Gavin Baggs continued his unbelievable run at the 2025 Canada Games, adding two more medals to the province’s medal total.
On Friday, he raced in the Wheelchair Men’s 100m final, where he placed second behind New Brunswick’s Dante Cormier, earning a silver medal.
Then on Saturday afternoon, he once again placed a very close second to New Brunswick’s Dante Cormier, earning another silver medal.
After the race, talking about his Canada Games experience, Baggs said, “It was a great experience, I did what I wanted to achieve and more. I’m definitely really happy with it overall.”
Baggs won the province’s only gold medal in the Wheelchair Men’s 1500m, and also earned a silver in the swimming pool, when he placed second in the Para Men’s 200/400m Freestyle.
On top of being a Canada Games medalist in both swimming and athletics, Baggs has also competed in Wheelchair Basketball at the Canada Games, doing so in 2019 and 2023. If that wasn’t enough, Baggs is also on the Canadian Men’s National Team for Para Hockey, which is now where his focus will shift to.
“The goal now is to get to the 2026 Paralympics in Milan, that’s always been a dream of mine to represent my country… so that’s the next thing on my mind.”
You may be curious how Baggs is able to play a variety of different sports at such a high level. Baggs says a lot of the Para Sports he participated in “mesh together” as they require “a lot of upper body strength.”
When asked if playing one sport helps him be better at another sport, Baggs said, “You wouldn’t think it would, but it actually does in terms of Para Sport; the majority of stuff that happens is upper body.”
“My wheelchair basketball experience taught me how to push a wheelchair and got me into wheelchair racing. My experience in swimming has made me very fit and has given me a ton of endurance, which helps me in wheelchair racing as well. It all kinda meshes together, and it’s all really worth it.”
Newfoundland and Labrador will conclude the Canada Games with six total medals, four of those medals coming from Gavin Baggs. One gold, four silvers and one bronze. Thomas Pelley won the other two medals for the province, winning silver in the Special Olympics Men’s 100m Freestyle and Bronze in the Special Olympics Men’s 50m Freestyle.
Gavin Baggs certainly made quite a name for himself the last two weeks, and at only 18 years old, the sky is the limit for him.
