'A dream come true' Saint Mary's shot put star Katie Pegg set to compete at 2024 Paralympic Games
It was a remarkable feat of athleticism and determination, especially considering Pegg was just nine months into her return to the sport of shot put, after not throwing competitively for nearly five years.
"Qualifying for the Paralympics means the world to me; it's a dream come true!" explains Pegg, who recently celebrated her 20th birthday. "Representing Canada at the Paralympics is a tremendous honour, and I feel incredibly fortunate to have this opportunity, as not many people do."
Hailing from Scarborough, Ontario, Pegg was born without a radial bone in her right forearm. She competes in the F46 classification for the Women's Shot Put Para Ambulatory, a category for athletes with a single amputation below or above the elbow.
"Prior to this year, I didn't actually know my disability was qualifiable for the Paralympics, as most of my exposure to Para athletics was athletes in wheelchairs or with visual impairments. But I quickly learned that there are many various classifications in Para athletics," explains Pegg. "I have always wanted to be someone that people could look up to, especially young female athletes and all people living with disabilities, and I believe representing Canada at the Paralympics will help me become that person."
Pegg was first exposed to shot put when she was in grade three and made her elementary school team. But it was the sport of football that Pegg truly fell in love with – she played competitively for eight years and was the lone girl among 300 players in the Scarborough minor football program. Pegg continued to compete in track & field until grade nine, when her season was sidelined due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and she decided to fully focus on football.
Pegg followed football to the East Coast, committing to Saint Mary's University where she worked as a video coordinator with Huskies, while studying biology and forensic science. A chance encounter last summer reignited her interest in shot put and set her on the path to Paris.
"During one of our football practices, I saw the Huskies track and field team training and approached Jodi (Langley) and asked if I could try throwing with them," Pegg recounts.
"Katie and I began working together in September 2023 when she approached me in the Saint Mary's weight room," recalls Huskies throws coach Jodi Langley—herself a four-time AUS medalist at shot put at Acadia University and the 2023-24 AUS Track & Field Volunteer Coach of the Year. "After watching Katie throw a couple of times, I asked her if she had ever considered throwing at the Para level, and the rest is history."
Pegg quickly made an impact, competing against able-bodied athletes in the Atlantic University Sport conference. In her debut competition of the season, she won the women's shot put at the Moncton Last Chance Meet. After several more notable performances, Pegg finished fourth at the AUS Championship, setting a new personal best and earning a spot at the U SPORTS Nationals in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
"To have that representation of Para athletes at such a big university event like U SPORTS nationals was special," Pegg told Saltwire Media in a recent profile. "It helps bring awareness to Para athletes and hopefully it encourages other Para athletes to know that there's more out there, especially at the university level where you don't see it often."
"It has been great to see Katie flourish this year," adds Jodi Langley. "She is lovely to work with and always brings a great attitude to practice. Despite not having much recent experience in shot put, she came back to the sport with an athletic background and always puts in the work and is very coachable, so it has been great to see her able to push to the next level and accomplish so much, so quickly."
But qualifying for the Paralympics wasn't something Katie had truly realized was possible until February, when she first represented Canada at the Fazza International Championships in Dubai, throwing a personal-best 11.15 metres and winning gold in the women's F46 shotput.
That success officially put Pegg on the Paralympics Canada radar, and she continued to progress quickly. At the National Track and Field tour in June, Pegg threw a new personal best of 11.49 metres, smashing the Athletics Canada Trial Standard of 11.33 metres, and officially qualifying her for the 2024 Paralympics in Paris.
"Facing adversity while having a physical disability is what made me the person that I am today," Pegg reflects. "There have been times in my life when people have told me that I couldn't do something, that I wasn't strong enough, that I wouldn't make it. That doubt made me work harder, train longer and become stronger in order to compete with others. Becoming a Paralympian means being the best person that I can be and pushing against adversity to become a champion."
The Paralympics in Paris will take place from August 21 to September 5, with Pegg's event scheduled for September 4 at 6 a.m. ADT, giving her plenty of time to soak in the Paralympic spirit and sights of Paris before her competition.
"Aside from competing, I'm really looking forward to meeting other Para athletes who are a part of Team Canada, getting to know them and hearing about their Paralympic stories as well as who they are outside of the sport," says Pegg. "I have never been in an environment surrounded by other high performance Para athletes, so I am looking forward to spending time in the village and experiencing everything it has to offer, even the cardboard beds!"
Langley will be joining Pegg in Paris, in part thanks to a gift from Saint Mary's Kathy Mullane Fund for Varsity Women's Sport.
"This journey has happened so fast that I didn't apply for Team Coach with the Paralympics so to still be able to go with this funding is a huge help," says Langley. "Historically there has been a lack of female coaches at the high-performance level, so it is great that Saint Mary's is investing in developing female coaches, and I am proud to be a part of that."
Pegg expresses deep gratitude for the support she has received from her coaches, teammates, and the Saint Mary's community over the qualifying process.
"If it wasn't for joining the Saint Mary's Track & Field team, I might not be in this position today," says Pegg. "My time at Saint Mary's has taught me to be more independent, responsible, hard-working and to be able to better advocate for myself."
Despite being just 20 years old and relatively new to her sport, Pegg has valuable advice for any young athletes or people in general who are pursuing a dream.
"My advice for young athletes in a similar situation is to never give up," says Pegg. "There will always be obstacles in sports and in life – you may not be the fastest or strongest, but at the end of the day, you still have to put the work in every day. There will be times in life when people will look at you and judge you based on various factors, but don't let their opinions get in the way of your dreams and goals. This is your life, and your story, so go out and give it all you've got, because you never know when your opportunity will come, and dreams come true!"
Athletics East will host a send-off for Katie Pegg on Thursday, August 15 at 7:30 p.m. at Metropolitan Field in Lower Sackville. The community is invited to celebrate Pegg's achievements and wish her well on her journey to Paris.