Last month, Sudbury.com featured Lively para nordic skier Logan Larivière as the 19-year-old pursues his Paralympic dreams.
He received some help in that regard this month when the recipients of the 2025 Petro-Canada Fuelling Athlete and Coaching Excellence (FACE) Program grants were announced.
The program distributes $10,000 grants to 55 coach and athlete pairings to support training efforts.
“Since 1988, Petro-Canada’s FACE Program has provided over $14 million in support of over 3,500 athletes and coaches when they need it most; when they are striving to represent Canada at the Olympic Games, but don’t yet qualify for government funding,” Petro-Canada said in a news release.
The amount of the grant is split between the athlete and their coach, and the funds are “often used for training, equipment, coach education, and travel expenses for competitions,” the news release states.
As related by sportswriter Randy Pascal, Larivière is a blind para nordic skier born and raised in Lively. He became a player on the national scene as he left for Prince Edward Island in March of 2023, representing Ontario at the Canada Winter Games.
Larivière was first introduced to the para nordic skiing at age four and worked with revered local para nordic coach Patti Kitlar.
At the Continental Cup last November in Canmore, Larivière’s performance earned him a spot on a very first World Cup race team that travelled to Vuokatti (Finland), where he accumulated sufficient points to make his way to Italy in February (2025).
With the added boost to his confidence, the graduate of Lively District Secondary School kept his foot on the gas this past summer, rewarded with very strong results in South America. “My times are faster and I am stronger,” said Larivière.
These days, the excitement is mounting as he prepares for another trek to Canmore and the Continental Cup racing this month. That serves as the qualifier for a World Cup event at the same venue a month later, which in turn serves as the Paralympic qualifier.
-with files from Randy Pascal