WATCH: Biggar's DeJong is first Canadian Paralympian to earn medal in snowcross

Now living in Sherwood Park, Alberta, Biggar Saskatchewan's own Lisa DeJong grew up snowboarding on the hill at Stranraer and has taken that passion all the way to the Paralympics in Beijing, China last week. Competing in the SB-LL2 snow cross for athletes with amputations below the knee, Dejong took home the silver medal in the snow cross event to become the country's first Paralympic snowboarding medalist.

Going into the Big Final race with three other competitors from the U.S, Netherlands, and a particularly difficult opponent from France, DeJong wasn't expecting a medal finish let alone the silver. 

"The girls I was up against are super strong riders. I had never beat them before and four across so I was just really happy to have made it into that Big Final. For me, I was like 'whatever happens happens, this is amazing that I made it here, this is just going to be a play run for me' and then as I got down the course and noticed I was in second and I just couldn't believe it though I was just telling myself to stay up and get across the finish line."

And just stay up was the strategy she needed. Early in the race while she was already in second, DeJong was nearly taken out from behind by the Netherlands rider in third place on just the first turn of the final, and shortly after that the Netherlands and U.S. riders collided and took each other out of the race, leaving things between DeJong and the French rider.

While DeJong never took the lead, it was a fierce battle staying behind Cecile Hernandez in first.

"I don't even remember her being there. I rewatched the videos and I'm glad I didn't know she was right beside me like that or I don't think I would have been so aggressive taking that inside line, which kept me in second place."

That said, DeJong raced a great final. The French rider, Cecile Hernandez, got off to an early lead and never gave it up while DeJong finished just .88 seconds after first place and was gaining on her by the time the race was over. Because of the quality of rider that Hernandez was, DeJong knows the performance she put up was worth the medal she earned and maybe even more.

"It feels so amazing. Still no one ever really gotten close to her before in a race so to be gaining on her, it almost felt like I won the gold and that itself was such an accomplishment too."

Besides the race itself, the special moments started immediately after. She had one of her teammates break a few rules by rushing out into the finishing area with a Canadian flag in her hands to drape around DeJong's shoulders the moment she crossed the line. There was also the medal ceremony where she was presented Canada's first Paralympic snowboarding medal ever, but none of that compares to the moment she arrived back home and got to show her kids their new shiny hardware.

"It was so amazing to get home. It was really hard being away from them that long and coming home with a silver medal was so exciting for them. My 6 year old Bailey, she has like a whole trophy case in her room where she has all my medals and trophies and thinks for her, so she was pretty excited to add that medal to her collection." 

Lisa DeJong receiving her silver medal.

As for her Paralympic experience, Olympians were constantly sharing photos and videos of poor accommodations and food, but that wasn't DeJong's experience. While the rules in place around the pandemic made her unable to go out for any site seeing in China, her experience was still positive from start to silver medal finish.

"I was a little bit worried because we got debriefed from our Olympic athlete friends on what it was going to be like and I was a little nervous to be heading there, but I think I kept my expectations low and everything exceeded them so I was pretty happy with that. Our accommodations were even better than the Olympic ones, usually you'd be sharing a room or at the very least, a condo, but we literally each had our own condo which was really awesome for all the time there to have that much personal space, the food I found really good, it was a lot of traditional Chinese food which I love. 

DeJong added, "All the staff were super friendly, all the Chinese volunteers that were there were mostly college students and I guess it was a pretty big honour for them to be able to volunteer at the games, they quarantined for three weeks to come into our bubble, and they have to quarantine for another three weeks coming out, so it's a pretty big sacrifice they were making and it was really cool to see how happy and excited they were to be there assisting us."

Making her first Paralympic appearance at 33 years old, the door is still wide open for DeJong to take on the challenge of the Paralympics when they come around next in Milano, Italy in 2026. Her and her family are yet to decide on whether or not she will be heading out to compete, but if she does, the chance to upgrade her legacy to the first Canadian Paralympic snowboarder to win gold is a likely outcome.

The videos below courtesy of CPC/CBC with written consent from Nadia Flaim.