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Stefan Daniel welcomed home after Rio Paralympic silver medal

Rio paratriathlon silver medalist Stefan Daniel has had a busy few weeks post-Paralympics. The 19-year-old first received a warm welcome home in his native Calgary at a ceremony hosted by CIBC for returning Paralympians. Later in the week he was honoured at a ceremony in Vancouver hosted by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, recognizing the achievements of Olympic and Paralympic medalists as outstanding community ambassadors.

At the CIBC event, Derek Farrow from the Canadian Paralympic Committee, spoke in recognition of the athletes’ achievements.

“Their achievements are on par, if not better than Olympians, you know — the adversity that they overcome,” he said. “It really is important for everyone to get behind them and recognize their achievements just as much as an Olympian. One day it would be nice if an Olympic medal and a Paralympic medal were, sort of, recognized the same.”

On Friday, Daniel and a handful of other Olympic and Paralympic medalists met with Justin Trudeau and the Duke of Cambridge in Telhus Park in Vancouver. The group wore their Canadian kits and posed for a photo with the two leaders, also getting the chance to talk sports with them afterward.