Rockland’s Bianca Borgella was seconds away from the biggest moment in her impressive career as a competitive sprinter.  

Borgella, who was born with Leber congenital amaurosis, a rare inherited eye disorder that causes severe vision loss and competing in the T13 classification for athletes with visual impairments, made it to the finals in the women’s T13 100 metre (m) race before suffering a devastating hamstring injury roughly 30 m into the race.  

With grit and determination, she picked herself up after collapsing on the track and crossed the finish line in 25.11 seconds. She later left on a wheelchair.  

One of the favourites to bring home a medal for Canada at the Games, Borgella was ranked number two in the world in the 100m going into the Paralympics games.  

A rising star  

While this was the first time she was representing Canada at the Paralympics, Borgella, has become a rising star in para-athletics since she began competing in 2021. 

She won gold at the 2022 Canadian Track and Field Championships in the 400 m, 100 m and U20 4 x 100 m relay. At the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships in Paris, Borgella won silver in the T13 women’s 200 metres and bronze in the T13 women’s 100 metres, setting a Canadian record for the event. At the same event, she competed on the Canadian universal 4 × 100 m relay team which placed fourth.  

Borgella trained at the Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club and has been presented with a Sam Estwick Memorial Award, which is awarded by the East Ottawa Lions Club to outstanding athletes with disabilities.