A local athlete is sporting some new hardware, following the 8th bi-annual Canadian Transplant Games held earlier this month.

Dale Sinclair earned gold medals in the 100-metre dash, the 50-metre front-crawl, and high jump; silver medals in long jump and the swimming 4X50 metre relay; and bronze medals in single and doubles badminton.

Sinclair's a heart-transplant recipient, and has been competing in the games since 2008, after hearing about the event from his mother. He notes interest in the games has been increasing, citing previous Manitoba teams have four or five athletes, and they had up to eight this year. He says the growing number of participants made it even more exciting to have such a strong showing at the games.

"Good thoughts. It's nice to get some medals there. This year there was a lot more competition than there usually is, so that was nice to see."

Sinclair says beyond the competition, the games aim to dispel some of the myths surrounding organ donation. He notes the bi-annual event demonstrates the abilities of those who've received transplants, as well as the importance of signing up to be an organ donor. While it's always a tough competition, Sinclair says there's also a real sense of camaraderie among the athletes.

"It's all good. Everyone's happy, we're all friends. I've probably been in contact with about ten people I met there on a weekly basis, that live across Canada."

He says it feels good to be a part of the competition, especially with the positive message being put forward. Overall, Sinclair hopes anyone aware of those games realizes signing up to be an organ donor is simple, but can save lives.