Michael Sametz

Sametz was born on May 21, 1996, in Calgary, Alberta,[1] to mother Ronda.[2] After suffering a stroke in the womb, he was born with right hemiplegic cerebral palsy.[3] While attending Springbank Community High School, Sametz participated in Alberta Schools' Athletic Association sponsored cross country, golf, and badminton.[4] He began cycling at age 12 when he was looking to try a new sport and turned to competitive road and track cycling in 2014.[5] After graduating from high school, Sametz attended the University of Calgary as a business student with the intention of majoring in accounting.[1]

Sametz competing in the Longhi Challenge, para cycling time trial

A year after turning to competitive road and track cycling, Sametz won two gold medals at the Global Relay Canadian 2015 Road Cycling national championships.[6] He subsequently qualified for the 2015 Parapan American Games where he won a silver medal in the men's individual pursuit Cl-3 final.[7] In 2016, at the age of 20, Sametz was named to Team Canada's 2016 Summer Paralympics team.[8] In his Paralympic Games debut as the youngest member of the Canadian para-cycling team, Sametz won a bronze medal in the Road time trial C3.[9] He was subsequently honoured by Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi upon his return.[10]

Following his Paralympic debut, Sametz won a gold medal at the 2017 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships by beating silver medalist Sergey Ustinov in the C3 Track time trial.[11] He returned to the championships the following year and obtained a world championship title in the time trial.[12] Prior to the trial, Sametz chose to use a bigger gear on his bike to gain speed on the descents.[13]

In 2020, Sametz was named to Canada's Paralympic Team prior to the delayed 2020 Summer Paralympics.[14]

• Michael Sametz at the Canadian Paralympic Committee
• Michael Sametz at the International Paralympic Committee