Sudburian Collin Cameron started his athletic career later in life, but that hasn't stopped him from making a mark on the para-nordic sport of sit-skiing.
Moving a lot at a young age, Cameron said he struggled to find an opportunity to commit to a sport, but remained active throughout his childhood. The 30-year-old has a condition that limits the range of motion in his legs.
He was born in Bracebridge but raised primarily in the Muskoka region, allowing his family to always live near a river or beach, which Cameron said he often swam in.
It wasn’t until Cameron moved to Sudbury seven years ago that he was able to set down permanent roots, allowing time for him to explore his interest in sport.
“My wife’s neighbour at the time was on a sledge hockey team, and that’s the first thing she said when she met me - ‘Oh my God, have you ever played sledge hockey – 'cause you should try it,” said Cameron.
Cameron entered his first organized team, a sledge hockey group formally known as the Northern Sliders, less than five months after moving to Sudbury. The Northern Sliders were an intermediate sports team competing under the care and supervision of the Raymond Family, who through fundraising and personal donation, sponsored the participation of each of their athletes.
“They did all the hard work,” said Cameron. “They believed in helping the athletes that couldn’t afford the equipment and travel.”
But unfortunately, “there wasn’t a whole lot of commitment left in the team just because they’ve been around for a long time,” he said. Three years ago, Cameron competed with the Northern Sliders in their last tournament as an organized sports team, which they won.
“It was a fitting way for the whole team to just kind of take a step back and focus on the rest of their lives, but I was just getting a taste of sport,” said Cameron. “I was 27 at the time and I had waited 27 years to get involved in a sport, so I didn’t want to quit.”
In researching programs similar to the former Northern Sliders, Cameron said he came across the Sudbury Accessible Sport Council Facebook page. The site featured a variety of para-nordic sports including sit-skiing, which Cameron said almost immediately drew his interest.
“I always kind of liked the winter, but couldn’t really do anything in it,” said Cameron. So he sent the Facebook page a message and was put in contact with coach Patti Kitler, with experience in both provincial and national level development for sit-ski.
The two met a week later, at which point Cameron had his first experience on a sit-ski – sort of. It was September at the time, which meant Cameron had to use roller skis to mimic the sport.
Cameron wouldn’t test his skills on the snowy hills of Canmore, Alberta for another two months, where he would join Kitler at the Para-Nordic National Ski Team base.
“I kind of took to it like a duck in water,” said Cameron. “The first time we were out roller skiing, Patti said, ‘you could probably try for the national team if you really like this.”
The Ontario athlete got his first view from the top of the podium in 2017, claiming gold in PyeongChang, Korea’s Para-Nordic World Cup cross-country sprint.
In 2018, Cameron became a triple bronze medalist in his debut performance at the Paralympic Winter Games. Of Canada’s 28 medals that year, Cameron contributed that of the 7.5 km biathlon, 15 km biathlon, and the 4x2.5 km cross-country ski open relay event.
Later that year, the athlete claimed bronze in cross-country sprint of the Para-Nordic World Cup.
Cameron broke into 2019 with a force, making history as the first Canadian to claim World Champion gold at the Para Nordic Skiing Championships.
In addition to a gold medal in cross-country sprint, Cameron’s roller skills earned him two silver medals in biathlon middle-distance and mixed relay.
In spite of the competitive setting, Cameron said that the para-athlete family is incredibly supportive, always pushing each other to be the best. “You can see how athletes from other countries, or my own, are slowly developing and getting to that next level,” said Cameron.
“We’re always getting better and better – and that drives you.”
This supportive athletic community may have been what inspired Cameron to begin volunteering, which he said he plans to dedicate more time to in his offseason. Cameron has become increasingly involved with the city’s para-programs in recent years he said, hoping to inspire young people with disabilities to come out and try para-nordic sports for example.
“(Para-nordic sport has) given me a lot more confidence than I had before, just in everyday life,” said Cameron.
“I think it’s that sense of pride – not only because I have been successful early on in my career, but to have this sport and be able to get out there and do something for myself is really important.”
Cameron said he can’t picture a future without sit-ski, even after he chooses to stop competing. “It gives me that escape – I can just grab my sit-ski and go anywhere now,” said Cameron.
Cameron said his family has been as 100 per cent supportive of his journey, encouraging him along the way to explore the sport he has grown to love.
He will be competing in the World Para-Nordic Skiing World Cup March 12-17 in Sapporo, Japan. After that, he'll have a little less than a year to prepare for the next round of competition.
In upcoming years, Cameron will focus his attention on the Para-Nordic World Cup held every year, the Para-Nordic World Championship held every two years and the Paralympics Winter Games held every four years.