Normandeau

A finalist at the 2019 IPC World Championships and Parapan American Games, Thomas Normandeau didn’t even know Para athletics existed until the summer of 2018.

Normandeau, who was born without his left hand, began running during his senior year of high school. He joined his high school cross-country team to improve his fitness for football. And then competed in able-bodied athletics at Western Oregon University and Clark College.

“Towards the end of my university career was when I first got involved with Para sport. I never really knew it existed. When I got in contact with Athletics Canada, I realised there was a lot of support and an opportunity to become an athlete for Team Canada and have the name of Canada across my chest and represent my country. So, I decided to go through with that when I graduated university.”

In 2019, Normandeau made the final in the T47 400 metres at both the World Championships in Dubai and the Parapan American Games in Lima, Peru, his first major Games. He was sixth in Lima and eighth in Dubai and set a Canadian record of 51.05 seconds in the T47 400 meters. Those competitions were his first ever trips outside North America.

“It was a crazy year. I’ve only been running for four to five years now. It was crazy to go to all these different countries for National Team competitions and training camps. It was a lot of fun and one of the best years of my life.”

Like many Para athletes, Normandeau’s 2020 season was wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic. He continued to train at Athletics Canada’s West Hub in Victoria but was limited to timed trials with his training partners.

Normandeau kicked off the 2021 season in late April, and by May 15 had established a new Canadian record of 49.86 seconds in the T47 400 metres. With several races in the United States and Canada under his belt, he’s confident that he’ll be ready to compete with the best in the world in Tokyo.