Greater Sudbury powerlifter named to Team Canada for Special Olympics World Games

It's mission accomplished for a powerlifter from Greater Sudbury.

Jose Sguin has been named a member of Team Canada for the 2019 Special Olympics World Games in Abu Dhabi from March 14-21.

The 27-year-old from Val-Thrse, who lives with cerebral palsy, said she's honoured to be chosen to represent her country.

"I was thrilled, I was excited, and to know I was the first Sudbury special olympian to go to Worlds [for powerlifting], it's surreal to know that I'm going," explained Sguin.

Sguin qualified for the team after lifting her way to three gold medals at the national games in Antigonish, Nova Scotia this past July.

But she had to wait until last week when the team was officially named to find out whether she'd been chosen to represent her country.

Sguin says it made for an anxious few months. But she kept herself busy by working out in the gym and working to improve on her results in Antigonish, where she deadlifted 295 pounds and bench pressed 137 pounds.

Now that she's received the good news, she's looking forward to wearing the maple leaf.

"Hopefully I'll bring back some medals from the World Games, but we'll see what happens. Nothing's promised," said Sguin.

Though Special Olympics will cover the cost for much of the journey, Sguin says she still needs to raise around three-thousand dollars for training and travel expenses.

She'll have a first chance to meet her new teammates during a four-day training camp with Team Canada in Caledon from Oct. 11-14.