The Olympian: Chris Stoutenburg

From the moment Chris Stoutenburg, his wheelchair and a basketball first came together in 1997, he has been a force on the basketball court. The Collingwood resident is a two-time Paralympic gold medallist, a one-time silver medallist, a world champion and an accolade-winning MVP. He’s a lauded veteran of the sport in Canada and a role model for young wheelchair basketball players all over the country. In the world of Paralympic sport, Chris has put Collingwood on the map like no one else.

On The Bay caught up with Chris just weeks after his triumphant return from the 2008 Paralympic Summer Games in Beijing. The Canadian men’s basketball team came home with its third Paralympic medal, a hard-fought silver won in a final-round battle against Australia. It was no less sweet than their previous golds, though, says Chris, since they beat the mighty United States in the semi-final round.

Wheelchair basketball is the highlight of the Paralympic Games – the event that everyone wants to watch. It runs by almost all the same rules as stand-up basketball and is just as, if not more, exciting. The skill involved is riveting to watch and rivalry between teams fierce. All through the 12-team playoff pool leading up to the gold medal round, Chris recalls the sold-out stands were packed with fans.

“Having 18,000 people yelling for you during a game is a pretty cool experience.”

And the accolades didn’t end with the final whistle. “I’d like to thank my family and friends for all their support and the community as well,” he says. “I get emails from people all the time that I don’t even know – there were over 200 messages in my inbox when I came home from Beijing – just letting me know that they are behind me. They always start with something like ‘You don’t know me but I just wanted you to know…’ The support I’ve gotten over the years has been incredible.”

While his third Paralympic Games was a much different experience than his first (he was just a rookie for the 2000 Summer Paralympic Games in Sydney), the workload required to play at that level never diminishes. Leading up to the Games, Chris was up and training from 7 to 9 every morning, working for the Town of Collingwood as an events facilitator from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. and then back on the court training from 7 until 9 p.m. It’s a grueling schedule, Chris admits, and one he has followed for over 10 years. He injured his spinal cord in a “freak accident” in 1997, falling when a deck railing gave out from under him one June evening. He fast-tracked his recovery and attended the University of Guelph as planned that fall. It was there he discovered wheelchair basketball through a friend. He went on to join the the University of Illinois’ wheelchair basketball program (the Fighting Illini) soon after, and he’s been racking up the medals ever since.

Off the basketball court, Chris applies his intense work ethic for the betterment of the community. He is in the midst of helping to plan Collingwood’s bid for the 2010 Ontario Paralympic Winter Games and was honorary chair of the 2008 Ontario Paralympic Winter Championships. As for what comes next, he’s not sure. Right now, so soon after coming home from the Games, retirement from elite sport seems temping. But you never know. This winter, he’s going to give skiing a shot and maybe get into tennis, while continuing his occasional speaking commitments at local schools. He’s not afraid of being bored – he knows his competitive spirit will kick in no matter what he does.

Regardless of his status on the court, Chris is, and will remain, an inspiration to all of our community’s athletes – and of course, the rest of us too.