Canadian BC4 Trio Arrive for Seoul World Boccia Cup
Iulian Ciobanu preparing to take a shot
OTTAWA, ON (August 29, 2025) – Boccia Canada is pleased to announce the official roster of athletes who will compete at the 2025 Seoul World Boccia Cup from September 1 to 9. This event is monumental, happening a decade after this group’s first international event, which also took place in Seoul.
The team will feature three athletes: Alison Levine (Montreal, QC), Iulian Ciobanu (Montreal, QC), and Marco Dispaltro (Montreal, QC). National Team Head Coach César Nicolaï will accompany the team in Korea.
All three athletes will compete in the individual BC4 event, after which Levine and Ciobanu will team up for the BC4 pairs event.
This competition comes after two World Cup events with disappointing results for Canada. The team aims to perform well and bring home results; they also wish to get in some good preparations ahead of the 2025 Regional Championships later this year and the 2026 World Championships next year.
Nicolaï is excited to be back in Seoul. “We are very happy to be participating in this event! It’s a special feeling because exactly 10 years ago we were here for our first World Cup abroad with this group of Alison, Iulian, and Marco. I feel privileged and extremely lucky to be here with these same three athletes a decade later. It is also a great opportunity to take stock of everything we have achieved together since 2015.”
He continues to say, “We are also looking ahead to the future, as this competition will allow us to prepare for the 2026 World Championships, which will take place in Seoul [next] September.”
The athletes are also taking the opportunity to reflect on their journeys.
“I’m excited to be back here with the same group as in 2015, it makes me reflect how far I have come as an athlete and reminds me how lucky I am to live this athlete life,” said Levine.
Ciobanu followed up, “I have fond memories of this place, as it was here that I played my first international individual competition 10 years ago.”
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About Boccia Canada
Boccia Canada is the boccia delivery arm of the Canadian Cerebral Palsy Sports Association (CCPSA), the National Sport Organization for the Paralympic sport of boccia. Boccia Canada is focused on providing athletes and individuals of all ages and skill with the chance to play a unique Paralympic sport. We lead, develop and grow boccia from grassroots to producing World Champions, and we collaborate with partners to increase participation of Canadians with physical disabilities in sport.
About boccia
Boccia is a Paralympic sport of precision and strategy similar to lawn bowling or curling, played by athletes with Cerebral Palsy, Muscular Dystrophy and related disabilities. It is one of only two Paralympic sports that do not have an Olympic counterpart. Athletes compete in one of six sport classes based on their level and type of disability: BC1, BC2, BC3 BC4, BC5, and Open.
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