Julia Hanes (born May 19, 1995) is a Canadian

para-athletics Para-athletics is the sport of athletics practiced by people with a disability as a disabled sports, parasport. The list of athletics events, athletics events within the parasport are mostly the same as those available to able-bodied people, w ...

athlete who competes in throwing events.

Early life and education

Hanes is from

LaSalle, Ontario LaSalle is a town in Essex County, Ontario, Canada. It is a bedroom community of the City of Windsor, part of the Windsor Census Metropolitan Area, and located south of that city. LaSalle, along with Windsor, is the oldest French settlement a ...

. She acquired

hemiplegia Hemiparesis, also called unilateral paresis, is the weakness of one entire side of the body ('' hemi-'' means "half"). Hemiplegia, in its most severe form, is the complete paralysis of one entire side of the body. Either hemiparesis or hemiplegia ...

when she was 17 in January 2013. In 2017, she graduated from

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood, Ontario, Ainslie Wood and Westdale, Ontario, Westd ...

's health sciences program with a specialization biomedical sciences. She entered the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

School of Medicine's MD program shortly after. She was one of the first medical students in the university's history to regularly use a wheelchair. After completing her MD in 2022, she began a residency at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

Career

After acquiring her disability, Hanes was introduced to para-sport through

para ice hockey Sledge hockey, also known as Sled hockey in American English, and Para ice hockey in international competition, is an Parasports, adaptation of ice hockey for players who have a physical disability. The sport was invented in the early 1960s at a ...

. She competed at the

2017 Canada Summer Games The 2017 Canada Summer Games, officially known as the XXVI Canada Games, were held in Winnipeg, Manitoba from July 28 to August 13, 2017. Venues * Axworthy Health and Recplex - Winnipeg (basketball, wrestling) *Bell MTS Place - Winnipeg (Opening ...

in shotput and discus. She won gold in both events, throwing 20.62 metres for discus and 7 meters for shotput. In 2018, she won a silver medal in shot put at the World Cerebral Palsy Games. In 2023, Hanes competed at the

Wheelchair Rugby Wheelchair rugby (originally murderball, and known as quad rugby in the United States) is a team sport for Disabled sport, athletes with a disability. It is practiced in over twenty-five countries around the world and is a summer Paralympic spor ...

Women’s Cup in Paris as a member of the Canadian women’s wheelchair rugby team. The team won bronze at the competition. She won gold in F33 women’s shot put at the 2024

Canadian Track and Field Championships The Canadian Track and Field Championships is an annual outdoor track and field competition organized by Athletics Canada, which serves as the Canadian national championships for the sport. The championships serve as part of the selection proces ...

. Hanes made her Paralympic debut at the

2024 Summer Paralympics The 2024 Summer Paralympics (), also known as the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games (), and branded as Paris 2024, were the 17th Summer Paralympic Games, an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event governed by the International P ...

. She place sixth in women's F33 shot put and eighth in women's F34 javelin, throwing 15.34 metres. She was one of only two F33 competitors in the F34 event.

Personal life

Hanes lives in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, British Columbia''.''

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hanes, Julia 1995 births Living people Canadian female shot putters Canadian female javelin throwers Paralympic track and field athletes for Canada Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Paralympics McMaster University alumni University of Ottawa alumni Sportspeople from Windsor, Ontario