Colette Bourgonje

In 2019, she became an inductee in Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.

The "Inaugural Saskatchewan Para Sport Tour Dream Relay" was thought of when Bourgonje saw a need for raising awareness for Para Sport activities for Saskatchewan citizens. The relay was held in June 2016, touring Saskatchewan and it included 14 Parathletes in a 10 day, 363 kilometre course. Another reason for the establishment for the relay was to find those with disabilities looking to be physically active, and to connect them with volunteer equipment if that was a barrier for them.

Bourgonje spoke at the 11th annual "Training for Life Power Breakfast" in 2016, which is an event that raises money for the Special Olympics of Saskatchewan and Prince Albert Raiders Education Fund.

Bourgonje places great emphasis on coaching and often looks for future Paralympians. She mentors many successful athletes and understands the dynamics between those she coaches and herself. One of the mentees she oversees is Brittany Hudak, who is missing part of her left arm and the two met in a Canadian Tire. Bourgonje trained her to ski and she went on to win three gold medals at the 2015 Jeux du Canada Hames in Prince George, British Columbia. Her gold medal events were the 1.2 kilometre standing classic sprint, 2.5 kilometre classic sprint and the 5 kilometre standing free event.

Bourgonje's silver medal in the 10 km sit-ski at the 2010 Winter Paralympics was Canada's first at home.

When her age was questioned after participating in the Olympics in Vancouver in 2010, and receiving the first medal on Canadian turf, she responded with "age is nothing, attitude is everything and I live by that today".

Bourgonje was also a part of the Team Visa Inc. Program in 2010, which supports 30 individual athletes globally to prepare for the Olympics and Paralympics. They do this by providing valuable marketing, long term financial support and mentorship.

At the 2010 Winter Olympics, she was presented with the Whang Youn Dai Achievement Award, which is awarded to one male and female athlete with a disability, for overcoming adversities.

In 2010, Bourgonje was inducted into the Canadian Disability Hall of Fame.

In 2002, the Canadian Paraplegic Association (CPA) awarded her the Female Athlete of Year award.

In 1999, received one of the YWCA Women of Distinction awards

She gave one of her silver medals from the 1998 Games to Pat Prokopchuk, as she brought and initiated the remodelling of the sit ski in Saskatchewan.

In 1998, inducted into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame.

She is a part-time physical education substitute teacher, and currently resides in Prince Albert. To honour Colette, an elementary school and a street have been named after her in Saskatoon. In 1997, a sign was placed Porcupine Plain, promoting it as Bourgonje's and distinguishing her as a successful Paralympian. She became an inductee in Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2019

In 1996, received the Breakthrough Award presented by the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity (CAAWS).

Her friend and president of SASKI, Pat Prokopchuk and others created Colette's first sit ski in 1993. It was remodelled from one from Denmark, which was weak and broke after short use. The Saskatchewan Abilities Council was able to mould the sit ski to Colette's body, while making the model out of fibreglass and clamping the skis to the chair. After the 1994 World Cup Championships, the German team shared their sit ski prototype which Colette liked, with the bucket attached to the skis. In 2002, the Memorial University of Newfoundland made Colette a special sit ski which was much lighter but more difficult to balance. She later traded hand control model equipment for cars with the Russian team for their sit ski, which was made of titanium.

SASKI-Skiing for Disabled began in the early 1990s, with skiing for the blind and were looking for other disabled persons to become physically active.

Her first job out of her university education was as an after school recreational coordinator in Saskatoon. She began teaching physical education part-time to continue training from 1989 to 2010, with her first position in Silverwood Heights, Saskatoon. With her physical disability, she finds ways to overcome teaching obstacles, by using student demonstrators and having the children safely set up simple equipment. Her main focus is in physical activity, and would devote an allotted time daily for activities, even teaching them to cross country ski.

Bourgonje was initially introduced to Para Sport by Saskatchewan Wheelchair Sports Association (SWSA) shortly after her accident, and joined the association in 1987. She had to train herself at first, as very few coaches knew how to train athletes with disabilities. She used her knowledge from school and her training prior to her accident to train, and was cautious to not overwork herself.

Her father was an electrician and had a business but was not able to keep it due to his alcoholism. Bourgonje's mother Sheila and grandmother comforted the children through the difficult times. He left the family in 1984 during Colette's undergraduate degree.

Bourgonje was left paralyzed after a car accident in 1980, two months away from graduating high school.She had been a cross country runner, with many athletic scholarship offers to many universities.

She spent the summer of 1980 rehabilitating and wrote an advert in the local paper, thanking her community for their continuous support.

Colette Bourgonje (bore-go-knee) (born January 17, 1962) is a Canadian Paralympic cross-country skier and athlete of Métis heritage. She has won four bronze medals in Summer Paralympics and medals in Winter Paralympics for skiing.