Saint-Clet resident Rosalie Lalonde's experience at the Paralympic Games came to an end on Sunday, September 8, with a heartbreaking defeat that left the Canadian team at the foot of the podium, in 4th place. The team lost to China in the bronze medal race. 

The first Paralympic medal for Canada's wheelchair basketball players since 2004 will have to wait. From the very first quarter of the final, the Chinese led by 10 points and soon extended their lead. 

The Canadians didn't have it easy, committing 11 turnovers in the first half. Their opponents, on the other hand, committed only two: a ball theft by Rosalie Lalonde and an interception by Cindy Ouellet. 

The Chinese led 35-17 at the half. In the third quarter, they outscored the Canadians by 28 points. Only the final quarter was dominated by the Chinese, who committed just one turnover compared with six for their rivals. By the end of the game, Canada had committed 17 turnovers.

”We were excited to play the Chinese and we were confident, but they came out so strong that it shook us up a bit,” Rosalie Lalonde told Sportcom in the mixed zone. ”It was very disappointing. Honestly, our performance doesn't reflect at all the tournament we had. This is sport, and at the end of the day, there's someone who wins and someone who loses.”

It should be remembered that the past year has not been an easy one for Rosalie Lalonde and her teammates, who have had to deal with three coaching changes and the death of one of their teammates. 

“It just goes to show how resilient we are. A lot of things happened, but I'm very proud of our whole team, the way we supported each other all year and how we played this tournament,” said Lalonde.