Keely Shaw's torturous route to Tokyo




Player's Own Voice show

Summary: When she was fifteen years old, Keely Shaw had it all figured out. Hockey would be the through line on a life plan consisting of high performance competition, scouting, scholarships, Olympics…sky's the limit. So when the grade nine girl was thrown from her beloved horse while she was out on the prairies, sustaining brain injuries and partial paralysis, Shaw's first reaction was furious resentment at the sport that was suddenly denied to her. It took a few years, a tonne of discipline, and working through significant psychological setbacks, but Shaw has found high performance sport again. Shaw is a world class road and track paralympian cyclist now. And when she isn't pounding the pedals, she's also chasing her Ph.D. Believe it or not, Shaw is studying the performance benefits of dark chocolate at high altitude! The plan always was to be competing at Tokyo 2020, but Shaw just never imagined this particular path would be the one to take her there. Host Anastasia Bucsis meets the Canadian paralympian as she sets her sights on the next world championship races in Milton, Ont.