Paris 2024 VL2 silver medallist Brianna Hennessy has hailed the Canadian Paralympic Committee's (CPC) medal bonuses as a monumental step towards inclusivity.
The inaugural distribution of the CPC's Paralympic Performance Recognition programme saw Paris 2024 medallists receive a total allocation of $535,000 for their achievements.
Overall, Canada won 29 medals in Paris — 10 gold, nine silver, and 10 bronze — the country's highest gold medal total since Beijing 2008.
Among them was the 40-year-old Hennessy, who finished behind Great Britain's Emma Wiggs in the women's VL2 final.
Athletes receive $20,000 per gold medal won, $15,000 per silver, and $10,000 per bronze, equal to their Olympic counterparts.
Apart from that, the Team Canada Podium Awards distributed a further $195,000 to Paralympic medallists, with a $5,000 grant per medal earned at the Games in France.
“I am so honoured to be part of the first Paralympic Games where Paralympians were awarded medal bonuses just like our incredible Canadian Olympic teammates,” said Hennessey, who was also one of Canada's Closing Ceremony flag bearers.
“What a monumental step forward towards inclusivity and equality in sport in Canada.
“It’s a phenomenal incentive and feeling that our country also values the sacrifices and adversities that we Paralympians make and overcome to wear our maple leaf proudly on the world stage.”
The 40-year-old, who was diagnosed as a tetraplegic after an accident in 2014, was initially introduced to wheelchair rugby.
She has played AA hockey, provincial-level rugby, and was also an amateur boxing champion in Ontario before her accident at age 30.
Hennessy competed in two events on her Paralympic Games debut in 2021, finishing fifth in the VL2 and eighth in the KL1, two years after she took up Paracanoe.
She is a five-time world medallist and won VL2 silver for the third straight year at the 2024 International Canoe Federation Paracanoe World Championships in Szeged.
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