An Owen Sound athlete is getting closer to the Summer Olympics in Beijing.
Jason Crone is playing for Canada at a wheelchair rugby tournament in Australia.
It begins this weekend and runs throughout the next week.
This tournament is his last chance to prove to the coaches that he deserves a spot on the team for the Games in China this July.
Crone says it’s important he play well, as the other three teams in the tournament are teams that will play in the same pool as Canada in the Olympics.
They’ll play Australia, which is ranked second in the world, Great Britain, ranked at fifth, and sixth place Japan.
Team Canada is ranked third in the world for wheelchair rugby.
Crone is confident the coaches have noticed his abilities and they’ve told them they’re impressed at how quickly he’s picked up the game.
He says although he only started playing two years ago, he’s spent hours training and watching game tapes.
Crone says it’s been an emotional ride.
He says he wasn’t himself during the grueling two week training camp, and then to find out he has to wait two more months to find out if he makes the team.
After this tournament in Australia, another squad of Canadian players will participate in a tournament in Alabama in June.
Final cuts will be made after that tournament.
