| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | May 11, 1990 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home town | Côte Saint-Luc, Quebec, Canada | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | alisonlevine | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Boccia | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disability class | BC4 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Alison Levine (born May 11, 1990) is a Canadian boccia competitor.
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | May 11, 1990 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home town | Côte Saint-Luc, Quebec, Canada | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | alisonlevine | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Boccia | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disability class | BC4 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Alison Levine (born May 11, 1990) is a Canadian boccia competitor.
Levine grew up in Côte Saint-Luc, Quebec. She attended JPPS Elementary School and Bialik High School. [1] [2] She was diagnosed with idiopathic muscular dystrophy as a teenager. [3] She graduated from Vanier College's Special Care Counselling program in 2013. [4]
Levine threw boccia for the first time in December 2012. [1] Her first medal was won in pairs with Marco Dispaltro at the 2013 national championship in Montreal. [5] In 2014, she won a bronze medal in pairs at the Masters in Portugal. She won an individual silver medal at the European World Open in Poland in 2015, [1] where she also won silver in the pairs competition. That same year, she won pairs silver at the Parapan American Games in Toronto. [5] Going into her Paralympic debut in 2016, Levine was ranked 15th in the world in individual mixed BC4 boccia. [6] She placed fifth at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in individuals BC4 boccia and sixth in pairs BC4, [5] with Dispaltro and Iulian Ciobanu.
She won her first gold medal at a Boccia World Open event at the Montreal World Open in 2019. [7] In 2019, she was ranked number one in the world by the Boccia International Sports Federation in the BC4 division, the first woman to be ranked first in the world in her disability class in the then mixed-sex sport. [8] [9] She entered the 2020 Summer Paralympics as the top ranked player in the world in the BC4 class, as well as being the top ranked female in the world. [10] Levine competed in the boccia mixed BC4 individual event at the 2020 Summer Paralympics. She did not qualify for the quarter-finals after the group play stage. [11] Levine and Ciobanu did not advance to the semi-finals in pairs BC4 at the Paralympics.
In 2022, Levine won gold she won at the São Paulo Americas Regional Championships, silver at the Rio de Janeiro World Cup, and Povoa de Varzim World Cup. [12] She placed fourth in singles BC4 [13] and won bronze with Ciobanu in BC4 pairs at the Rio de Janeiro 2022 World Boccia Championships. [14] At the 2023 Parapan American Games, Levine won gold medals in BC4 pairs with Ciobanu and BC4 singles. She was chosen as Canada's flag bearer for the Games' closing ceremony. [15] [16]
Levine will compete in pairs boccia at the 2024 Summer Paralympics. [17] She is the namesake of the Alison pant, a type of pants designed by Lululemon Athletica for use by the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic teams in 2024. [18] At the Paralympics made it to the women’s individual BC4 quarterfinals, but was eliminated after losing to Leidy Chica, the world number one ranked women’s BC4 boccia athlete. [19] [20] In mixed pairs BC4, Ciobanu and Levine placed fourth, losing to Thailand. [21]
Boccia is a precision ball sport, similar to bocce, and related to bowls and pétanque. The name "boccia" is derived from the Latin word for "boss" – bottia. The sport is contested at local, national and international levels, by athletes with severe physical disabilities. It was originally designed to be played by people with cerebral palsy but now includes athletes with other severe disabilities affecting motor skills. In 1984, it became a Paralympic sport and as of 2020, 75 boccia national organizations have joined one or more of the international organizations. Boccia is governed by the Boccia International Sports Federation (BISFed) and is one of two Paralympic sports that have no counterpart in the Olympic program, although it is a Paralympic variant of bocce (boules).
Boccia at the 2008 Summer Paralympics consisted of seven events. The competitions were held in the Beijing National Convention Center from September 7 to September 12.
Boccia has been contested at the Summer Paralympics since the 1984 Games in New York City and Stoke Mandeville.
Stephen McGuire is a Scottish Boccia player from Bellshill, Scotland.
Canada competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016.
Brazil competed in the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, as host country, from 7 September to 18 September 2016.
Thailand competed at the 2020 Summer Paralympics from 24 August to 5 September 2021. This was the country's tenth appearance at the Paralympic Games.
Canada competed at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan, from 24 August to 5 September 2021.
Colombia competed at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan, from 24 August to 5 September 2021.
Morgan Bird is a Canadian Paralympic swimmer who competes in international level events, she specialises in freestyle. She won a bronze medal, at the 2020 Summer Paralympics, in Women's 34pts 4x100m relay. She is a double Parapan American Games champion and double World silver medalist.
Marco Dispaltro is a Canadian boccia player who competes at international elite competitions. He is a Paralympic bronze medalist in the pairs with Josh Vander Vies and a Parapan American Games champion in the individual events.
Michaela Balcová is a Slovak Paralympic boccia player who competes in the BC4 category. In the 2016 Summer Paralympics she won the gold medal in mixed pairs with Robert Durkovic and Samuel Andrejčík. Balcová and Andrejčík also won the gold medal at the 2020 Summer Paralympics alongside Martin Streharsky.
Pornchok Larpyen is a Thai boccia player who represented Thailand at the 2016 and 2020 Summer Paralympics.
Josh Vander Vies is a Canadian lawyer and former Paralympic athlete. He won a bronze medal for doubles boccia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London before retiring.
Samuel Andrejčík is a Slovak Paralympic boccia player who competes in the BC4 category. In the 2016 Summer Paralympics he won the gold medal in pairs with Róbert Ďurkovič and Michaela Balcová and silver medal in individual BC4. He lives in Snina.
The mixed pairs BC4 boccia event at the 2020 Summer Paralympics was contested between 2 and 4 September 2021 at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre. Since this event is a mixed event, both genders, male and female, competed in the event.
Sheriauna Elaine Haase is a Canadian para-athletics athlete, actor, and dancer. She won two bronze medals at the 2023 Parapan American Games. She played Adele in the ninth season of The Next Step.
Charlotte Bolton is a Canadian para-athletics athlete who competes in F41 throwing events. She has won a total of 29 medals at the World Dwarf Games and won bronze in discus at the 2023 Parapan American Games.
Lance Cryderman is a Canadian boccia player.
Noor Askuzaimey Mat Salim is a Malaysian boccia player. She represented Malaysia at the 2024 Summer Paralympics, where she competed in the women's individual and mixed pairs BC4 events.