Alison Levine lands long-awaited boccia gold medal at Parapan Am Games

Canadian boccia athletes racked up four medals on Wednesday at the Parapan Am Games in Santiago, Chile.

Two-time Parapan Am Games medallist Alison Levine led the way with her first individual gold medal.

"It feels amazing. I knew coming into the game I was assured my first Parapan individual medal — for it to be gold is amazing," Levine told CBC Sports.

Wearing her lucky red shoes and socks adorned with maple leaves, Montreal's Levine defeated her Colombian rival Leidy Chica Chica 4-2 to claim the BC4 individual title.

"Something felt different. This year has been amazing. I felt so comfortable coming into this game. I'm in my element. This is what I do," Levine said.

"Canada. What more can I say? We're so well-supported, having so much fun, it's just awesome."

At the same time Levine was playing for gold, so too was her Canadian teammate Danik Allard.

Allard, from Bois-des-Filion, Que., is ranked 16th in the men's BC2 division and made his Paralympic debut in Tokyo. He was also making his Parapan Am Games debut.

In a hard-fought battle, Allard lost 6-1 to Brazilian Maciel de Sousa Santos in the men's BC2 final.

But while it didn't go his way on this day, Allard was still very pleased to come away with a medal.

Boccia is a game of precision and extreme focus. The object of the game is to throw leather balls as close to the jack as possible. There are four classifications, three of which are for players with cerebral palsy.

Lance Cryderman can't get enough of it and he's made a triumphant return to the sport he loves.

Twenty-three years after his last multi-sport Games appearance in boccia, Canada's Cryderman won silver in the men's BC1 event at the Parapan Am Games in Santiago.

Despite losing to Mexican Eduardo Sanchez in the gold-medal game, the 42-year-old was overrun with emotion having reached the podium, something he wondered would ever happen again in his career.