Cody Caldwell and Team Canada Earns First Wheelchair Rugby Win at Tokyo Paralympics

Peterborough’s Cody Caldwell and Team Canada defeated New Zealand in wheelchair rugby at the Tokyo 2021 Paralympics, 51-36 to improve to a 1-2 record on Friday.

Cody Caldwell (pictured) has scored nine tries in the wheelchair rugby round-robin. File Photo.

The win has earned them a fifth-place match against France this Saturday.

Canada outscored New Zealand after all four quarters and never lost the lead.

Caldwell was a starter and logged 8:23 minutes of game time. He scored four tries to help bring Canada to their first tournament win.

Zak Madell led Canada with 12 tries through only 12:37 minutes of gameplay; Barney Koneferenisi led New Zealand with 18 tries.

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Canada was eliminated from playoff contention after two consecutive losses to Great Britain and the United States. Both losses were competitive matches as Canada only lost by a combined score of seven points.

Team Canada Wheelchair Rugby will wrap up its Paralympic journey competing against France for fifth place on Saturday at 7:00 a.m. EST.

To live stream Saturday’s game click here.

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A Day In A Wheelchair In Downtown Peterborough

Peterborough DBIA Executive Director Terry Guiel calls it a "big, eye-opening experience" to see things at this level in the downtown core.

Dave Tuck, Terry Guiel and Andrea Dodsworth

Guiel was referring to his experience spending a day in a electric wheelchair—along with Peterborough Huskies General Manager Dave Tuck—in downtown Peterborough with local accessibility advocate Andrea Dodsworth, who lead the guys on the tour to show them what it's like to navigate stores and sidewalks.

Guiels spoke to 12 different business owners during the day about what they can do to make themselves more accessible, and met with Mayor Bennett to talk about the challenges and offer suggestions as to how to make the downtown more accessible. They also visited the Accessibility office at City Hall to discuss how they can work closer together on future accessibility projects.

After his experience, Guiel says it's important to be more pro-active when it comes to accessibility in the city. "It's the right thing to do to make yourself as accessible as possible," he says. "Our business community really wants to be accessible."

Guiels and Dodsworth realize there are a lot of costs associated with making older buildings and their architecture more accessible, but say there are smaller things that can be done right away—whether it's a ramp, the way that a door opens, the weight of a door. 

Guiel and Dodsworth with Mayor Bennett

"Small changes turn into big ones," says Dodsworth. 

Watch the highly educational video below to see the day through Terry's eyes...

DBIA Executive Director Terry Guiel spends a day in a wheel chair to experience downtown Peterborough from an accessibility standpoint. Local accessibility advocate Andrea Dodsworth lead the downtown tour with Peterborough Huskies General Manager Dave Tuck.

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