Team Nova Scotia Athlete Profile – Valley
In the span of a year Chloe Dunbar has gone from committing fully to track and field, to being selected to represent Nova Scotia at the Canada Games this summer. The 16-year-old from Newport will be competing in the Para 100m and Para 200m events as a member of Team Nova Scotia Athletics.
To achieve such an accomplishment in a short time frame, Chloe has shown tremendous dedication.
“On the track, it’s taken a lot of hard work and a lot of training with my coach Phil to work on my form endurance. But off the track, it’s taken a lot of sleep and prioritizing nutrition and recovery to stay at this level of sport,” she says.
As the games fast approach, Chloe says she is excited to meet all the other Nova Scotian athletes. She is also eager to take part in the Canada Games traditions once she lands in Saint John’s Newfoundland and Labrador.
“I’m looking forward to the pin trading and closing ceremonies, but I’m really looking forward to representing my province as a Para athlete and showing other Canadians our athletic abilities.”
Phillip Hadley, who is Chloe’s coach and also the 2025 Canada Games Nova Scotia Track and Field Head Coach, says Chloe is an athlete with tremendous work ethic.
“When describing Chloe, mature and responsible are the first two words that come to mind,” says Hadley. “You want an athlete who really takes to heart what you’re telling them and then tries to execute it, and Chloe does that wonderfully.”
Before committing fully to track, for many years Chloe was a competitive cheerleader, winning back-to-back International Cheer Union World Cheerleading Championships with Team Canada Adaptive Abilities.
But she has always loved to run, and competing with her high school track team showed her a whole new world of possibilities.
“It was a very smooth transition. I started gradually training track and cheerleading and then I had a lot of opportunities in track, so I decided to switch full time,” says Chloe. “I found out Para Athletics was a thing and then I went to Nationals. After that I got really interested.”
Chloe is a T47 athlete, which is a category for athletes affected by limb deficiency, impaired muscle power or impaired range of movement below the elbow.
This summer, she competed in her first international race at the World Para Athletics Paris Grand Prix, taking home gold in the T47 100m and silver in the T47 200m.
“It was an amazing experience. I learned so many things about just travelling and competing and I was able to win a race, which was amazing, and get a personal best. So I really achieved my goals going over there,” says Chloe.
She also hopes to attend the World Championships this year and in the future hopes to represent Canada at the Paralympics, all while advocating for Para Athletics and normalizing Para athletes in sport.
