Saint Mary’s athlete ready for all challenges at 2024 Paralympic Games

Katie Pegg says it feels good to be named to Canada’s 2024 Paralympic shot put team, but it’s not something she ever thought would happen.

“I never knew it was an opportunity for me to go out and potentially represent Canada as a para-athlete,” Pegg said during an interview with CTV Morning Live.

Despite her uncertainties, Pegg is a lifetime athlete who played American football for eight years.

“I was the only female on my team,” Pegg said. “On an all-male tackle team.”

Her dream was to be the first female to play for the Canadian Football League before devoting herself to track and field, a sport she loved from a young age. She started throwing in grade three and continued until grade nine.

“It was always my favourite season, that summer-fall, because we got to throw and get into track and field,” Pegg said. “It was somewhere I could show my strength.”

Pegg said she likes demonstrating her strength, but she never got an opportunity to throw after grade nine because of the COVID-19 pandemic and because she focused on football.

Pegg is from Scarborough, Ont., but she trains at Saint Mary’s University, where she is studying science. She approached the throwing coach and asked to join the team during her second year of University when she saw her teammates training after football practice.

Pegg said her parents always encouraged her to work through adversity and she wants to show others how to overcome the challenges they face.

“Being able to represent my country and go to the Paralympics really just shows what you can do when you don’t let people and adversity get in your way,” Pegg said.

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