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Louis Fortin

Category

Athlete

Sport

Paralympic Nordic Skiing

Hometown

Shippagan

Year Inducted

2021

Sport Ambassador

paralympics, athlete

Louis Fortin

HONOURED MEMBER

Biography

First, Paralympic cross-country skier Louis Fortin of Shippagan, New Brunswick plotted the trail. Then, he blazed it, by way of Sochi, Russia, right into the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame. 


At age 14, he had his right arm amputated at the shoulder due to bone cancer. He didn’t begin competing until he was 31, training on his own with the goal of representing New Brunswick at the 2011 Canada Games in Prince George, B.C. A study in perseverance and determination, he trained with athletes who were preparing for the 2010 Paralympics in Vancouver. Though he finished last in each of three race simulations, he kept going, kept training. It paid off: he captured two silver medals at the 2011 Canada Games and was invited to his first World Cup competition in 2012.


He drew the attention of Team Canada coaches by finishing among the top 10 at two World Cup events and competed for Canada at the 2014 Paralympics in Sochi, Russia.


Inducted into the NB Sports Hall of Fame, October 15, 2021.

Quick Facts

  • Survived bone cancer at age 14, but his right arm had to be amputated

  • Paralympian at the 2014 Paralympic Games in Sochi, Russia

  • Won two silver medals in 2011; two gold and a silver medal in 2015 at the Canada Winter Games

  • Two top-10 finishes on the Para World Nordic Skiing circuit

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