Famed Canadian Paralympic swimmer Stephanie Dixon is one of the seven inductees into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame.
Dixon competed for Canada at her first Paralympics for Canada in 2000, heading to the Games in Sydney, Australia. There she took home an incredible seven medals in her first Paralympic showing including five golds.
Dixon told CBC, “Getting involved in sports, especially swimming, where, you know, it’s just me and my body — no crutches, no prosthetic leg, just me and what I’m able to do in the water — really allowed me to feel empowered by my body and not only in sport. [It] gave me confidence just for the rest of my life to be proud of who I am, what I look like, and what I’m able to do.”
Her five golds set the record for most golds ever recorded by a Canadian at a Paralympic Games.
In 2004, Dixon competed in Athens once again taking home a large medal haul. She won the S9 100m backstroke for the second Paralympics in a row. Dixon also took home four silvers and a bronze.
Beijing was her last go-around at the Paralympic Games where she ended her Paralympic career with a third consecutive gold medal in the S9 100m backstroke. Dixon also took home two silver medals and a bronze.
Dixon retired in 2010 after taking home a bronze medal in the S9 100m backstroke at the Eindhoven IPC World Championships.
Since then she’s been inducted into the Brampton Sports Hall of Fame and was Canada’s assistant Chef de Mission for the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games.
Most recently, Dixon signed a contract to co-host CBC’s coverage of the Rio De Janeiro 2016 Paralympics in September. She was seen on deck representing CBC at the 2016 Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Trials.
Dixon along with the six other athletes will be formally inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame on Nov. 1 in Toronto.