Paralympians say these Games might be different, but they're ready to 'inspire the world'

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When Jessica Frotten first tried to sit in a racing wheelchair, she flipped over backwards. But she got back on and tried again. 

Now she's drawing on that same resilience as she embarks on her first Paralympic Games, and what she says might be the strangest.

"It's not exactly how I imagined getting ready for the biggest competition of my life, but I'm feeling that everything is going to work out just fine," said Frotten, who is originally from Yukon and now lives in Regina, Sask.

Canada will send 128 athletes to the 2020 Paralympic Games, which begin on Aug. 24 in Tokyo after a year-long COVID-19 delay. Like the Olympics, which ended Sunday, these Games will be different than the typical Paralympic experience. 

There are restrictions on where the athletes can travel, along with mask and physical distancing protocols. There won't be fans or family making the trip to Tokyo, leaving the stands almost empty.

But Frotten told The Current's guest host Laura Lynch she isn't concerned; she knows there'll be cheers coming from back home. 

"I would have had all my friends and family come to Tokyo, but they're all going to be screaming at the TVs at whatever hour in the morning it is," said Frotten.

"It's going to be different, of course, but we're ready for it."

Delay has been a 'blessing': athlete

Instead of looking at the negative impacts the COVID-19 pandemic is having on the Games, many athletes are choosing to look at the positives. 

Like Jeremy Hall. 

The rower from St. Paul, Alta., will be on the water in Tokyo, and feels he's actually in a better position because of the year-long delay. 

Hall and his rowing partner, Jessye Brockway, didn't become a team until 2019. 

"The extra year has been a huge blessing for us and has allowed us to make a lot more progress," said first-time Paralympian Hall.

Frotten benefited from the delay as well. If the Games had gone ahead as scheduled, she might not have had a chair to race in.

Her wheelchair racer was stolen a year ago. Frotten's family was able to set up a GoFundMe page to buy a new one, which she says is even better than her stolen racer. 

But it wasn't all easy. 

When the pandemic started, Hall had to leave the training facility in Victoria, B.C., and wasn't able to get on the water for three months. All his time with the physical therapy team in Victoria had to move online.

"It was challenging to push our bodies to those limits and to try to get the most that we can out of them and build that fitness," said Hall about his training from home.

Frotten was in a training camp in Florida when the pandemic began, and had to return to Canada. In a normal year she would spend her winter in a warmer climate so she could continue to train outdoors, but that wasn't possible. 

Instead she focused on training inside when she could. She wasn't able to attend as many competitions as she usually would. 

"I don't know how many times my coach rewrote the plan for competitions that got cancelled," she said.

But even in training, Frotten is looking at the positives.

"I think it has given me a really great opportunity to put more time in at the gym so I'm much stronger than I've ever been."

Frotten and Hall aren't the only athletes keeping a positive outlook ahead of the Games.

Athletes have shown 'resilience and adaptability'

Stephanie Dixon is Canada's Chef de Mission. She says she hasn't heard much negativity or complaints from athletes across the country. 

"It's been more of a tone of resilience and adaptability and creativity," said Dixon.

"The overarching feeling I'm getting from athletes is gratitude that they still get to go over to Tokyo to do what they love, to attempt to inspire the world."

Dixon stressed that it's important, especially with athletes that are may be more at risk, to make sure all the protocols are followed and people keep their distance as much as possible. 

She said that includes ensuring athletes who are immunocompromised have their own rooms, as well as avoiding group gatherings, and keeping daily meetings online, instead of in person. 

"Vaccinations is one of the greatest mitigating strategies and almost the entire Canadian delegation will be fully vaccinated, so we're feeling very good about that," said Dixon.

Hall trains alongside athletes who were just in Tokyo for the Olympics. After speaking with them, he says he's confident that he's going to be kept safe.

"It sounds like the protocols are pretty strict with wearing masks, and where you're able to venture to," said Hall. 

"I'm quite confident that the right things are being done to protect everyone."

Written by Philip Drost. Produced by Ryan Chaterjee, Samraweet Yohannes and Ines Colabrese.