Para Athlete Profile: Katie Pegg
Missing a bone in her arm, Katie Pegg is a shot put champion, possible Paris Paralympian.
Glenn MacDonald · Multimedia Journalist | Posted: 19 hours ago | Updated: 19 hours ago | 9 Min Read
Katie Pegg, who was born without a radial bone in her right forearm, throws shot put for Saint Mary's at the Atlantic university track and field championships in Moncton in February. Pegg returned to the sport this year for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. - SMU ATHLETICS
Katie Pegg smiles at the face of adversity.
Born without a radial bone in her right forearm, Pegg played eight years of football in her hometown of Scarborough, Ont., the lone girl among over 300 players in the minor program.
She also threw shot put for six years until the ninth grade when the COVID-19 pandemic forced her to put the shot away.
People are always going to look at me and think I couldn’t do things. But my parents always showed me that no matter what anyone says, I can do it if I put my mind to it.
“Growing up with a disability, missing my right radius and having the smaller arm, I always had to fight through things,” the affable 19-year-old said in a recent interview. “People are always going to look at me and think I couldn’t do things. But my parents always showed me that no matter what anyone says, I can do it if I put my mind to it.”
She took those words to heart last fall. At the beginning of her sophomore year at Saint Mary’s University, Pegg got back into throwing shot put and joined the Huskies’ track and field team.
Like her shots, Pegg soared this season, excelling in the Atlantic university conference, competing at the U Sports nationals and reaching its apogee in Dubai, winning gold at an international competition.
Katie Pegg, 19, of Saint Mary's finished fourth at the AUS championship in Moncton and earned a spot at last month's U Sports national championships in Winnipeg. - SMU ATHLETICS
She’s now on a fast track to compete for Canada at this summer’s Paralympic Games in Paris.
“This entire year has been an amazing experience,” Pegg said. “It went from me just wanting to throw for SMU to now potentially competing at the Paris Paralympics representing Canada. It has all happened so fast. I never imagined this.”
In her first AUS competition in December, Pegg was victorious in the women’s shot put at the Moncton Last Chance Meet. The next month, she was runner-up at the Moncton Open. In February, she finished third at the UNB Invitational and fourth at the AUS championship where she set a new personal best and qualified for nationals.
“It was a lot of hard work, a lot of hours put in to get to where I was and I have an amazing coach in Jodi Langley,” Pegg said of the former four-time AUS medalist in shot put at Acadia who was named the AUS track and field volunteer coach of the year this season.
“Jodi has helped me all through my entire journey. Knowing I have a supportive coach by my side has been encouraging in helping me to achieve the things that I want to achieve.”
Katie Pegg competed as a Para athlete for the first time in February at the Fazza International Championships in Dubai. She won gold in the women’s F46 shotput throwing a personal-best 11.15 metres. - CONTRIBUTED
She went up against able-bodied athletes at those meets but at last month’s U Sports championship in Winnipeg, Pegg was one of four to compete as Para athletes, three of which were shot putters.
“To have that representation of Para athletes at such a big university event like nationals was special,” Pegg said. “It helps bring awareness in Para athletes and hopefully it encourages other Para athletes to know that there’s more out there, especially at the university level where you don’t see it often.”
It was the second time she competed as a Para athlete. The first came a month earlier when she represented her country at the Fazza International Championships in the United Arab Emirates in February.
She threw a personal-best 11.15 metres in Dubai and won gold in the women’s F46 shotput. (F46 is a class for field athletes who have a single amputation below or above the elbow.)
“All my life, I have competed with able-bodied athletes,” Pegg said. “But being in that environment, surrounded by other Para athletes was the best thing ever.
“I saw people and I thought to myself, ‘they understand.’ They knew what it was like to be looked down at because of their impairment. Just to see all of those Para athletes compete at such a high level was truly inspiring. It was overwhelming.”
Katie Pegg speaks to her coach Jodi Langley during a break at the AUS track and field championships in Moncton. - SMU ATHLETICS
It also earned her a trip to Japan next month for the 2024 Para Athletics World Championships, which will be held May 17-25 in Kobe.
“To get another opportunity to represent Canada as a Para athlete is something I never expected to happen,” said Pegg, who will again compete in the women’s F46 shotput. “I’m really grateful for it.”
Berths into this summer’s Paralympics are available in Japan. A top-two finish would secure a spot in Paris.
If that doesn’t happen for Pegg, she would have a chance to qualify at the Olympic and Paralympic Trials, June 27-30 in Montreal.
“I’ve been thinking about it a lot,” Pegg said of the Paralympics. “Just looking at the Athletics Canada rankings and talking to our head coach, the possibilities are high, that it’s very likely that I would qualify for the Paris team.
“That’s certainly something I did not expect when, before this year, I hadn’t picked up a shot since junior high.”
Pegg said “it just felt natural” when she stepped into the throwing circle for the first time in five years.
Katie Pegg (back row, second from right) represented Canada at the Fazza International Championships in Dubai. - CONTRIBUTED
“It was calming,” she recalled. “Shot put was one of the first sports I fell in love with. This is where I’m supposed to be. This was my time to get back into the sport. I wanted to take that risk and do it again. It was worth it.”
It wasn’t shot put which brought Pegg to the east coast to attend Saint Mary’s. It was the forensic sciences program and to work with the Huskies football team.
Pegg played on the defensive line, first as a tackle and then as a defensive end, with the Scarborough Thunder program.
At Scarborough she got acquainted with James Colzie III, who was the Huskies’ head coach at the time.
“He called me up one day and said I could try out for the men’s team," Pegg said. “He felt I could help motivate the team a little more and show them what it is to overcome adversity.”
But after Colzie resigned as SMU head coach in April 2022, Pegg said his replacement – current bench boss Steve Sumarah – thought it wasn’t wise to try out against the behemoths on the SMU line.
Instead, Sumarah offered Pegg a position as video coordinator.
Katie Pegg, who's in her second year at Saint Mary's University, will compete at 2024 Para Athletics World Championships, May 17-25 in Kobe, Japan. - SMU ATHLETICS
“I took the video position because I wanted to show him that I could do it and still be involved in football,” she said. “I wanted to show him my knowledge of the game because I had been playing for eight years. It was tough watching all of the guys out there playing and living my dream. But I had to prove myself in a different way, even though it’s not on the field.”
That hasn’t dampened her dream of coaching football one day.
But for now, all of her concentration is on shot put. She trains every day, whether it’s lifting weights (five days a week) or practising in the throwing circle (at least four days during the week).
“For the next few years, it’s a hold on football to pursue this, putting in the extra work,” Pegg said.
