A dozen athletes from Pickering to Bowmanville to represent Canada at Paris Olympics
Published July 19, 2024 at 12:30 pm
An even dozen athletes from Durham Region are on their way to Paris to represent Canada in the 2024 Olympic Games.
Thirteen local athletes were named but defending world champion decathlete Pierce LePage of Whitby had to pull out when a herniated disc he suffered in April did not respond to treatment in time for him to compete.
LePage was expected to give Canada a massive 1-2 punch in the prestigious decathlon competition with defending gold medalist Damian Warner of London.
Canada’s track team will still have a strong Durham presence with three sprinters set to compete, including Mariam Abdul-Rashid of Oshawa in the woman’s 100-metre hurdles and 4×100-metre relay, Duan Asemota of Ajax in the men’s 100-metres and 4×100-metre relay and Sade McCreath of Ajax in the women’s 4×100-metre relay. McCreath is also an alternate on the 100-metre sprint team.
Abdul-Rashid and Asemota train at the Speed Academy in Pickering, the same club that produces track superstar (and defending 200-metre gold medalist) Andre De Grasse of Markham. Maple’s Christopher Morales Williams (400-metres) also trains at the Speed Academy, run by former Olympian Tony Sharpe.
Three soccer players from Durham will be competing in Paris, including starting goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan of Whitby and fullback Jayde Riviere of Pickering – each in their second Olympic football tournament – and forward Nichelle Prince of Ajax, who will be competing in her third.
All three return as defending Olympic champions.
Badminton player Nyal Yakura of Pickering, canoe sprinter Courtney Scott of Pickering, Water polo team member Emma Wright of Whitby and gymnast Ava Stewart of Bowmanville will all be competing in their second straight Olympics.
Jessica Phoenix of Cannington
Equestrian athlete Jessica Phoenix of Cannington, a five-time Pan Am Games medalist, was also in Tokyo but was forced to withdraw after her horse Pavarotti suffered an injury in the final prep event.
Yakura is the back-to-back Pan Am Games gold medalist in men’s doubles while Stewart, still just 18, only became eligible for Tokyo when the pandemic delayed the Games by a year.
Scott has been competing at the senior level for Canada since 2015 while Wright was the youngest player – by four years – on Canada’s roster in her first senior international competition in 2013.
Other athletes from the Region competing in Paris are Justin Barnes of Pickering in sailing (49’er) and Justin Lui of Pickering in men’s volleyball.
The women’s football tournament gets underway July 25 when Canada meets New Zealand. Water polo and badminton begin July 27; sailing, gymnastics and volleyball July 28; equestrian July 29; canoeing July 30; and the athletics (sprints) on August 2.
Nyal Yakura of Pickering