Elaine Allard was born in
Montreal,
Quebec on February 25, 1977. Before her accident she had participated in many sports, most notably swimming and
alpine skiing. She works as an account manager at the
Royal Bank of Canada. She speaks English, French and Portuguese, and scuba dives. In 2003, she scaled
Kala Patthar in the Himalayas. "After becoming a part of the women's national team program and participating at a few international tournaments," she recalled, "it was clear to me that my goal was to become a part of this amazing team. Ultimately, my goal was to represent Canada at the Paralympic Games." Her dream came true when she represented Canada at the
2012 Summer Paralympic Games in London. She was part of the team that won a gold medal at the
2014 Women's World Wheelchair Basketball Championship in
Toronto in July 2014, and silver at the
2015 Parapan American Games in August 2015, but was omitted from the team for the
2016 Paralympic Games in
Rio de Janeiro due to injury. ==Awards==