MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — Upon touching down on home soil, Paralympic silver medallist Jesse Zesseu called his first Games a surreal moment.
Several Canadian Paralympians returned home at Toronto Pearson International Airport on Monday, with smiles on their faces and some with family awaiting them at arrivals. Zesseu, a 25-year-old from Toronto, won silver in the men's F37 discus throw in his debut Games.
"It was pretty surreal. Sorry, my voice is gone from last night," he said. "Getting there and experiencing the entire thing, … this was like on a whole other level. The crowds were insane, we would have like 60- to 70,000 people for track and I've never experienced that in my whole life.
"It was a surreal experience, to really live out your dreams is a crazy thing to do."
However, it was nice for Zesseu to finally be home.
"Really good," he said of being home. "Although I loved the village, I don't want to spend two weeks there. Got kind of old near the end there. Eating the same thing every day there, even the options didn't really change at all.
"Excited to come home, eat my mom's food, see my parents, see my friends, see my teammates. Go back to Guelph and see them and go back to Toronto to see my parents."
Canadian wheelchair basketball player Tyler Miller shared a similar sentiment to Zesseu.
"Paris did a great job of hosting, right? They went all out, they pulled out all the stops, top to bottom," he said. "The food was top-notch, the accommodations in the village were really good and they had loads of volunteers to take care of everything.
"But home is still home, there's nowhere like Canada and to be home is a really gratifying feeling."
Canada picked up 29 medals at the Paralympics, matching its total from the Rio 2016 Games and eight more than the Tokyo Paralympics three years ago.
Canada's 10 gold medals were the most since its 19 in Beijing in 2008.
It also served as a step forward for teams like the men's wheelchair basketball squad. Miller, who helped Canada win gold at the 2012 London Games, got to see the team's return to a medal game for the first time since then. Canada lost 75-62 to Germany in the bronze-medal game.
"The next step is to continue to build on this. We had fourth this time," the 40-year-old from Kitchener, Ont., said. "We're actually hosting worlds in 2026 in Ottawa, so it's about trying to continue that momentum and build on that from here."
Zachary Gingras, from Markham, Ont., competed in his second Paralympics in Paris after earning bronze in the men's T38 400 metres at Tokyo in 2021. Although he finished fifth in Paris, the 23-year-old said the support made it unforgettable.
"The key one, obviously my parents are behind filming this entire thing, but was just having my friends, family all out in the stands and just having the stands full of people and supporters," said Gingras.
"It was a pretty surreal experience walking into that stadium for my race, a moment I'll never forget."
Gingras added that para sport has come a long way over the last several years in the support it's received.
"You compare these Games to Rio, and it's like a whole different ball game. We had ten-fold the amount of spectators," he said.
"It's amazing," Zesseu added. "I think most Paralympic athletes are not used to the media fanfare or anything like that. The two weeks leading up to going to Paris, I was just alone most of the time. You would train, go home alone, in my student room in Guelph.
"The switch up from that to this is quite jarring but like, you have to expect it and it's really cool."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
Abdulhamid Ibrahim, The Canadian Press