Magical medal moments highlight OUA performances at 2024 Olympic Games
Burlington, Ont. – Past and present members of the university sport space in Ontario made their mark at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France, with several contributing to all-time best results for Team Canada. And of the 50 Olympic athletes bringing hardware back home, six of them are current/former OUA student-athletes.
Two current members of the Queen’s women’s rugby team traded in their Tricolour for the red and white, alongside a former multi-sport York athlete, as part of Canada’s Rugby 7s contingent. In a tournament filled with intrigue, excitement, and accomplishment, the Gaels duo of Chloe Daniels and reigning OUA all-star Taylor Perry, along with former Lion Asia Hogan-Rochester (rugby, track & field), helped Canada surge to a spot in the gold medal fixture.
Among the highlights on the impeccable run, which featured impressive victories over France in the quarterfinals (19-14) and Australia in the semis (21-12) along the way, was Hogan-Rochester recording a try in the semifinals, as well as Daniels notching the game-winning try in the quarterfinals and opening up the scoring for Canada in the event’s finale. And despite falling 19-12 to the powerhouse New Zealand squad in the end, the entire Canadian crew still played their way to a national-best showing with their silver medal finish.
“It means everything,” said Daniels via rugby.ca, “I hope we’ve inspired some young girls in Canada to join rugby and grow the game. I don’t know how many people were expecting it, but I thought within the group, we had lots of belief.”
Also backed by unbreakable belief en route to a top showing for the country was the all-York duo of Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson on the sand.
With the Eiffel Tower framing the court in one of the most iconic backdrops imaginable, the OUA alumnae were on medal watch throughout the event. After going 1-2 in pool play, the duo found themselves in the ‘lucky loser’ match against Czechia, which they proceeded to sweep in convincing fashion (21-15, 21-12).
From there, it was a collision course of top-tier opponents throughout the path to the podium, a stretch that featured a Round of 16 win over USA’s Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss (the No. 2 ranked team in the world), a quarterfinal win over Spain, and a three-set semifinal thriller over Switzerland.
That final victory ensured Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson would come away with Canada’s best ever beach volleyball result, and despite falling just shy of the win in a three-set nail-biter again Brazil in the battle for gold, their silver medal prize was just the country’s second ever piece of Olympics hardware in the sport.
Said Humana-Parades via olympic.ca, “I think there’s a lot of pride in what we’ve accomplished and what we’ve done over the last two weeks. We’ve experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, […] but it feels really great to secure a medal for Canada.”
Another York alumnus, Dan Dearing, was part of the men’s beach volleyball competition alongside partner Samuel Schachter. Like his fellow former Lions, Dearing found himself competing in the lucky loser match, but an injury therein forced the duo to bow out.
Rounding out the conference’s beach volleyball competitors, Toronto’s Heather Bansley, in her third Olympic Games, took to the sand with partner Sophie Bukovec, who played for the OUA-winning Marauders as a freshman in 2013-14. The duo did not advance to the knockout stage amidst a powerhouse pool of competition.
While a great deal of focus was on the Eiffel Tower Stadium in the French capital, the OUA’s most decorated Olympian – Kylie Masse – was back at it in the pool.
Entering the Paris 2024 Games, the former Toronto Varsity Blues swimmer had collected four medals from past Olympics and was looking to add to her already impressive haul.
While she finished just off the podium in her first attempt – the 100m backstroke – the Lasalle, Ont. standout delivered in her next event. Amidst a talent-laden field in the 200m backstroke final, Masse swam her way to a bronze medal, touching the wall in a time of 2:05.57.
“I knew tonight’s race was going to be difficult, and I knew I was going to have to fight to the very end,” explained Masse via olympic.ca. “Those final metres were fighting, for sure. I’m really pleased to be on the podium. I wanted to come in tonight and enjoy myself, before the race. Let myself swim.”
The two-time OUA athlete of the year, now with a total medal count of five, finished up her time in France with a pair of relay swims, placing fifth in the mixed 4x100m medley and fourth in the women’s 4x100m medley.
Also in the hunt for a medal was Brock’s Hannah Taylor, who was making her Olympic debut in Paris on the mats. Competing in the 57kg weight class for the red and white, Taylor prevailed in her repechage match to punch her ticket to the bronze medal bout. The decorated Badgers alum ultimately finished fourth in the event after competing with USA’s Helen Maroulis for the final spot on the podium.
Another former OUA wrestler – Shady Elnahas, the York Lions team MVP in 2016-17 – suited up for Canada in judo. He fell to Switzerland’s Daniel Eich in overtime in his opening match of the men’s 100kg category, before facing the same fate in the mixed team event against Uzbekistan.
From the mats to the track, the conference’s competitors were also featured on the track at the Stade de France throughout the second week of the Games, including several from the Guelph Gryphons and Varsity Blues.
Zoe Sherar, the former Top 8 Academic All-Canadian recipient, ran as part of Canada’s 4x400m relay team, while her fellow Gryphon, Jacqueline Madogo, suited up as part of the 4x100m relay. Both helped their respective quartets collect sixth-place finishes in the final.
A pair of renowned OUA runners also competed in the women’s 1500m event. Lucia Stafford, a former Varsity Blue and the 2019-20 OUA athlete of the year, finished 10th in her heat thanks to a season best time of 4:02.22. She would follow that up with a fifth-place showing in the repechage. After finishing 12th in her heat, meanwhile, former Western runner Kate Current bettered her time by almost a full second in the repechage (4:08.91), but she too was unable to advance from there.
Similar narratives continued for other OUA connections on the track. Toronto’s Jazz Shukla narrowly missed out on a spot in the women’s 800m race after placing second in the repechage heat, while Craig Thorne, a five-year competitor with the Gryphons, finished fifth in his repechage heat.
Switching the to the field events, Sarah Mitton, a Windsor Lancers alumna and 2023 world championship medalist, made an early mark amongst her peers in the shotput competition. Her throw of 19.77m ranked first coming out of qualification. While she was unable to continue that momentum into the final, she did finish 12th overall in the event.
Similar to Mitton, medal hopes were high for another of Canada’s Olympians – rower Jill Moffatt. The long-time Western Mustangs student-athlete and former Trent coach competed in the women’s lightweight double sculls alongside Jenny Casson. A winding road brought the pair to the semifinal race, but a fifth-place finish therein eliminated them from medal contention. They would go on to finish second in the B Final in a time of 7:04.82 – their best time of the week.
Another multi-time Olympian, Toronto badminton alumna Michelle Li, got off to a good start in her fourth appearance at the Games. She took down Thet Htar Thuzar from Myanmar in straight sets (21-16, 25-23) to open up pool play, but fell to Japan’s Akane Tamaguchi (22-24, 21-17, 21-12) thereafter. Her 1-1 record was not enough for her to advance to the knockout stage.
Finally, Team Canada’s men’s volleyball team was flooded with OUA talent, albeit in the face of tough competition on the courts. Despite pushing Serbia to the brink in their final pool play match, the likes of Danny Demyanenko (McMaster), Xander Ketrzynksi (TMU), Stephen Maar (McMaster), Arthur Szwarc (York), and company were unable to advance past their pool in Paris.
But whether these athletes’ 2024 Olympic Games experience ended in pool play, just off the podium, or with a well-earned medal in tow, they each represented their respective schools and the OUA with pride.
