Dr. Keely Shaw (BSKI’16, MSc’20, PhD’24)
One to Watch Award
Dr. Keely Shaw (BSKI’16, MSc’20, PhD’24) is a scientist and elite Para athlete who has demonstrated excellence in her academic and athletic pursuits. She has inspired others through her journey as an award-winning Paralympian and six-time World Championship medalist, and through her interdisciplinary research that has the potential to significantly impact human health.
Shaw grew up in Midale, Sask., where she experienced a life-changing horse-riding accident on the family farm at the age of 15 that resulted in partial paralysis on her left side. Prior to the accident, Shaw was a high-level hockey player who aspired to compete in the Olympics; after the accident, she struggled with the realization that her body had changed. Shaw’s Paralympic career began when she was working out at the Physical Activity Complex on the University of Saskatchewan campus and a classmate connected her with a sports scientist, who told Shaw that she would be a classifiable Para athlete and to “pick a sport.” At the time, Shaw had been commuting by bike to USask and decided to try Para cycling as a result. Upon completing her Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology degree at USask in 2016, Shaw entered her first competition in Moose Jaw, Sask.—and the rest is history. Realizing that she had found the right sport for her, she emailed every person she could from the Canadian Paralympic website to let them know that she was interested in competing. The Paralympic team put her in touch with a Cycling Canada NexGen coach, and Shaw competed at her first National Championship in August 2017 and at her first World Championship in March 2018.
Since then, Shaw has medaled at multiple world competitions, including earning two Paralympic bronze medals. While participating in high-level cycling competitions, she also remained focused on her USask education and her scientific research, completing a Master of Science degree in 2020 and a PhD in 2024, co-supervised by faculty in the College of Kinesiology and the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition. Shaw’s outstanding interdisciplinary PhD dissertation, “Biofortification of Plant-Based Food Products and Applications to the Athlete,” was recognized with the Governor General’s Gold Medal, the highest academic honour a graduate student at USask can receive.
As a Paralympian, Shaw competed at the 2020 Tokyo Games and at the 2024 Paris Games, winning bronze medals in the women’s C4 3000m individual pursuit at each. In 2020, she was the only athlete from Saskatchewan to win either an Olympic or Paralympic medal. She is a six-time World Championship medalist. In 2019 and 2021 she was named Saskatchewan Sport’s Female Athlete of the Year, and she was again nominated in 2025.
Currently, Shaw is a postdoctoral scholar in the Faculty of Kinesiology and the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary. Her research is at the intersection of kinesiology, nutrition, and agriculture, focusing on exercise physiology and nutrition, particularly examining iron levels in female athletes. She has published more than 20 peer-reviewed papers on this and other topics related to exercise physiology. As a female Paralympic athlete, she brings a unique perspective and understanding to her academic work. Shaw’s research has the potential to have a significant impact on human health, while her resilience, dedication, and commitment to excellence continue to inspire many in both the academic and athletic worlds.