Gilbert Dash feels incredible pride after winning gold for Canada at Paralympics

Gilbert Dash is coming home from Italy with some golden hardware.

The wheelchair curler out of Kipling, Sask., was the alternate on the Team Canada team that claimed the top spot on the podium at the Paralympics, going undefeated the entire way.

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“I feel proud to represent Canada and small-town Saskatchewan, in particular Kipling. That pride and feeling is incredible,” Dash told The Evan Bray Show on Tuesday.

The mixed curling rink featured skip, Mark Ideson; third, Jon Thurston; second, Ina Forrest; and lead Colinda Joseph.

Dash has represented Canada on the world stage before, winning silver medals at the 2023 and 2024 world championships and a bronze medal at the 2025 edition.
The Canadian team found itself in a battle in the gold medal game against the number-one-ranked team from China.

With the Canadians unsure if they were shot rick or not with one stone left to throw, they elected to try to tap theirs closer to the button with just seconds left to go on the shot clock.

“Jon was in the house and he was like, ‘I don’t want to lose the gold medal over me not knowing for sure.’ He didn’t have time to go over the rock and look. There was about 25 seconds left. He was looking at it from an angle and the TV shot seemed like we were shot,” Dash told The Evan Bray Show.

“The crowd was loud but yet, they let us talk to try and decide what to do because we didn’t know for sure if we were shot. Mark wasn’t lined up there ready to shoot and I was like, ‘Holy cow.’ If you’re locked and loaded, you can get it off pretty quick. He got ready and at eight seconds, I yelled – I know I got bleeped out on TV – but I yelled and the crowd was yelling and he let that rock cross the hog line at 2.5 seconds and when that rock was halfway down the ice, we knew.”

It gave the Canadians a narrow 4-3 win over China, completing a perfect Paralympics run.

“It feels phenomenal,” Dash said. “It’s remarkable to be undefeated in the competition and to beat China twice this week, they live and breath curling. They live in dorms and practice every day and hours on the ice. To beat them in front of nearly 3,000 fans cheering for Canada, it was an incredible feeling. The venue and atmosphere all week long – the amount of people cheering for us was incredible.”

It was an extra special Paralympics for Dash, who made his debut at the event after a few years of representing Canada on the world stage.

“The makeup of this team is we know each other so well. Everyone is resilient and we knew we could come back and keep going through our process,” Dash explained.

He said there is no animosity on the team, with everyone getting along.

“It’s like a family and the coaching staff is excellent. We can deal with things and get through things. There’s so many different things going on on the ice and we were able to read the ice well,” Dash said. “They scout you and that sort of thing so that’s why we’re spread all over Canada – we have one in B.C., one in Saskatchewan and the rest are in Ontario.”

He said the team gathered about one week each month between August and March to prepare and got together to attend different bonspiels. This year, the team also went to Europe a few times in the lead up to the Paralympics.

“My role with the team was to be versatile to play all the positions and have been training that way the past few years,” Dash said.

He also made sure to take a moment before the final to take it all in.

“Before the game, the team was in the locker room, and I went out into the hallway by myself for a few minutes – it was about an hour before the game – and the fans had just got let in. In the hallway, I could hear them as soon as they got through the gates doing ‘Canada’ chants,” Dash recalled. “Even right now, I have goosebumps and hair up on my arm here because of that. It was so incredible the fans we had and all the other countries wishing for us to do good and telling us we deserve it.

“That’s so special,” he said.

But while he was happy for the support they received throughout the tournament, Dash was glad to be able to represent the country in such a way.

“After that shot being made and us winning, it was such a relief,” he said. “It was such an awesome feeling that we did something good in a small way for Canada and Saskatchewan.

“I’m thankful for all the people who helped me get there. It was a long, long road and just kept fighting to get there because we have so many good wheelchair curlers in Canada,” Dash said.