LONDON - Junior Jeremie Venne (Greely, Ontario, Canada/Ecole secondaire catholique Franco-Cite/ University of Ottawa) of the Saint Francis cross country and track and field teams helped fellow Canadian countryman Jason Dunkerley qualify for the World Paralympic Athletics Championships finals in the 1500m this morning in London.

The Paralympic games involves athletes with a range of disabilities, including impaired muscle power, range of movement, limb deficiency, short stature, hypertonia, ataxia, athetosis, vision impairment and intellectual impairment.

"Our main goal was to make it to Friday and we are quite happy we were able to accomplish that," said Venne. "The race felt comfortable and everything went according to plan. This was my first experience running at the international level and the atmosphere was incredible. There were 2,000 fans in attendance at the time of our race and their support and cheering pushed us through the race.

Venne served as Dunkerley's guide runner in the 1500m first round event, helping his teammate to a first-place finish in a time of 4:15.13. The duo advances to the championship finals, which will be held on Friday at . The tandem run together for the Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club.

"It's a good feeling to have made it through to Friday's final," said Dunkerley. "With just six weeks of training behind us, it has been a quick turnaround for Jérémie and I to get into shape together and prepare to compete against the top blind runners and guides in the world. Today showed us that we were ready."

The World Paralympic Games hosts 1,300 athletes from 100 countries as athletes compete in 213 medal events. The event is the largest in London since the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Competition is held in the iconic London Stadium in Queen Elizabeth, Olympic Park.

"We are thrilled for Jeremie to be able to represent his country on such a big stage," said Saint Francis head coach Doug Hoover. "We are excited to follow him and Jason as they pursue a medal in Friday's finals and will be cheering them on from Loretto."

You can watch Jeremie and Jason in Friday's finals via the link below. Their race is scheduled for 8:43 p.m. local time, 3:43 ET:  

https://www.paralympic.org/london-2017/schedule/info-live-results/lo2017/eng/zz/engzz_athletics-daily-competition-schedule.htm