Concordian Anton Jacobs-Webb made his Paralympic Games debut last month at the 2022 Beijing Paralympics, earning a silver medal with Team Canada. The mechanical engineering and Co-op student wore the #26 jersey as a forward on the men’s para ice hockey team.
Recently, Jacobs-Webb shared his thoughts on training, his goals and what it’s like to study at the Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science.
‘The school and the profs have been so flexible and supportive’
How did it all start for you?
Anton Jacobs-Webb: When I was 11, I met Hervé Lord, a player from the national team at the time, and he gave me a bunch of autographed team pictures. He also gave me some hockey cards and invited me out to the local para hockey club in Ottawa. Ever since, my dream has been to play in the Paralympic Games.
I really enjoy playing — being on the ice, just handling the puck, making a pass. I love the physicality, the speed and the team aspect.
How did you go from being a curious 11-year-old to a young Paralympian?
AJW: I made the national team in September 2018. I was at CEGEP in Gatineau, Quebec, studying natural sciences at the time. I was on the team when I got into Concordia. I take summer classes to try to make up for the time I’m away.
COVID-19 really affected our training. We got shut down in March 2020 until January 2021. That’s when we held our first training camp. The full team couldn’t make it because some players had kids and immunocompromised family members. Our first game as a team since the pandemic was last summer in the Czech Republic.
It was 15 months between our last game and when I played my first World Para Ice Hockey Championship in 2021. At the final game against the United States, everybody was excited just to play again, to be together as a team and have that competition. We got the silver.
That’s amazing! What were your goals going into the 2022 Beijing Paralympic Games?
AJW: The team’s goal was to win a gold medal. We were the underdogs going in because the U.S. had won three consecutive Paralympic gold medals since we did in Turin in 2006. We were neck-and-neck with the Americans going into the tournament.
When we played against them at the World Championships, we beat them in the preliminary round and they got back at us in the final.
My personal goal for the Paralympics was to enjoy it as much as I could. I wanted to feel like I played a big part in winning a medal. I don’t want to be somebody sitting on the bench watching.
(Learn more about Jacobs-Webb’s experience in Beijing during an April 26 in-person event at Concordia or online via the live stream.)