65 U SPORTS Athletes, coaches and alumni set to compete at Paris Olympics

Fans of U SPORTS will have no shortage of athletes to cheer on at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, which officially get underway on Friday, July 26, as no fewer than 65 U SPORTS athletes, alumni and coaches will be competing on the world’s biggest stage.

Headlining the U SPORTS contingent in France is Audrey Leduc, a sprinter from Université Laval, who won the Lois and Doug Mitchell Trophy last month as the U SPORTS female athlete of the year. Leduc currently holds two Canadian records, in the 100 metres and 200 metres. Two other national athletes of the year are also on the Team Canada roster, swimmers Kylie Masse of Toronto and Kelsey Wog of Manitoba.

U SPORTS athletes will represent five countries in total, with athletes competing for Hong Kong, France, Monaco and Mauritius in addition to Canada.

Athletics is the sport with the most U SPORTS alumni, with 19, while swimming has 12. Among the team sports, men’s volleyball leads with 12, while rugby sevens has eight, beach volleyball has five and two of the four members of the 3x3 women’s basketball team (Katie Bosch and Paige Crozon) are assistant coaches at Lethbridge.

In addition to the 66 athletes, at least 35 U SPORTS alumni and/or staff will be serving in either coaching, administrative or broadcasting capacities at the games. This list is highlighted by honorary IOC member Richard “Dick” Pound. Pound won the U SPORTS Lester B. Pearson Award (presented to a distinguished Canadian citizen and former university athlete whose personal achievements exemplify the ideals and purposes of amateur sport) in 2001 and swam for McGill from 1958-62. This list also includes women’s basketball coach Lisa Thomaidis of Saskatchewan, who led Team Canada to a pair of quarterfinal appearances in previous Olympic Games and will be hoping to do better as the head coach of Team Germany.

All told, 31 of the 58 U SPORTS member institutions will have some representation at either the Olympic or Paralympic Games.

Athletes

(Athletes listed competed at the institution noted unless otherwise noted. Athletes representing other countries are noted as such.)

3 x 3 Basketball (2):

Katie Bosch (Lethbridge)
Paige Crozon (Assistant Coach, Lethbridge)

Athletics (19):

Kate Current (Western) 1500 metres
Jean-Simon Desgagnes (Laval) 3000m steeplechase
Evan Dunfee (UBC) Race walking
Malindi Elmore (Head Track & Field Coach, UBC Okanagan) Middle distance
Thomas Fafard (Laval) Middle distance
Rowan Hamilton (UBC) Men’s Hammer Throw
Michelle Harrison (Saskatchewan) 110m hurdles
Kieran Lumb (UBC) 1500 metres
Olivia Lundman (UBC) Marathon Race Walk realy
Audrey Leduc (Laval) 100m, 200m, 4x100
Jacqueline Madogo (Guelph) 100m, 200m, 4x100
Sarah Mitton (Windsor) Shot put
Charles Philibert-Thiboutot (Laval) Middle distance
Brianna Scott (Women’s Volleyball, McGill) Long distance
Zoe Sherar (Guelph) 400m, 4x400
Jazz Shukla (Toronto) 800 metres
Lucia Stafford (Toronto) 1500 metres
Craig Throne (Guelph) 110m hurdles
Regan Yee (Trinity Western) 3000m steeplechase

Beach Volleyball (5):

Heather Bansley (Toronto)
Sophie Bukovec (McMaster)
Dan Dearing (York)
Melissa Humana-Paredes (York)
Brandie Wilkerson (York)

Cycling (2):

Allison Jackson (Track & Field, Trinity Western) Road Race
- (Competed in track & field at TWU)
Kelsey Mitchell (Women’s Soccer, Alberta) Track Cycling

Rugby Sevens (8):

Alysha Corrigan (UPEI & Acadia)
Chloe Daniels (Queen’s)
Asia Hogan-Rochester (York) [Also competed in Track & Field for York]
Piper Logan (UBC)
Carissa Norsten (Victoria)
Taylor Perry (Queen’s)
Krissy Scurfield (Victoria)
Florence Symonds (UBC)

Swimming (12):

Yuri Kisil (UBC) 100 free, 4x100 freestyle relay
Kylie Masse (Toronto)
Emma O’Croinin (UBC) 4x200 freestyle relay
Rebecca Smith (Toronto & Calgary)
Blake Tierney (UBC) 100 back, 200 back, 4x100 medley relay
Ingrid Wilm (UBC) 100 backstroke
Kelsey Wog (Manitoba)
Théo Druenne (Laval) [Monaco]
Lisa Pou (Laval) [Monaco]
Ovesh Purahoo (Regina) [Mauritius]
Clément Secchi (McGill) [France]
Tam Hoi Lam [Karen Tam] (UBC) 4x100 [Hong Kong]

Soccer (1):

Desiree Scott (Manitoba)

Triathlon (1):

Charles Paquet (Cross-Country, Laval)

Volleyball (12):

Danny Demyanneko (McMaster)
Brodie Hofer (Trinity Western)
Luke Herr (Manitoba)
Xander Ketrzynski (TMU)
Eric Loeppky (Trinity Western)
Stephen Maar (McMaster)
Fynn McCarthy (UBC)
Arthur Szwarc (York)
Lucas Van Berkel (Trinity Western)
Brett Walsh (Alberta)
Ryley Barnes (Alberta) [Alternate]
Kevin Tillie (Thompson Rivers) [France]

Wrestling (4):

Shady Elnahas (York)
Linda Morais (Concordia)
Alex Moore (Concordia)
Hannah Taylor (Brock)

Coaches

Athletics (3):

Chris Belof (Head Coach, UNB) Event coach (distance/endurance/walks)
Jason Reindl (Head Coach, Saskatchewan) Event coach
Larry Steinke (Head Coach, Lethbridge) Event coach (throws)

Men’s Basketball (1):

Philip Jevtovic (Former athlete, McGill) Director of High Performance Analytics and Strategy

Rugby Sevens (1):

Jack Hanratty (Head Coach, Ottawa) Head Coach

Swimming (2):

Linda Keifer (Assistant Coach, Toronto) Assistant Coach
Cathy Pardy (Head Coach, Laurier) Coach, St. Vincent & the Grenadines

Volleyball (1):

Michael Cook (Strength & Conditioning, Alberta) Strength & Conditioning
Mike Hawkins (Head Coach, UBC) Assistant Coach

Women’s Basketball (6)

Team Canada

Carly Clarke (Head Coach, TMU) Assistant Coach
Nate McKibbon (Head Coach, Western) Performance Analyst

Team Germany

Lisa Thomaidis (Head Coach, Saskatchewan) Head Coach
Connor Jay (Assistant Coach, Saskatchewan) Assistant Coach
Claire Meadows (Head Coach, Queen’s) Assistant Coach
Anne-Marie Thuss (fmr. Head Coach, McMaster) Assistant Coach

Wrestling (3)

Marty Calder (Head Coach, Brock) Coach
Dave Collie (Coach, Brock) Coach
David Zilberman (Head Coach, Concordia) Coach

Support Staff/Others

Dr. Kristen Anstey (Exercise Medicine Physician, Alberta) Team Physician, Women’s Basketball
Ed Drakich (Men’s volleyball player/fmr head coach, Toronto) Technical Official
Tiffany Hunting (Former Women’s rugby player, McGill) Physiotherapist, Judo
Rich Lam (Photographer, UBC) Paris 2024 Sr. Project Mgr., Photo Operations
Marie-Andrée Lessard (former women’s volleyball player, McGill) Senior Director, Games; COC
Kerry MacDonald (Head Men’s Volleyball Coach, UBC) Team Leader, Beach Volleyball
Nicole McInnis (Assistant Women’s Soccer Coach, UPEI) Team Manager, Women’s Soccer
Samantha Pritchard (Sr. Manager, Sport Science & Sport Medicine; UBC) Performance Analysis and Technology Specialist
Richard “Dick” Pound (former swimmer, McGill) Honorary IOC Member
Dr. Simon Pearson (Chiropractor, Victoria) Chiropractor, Athletics
Schad Richea (Head Athletic Therapist, Brandon) Athletic Therapist, Men’s Volleyball
Chloe Werle (Former women’s soccer player, Manitoba) Sports Science Lead, Women’s Soccer
Mallory White (Athletic Therapist, UBC) Lead Therapist, Women’s Soccer