The 2020 Tokyo Paralympics was nothing short of an "eye-opening" experience for local paracyclist Alex Hyndman.
The 30-year-old from Blenheim represented Canada at the Paralympics, competing in the men's H3 time trial and road race.
Hyndman finished in 16th place in the men’s H3 time trial. He completed the 24 km race in 51 minutes 35.43 seconds at the Fuji International Speedway in Oyama on August 31.
"I don't really have any excuses for my placements," he said. "I just didn't have a good race both days and it showed on the race."
Hyndman finished in 11th place in the men's H3 road race, completing the 79.2 km race in three hours and 50 seconds at the speedway on September 1. He said he gave it his best shot but the results were not what he was hoping for.
"It's always a highlight when I get to represent Canada and to be able to represent it at the Paralympics, that was the biggest takeaway no matter what the result was," he said. "That trumps all races I have done up until then."
Hyndman said because of COVID-19, he wasn't able to see much of Tokyo outside of the hotel and race venue.
"The people that I did meet from Japan were unbelievable," he said.
Hyndman made his international breakthrough at the 2018 World Championships when he won the bronze medal in the time trial. He started Paracycling after he was injured in a car crash in 2010 where he broke his back when the car rolled over on him.
Now that the Paralympics are over, Hyndman won’t get much of a break. He said he has a lot of training ahead of him in order to get ready for next year's races.
