māori have been confirmed in the 25-strong New Zealand Paralympic Team for Paris as the final make-up of athletes and support staff was announced at a farewell event on Wednesday evening.
Veterans Cameron Leslie (Ngāpuhi) and Holly Robinson (Ngāi Tahu) welcome first-time Paralympian, Māori-Samoan canoeist Peter Cowan (Ngāti Kahungunu), to the New Zealand Paralympic whānau.
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Three-time swimming gold medallist Leslie will make his fourth Games appearance when he takes to the pool in Paris in late August, after representing Aotearoa at Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016.
The 34-year-old has also been given the honour of being a flagbearer for the New Zealand team, alongside triple Paralympian long jumper and sprinter Anna Grimaldi, 27, at the opening ceremony on August 29 (NZT).
“It’s an absolute honour and something incredibly humbling,” Leslie said.
“I’m proud to be part of the history of the Paralympic movement in New Zealand and to lead the Paris 2024 Team at the opening ceremony is going to be special.
“I know many people who have supported me over the years will be super stoked.”
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Two-time Paralympic medalist, javelin thrower Robinson (Ngāi Tahu), also makes her fourth Games appearance.
Following her debut in London in 2012, the 29-year-old won a silver medal at Rio 2016, where she was flagbearer, and went one better at Tokyo 2020, claiming the gold medal.
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Although debutant Cowan, 29, has been selected for his first Paralympic Games, the Hastings-based paddler is already a champion waka ama competitor, winning two golds and a silver in the World Waka Ama Championships.
At age 15, he was training on his bike for the IronMāori triathlon when he was clipped by an oncoming car, an athlete profile on the New Zealand Paralympic website says.
After the serious accident, Cowan later made the difficult decision to amputate his injured leg.
“In his last year of high school, he discovered paddling and soon fell in love with the sport.”
Cowan competes in an adaptive version of waka ama, known internationally as Para va’a, a division of Para canoe at the Games.
In May, Cowan won a silver medal in the va’a at the ICF Paracanoe World Championships in Szeged, Hungary, finishing just 0.071 seconds behind Ukraine’s Vladyslav Yepifanov – “a remarkable milestone in his paddling career”.