Patrick Anderson is heading to his fifth Paralympics this month, but after the Games were delayed by a year, the veteran is more eager than ever to get on the court with his teammates.
The Fergus, Ont. native took a break from wheelchair basketball following the London 2012 Paralympics before returning to the sport in time to help Canada win a silver medal at the 2017 Americas Cup.
“I’m more eager than ever to get to the Games,” said Anderson. “It’s been such a long road. I’m eager to get there. I’m also excited to see what this team can do. We’re in a really good place, so I’m eager to get on the court, stop talking about it, and start doing it.”
Though he didn’t participate in the Rio Games, being around old friends and teammates motivated him to return to the sport four years ago.
“Just being around the team leading up to Rio. I was around Bo Hedges, David Eng, and some of my best friends from old times,” he said. “But also, being around guys like Nik Goncin and Vincent Dallaire—just a good group of guys from a talent and personality point of view—I wanted to be around, play with and make a run with them.”
Anderson is no stranger to representing Canada on the international stage, having worn his country’s colours at the London, Beijing, Athens and Sydney Paralympics as well as five Parapan American Games and four World Championships.
However, despite his wealth of international experience, the 41-year-old admits he still gets nervous in the leadup to the Paralympics.
“In some ways, this is the point where I start to get a little bit anxious,” said Anderson. “You do the math; I’m like, ‘Oh man, it’s been four years’, and in this case, five years. It’s coming down to this moment. There is a bit of a temptation to feel a little bit overwhelmed. It’s a mix of excitement, a little bit of nerves start to emerge in a way that they haven’t over a summer of just practicing.
“With or without a crowd, as soon as you roll out there on that court, in a big stadium, it’s a different type of nerves, different type of pressure. I’m starting to get a little taste of that in my mouth, which is a good thing. It’s starting to feel real.”
Get to know #TeamCanada and #Tokyo2020 Paralympian @Andersonpatrick in our #AthleteSpotlight series presented by @toyotacanada ♿️🏀🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/au2aVphgJz
— Wheelchair Basketball Canada (@WCBballCanada) August 16, 2021
Having won gold medals in Sydney, Athens, and London and a silver in Beijing, Anderson acknowledged this year’s team headed to Tokyo has a challenge ahead.
“I feel good about this group, but it’s different,” he said. “We’re not going to blow smoke anywhere where we shouldn’t blow it. We are in the pack; we’re in the middle of the pack. You might say even we’re underdogs going into this, and I personally have never been in that position at the Games.
“We were always expected to medal, if not win. It’s different, but I’m trying to embrace it. I am embracing it for what it is, the challenge that that presents. It’s a different type of pressure, but also an opportunity and certain freedom in that—just go in and take some big swings but also be smart about it.”
According to Anderson, the challenge of being in the middle of the pack is a motivating factor as the team prepares for the Games.
“We’ve got to squeeze a little bit more out of ourselves, out of each other,” said Anderson. “It’s just a bit more of a challenge. We can’t dictate terms to some of these teams that we play against. We kind of have to counter punch, and that requires a lot of fluidity and communication. Identifying where we’re bleeding and try to patch holes and figure out what’s working in the moment amongst the players and amongst the coaches and then exploit those things. It’s totally a different approach.
“It’s motivating in that we have to prepare, I think, more thoroughly than we ever have in the past. We have prepared thoroughly in the past, but we can’t take a quarter off. We take a quarter off anywhere along the way here, or we could be in big trouble.”