August 5, 2016
With the Opening Ceremony of the Rio Olympic Games being today, many of Tommy’s friends are asking if Tommy will be going to Rio for the Paralympic Games, which will take place in September. The official list of athletes has not yet been released. However, Canada, like all countries, had a limited quota for athletes and so was only able to select a small number of para athletes. Tommy had an incredible year of amazing personal bests, and ran the standard required for selection for Rio, as well as completing the IPC classification criteria by competing in Italy andArizona this past spring. Although Tommy is eligible for selection to go to Rio, there were many Canadian Para athletes who also met the criteria. We are still waiting for the final list of athletes to be released. If Tommy is not selected for Rio, we look forward to next year, when the World Championships will be help in London, England. The 5000m has been added as a T20 event for London, and Tommy is very strong in this event! If Rio is not meant to be for Tommy, there are new, exciting opportunities on the horizon for him, especially given the amazing year of new personal bests Tommy has run!!!!
In the meantime, we are making public our videos of Tommy’s wonderful trip in early July to the Canadian National Track and Field Championships and Rio Selection Trials. We hope you enjoy sharing in the exciting experiences Tommy had this year on his Road to Rio. Just check out his YouTube channel, Lookyus, for new videos as we post them over the next few days! As we look back on his year, we are so proud of all that he has accomplished. We will post very soon regarding Rio, once the official Paralympic Team for Canada is announced!
Finally, we want to congratulate and send the best of luck and good wishes to the Canadian athletes representing Canada in the Olympics which begin today in Rio! We are cheering for you! Go, Team Canada!!!! <3 https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=tommy%20des%20brisay-autism%20means%20friendship%20arizona