27 Canadian athletes to watch at Tokyo 2020 Olympics – Toronto Star

The 371 Canadian athletes at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics over the next couple of weeks represent the country’s largest Games contingent in more than three decades.

There will be Olympic veterans and household names, breakout stars on the verge of the limelight, professional athletes and, inevitably, surprise medal-worthy performances by a Canadian you’ve never heard of before.

The Associated Press projects Canada will win 19 medals overall: three gold, seven silver and nine bronze. The team collected 22 medals at Rio 2016, matching the country’s best-ever total at a non-boycotted Games from Atlanta in 1996. The team’s four gold medals that year was Canada’s highest number since notching seven at Barcelona 1992.

Catching every athlete in every event is a big ask, so here are some of the Canadian names to keep an eye on over the next two weeks in Japan.

Felix Auger-Aliassime

Montreal

Tennis, men’s singles and mixed doubles

This will be a first outing for Auger-Aliassime, who turns 21 next month, since he reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, a career-best result at a Grand Slam. He will team up with Gaby Dabrowski in the mixed doubles.

Meaghan Benfeito

Montreal

Diving, Women’s 10 metre synchronized platform and 10 metre platform

Benfeito, 32, a four-time Olympian and three-time medallist, won gold with partner Caeli McKay in the women’s 10-metre synchro at the FINA Diving World Cup in May.

Melissa Bishop-Nriagu

Eganville, Ont.

Athletics, Women’s 800 metres

Bishop-Nriagu, 32, who holds the Canadian record in the women’s 800 metres, posted her fastest time in nearly four years by running 1:58.36 at Sunset Tour in Sacramento, Calif. She finished fourth in the 800 at Rio 2016, matching Canada’s best-ever Olympic result in the event.

Ellie Black

Halifax

Women’s gymnastics, Artistic

A lot rides on 25-year-old Black. No Canadian woman has ever won an Olympic medal in artistic gymnastics. Many believe Black can be the first. She previously placed fifth at Rio 2016 for the best Olympic all-around result by a Canadian.

Mandy Bujold

Kitchener, Ont.

Boxing, women’s flyweight 51 kilograms

Bujold, 33, fought to get into the Olympics, after she was initially ruled ineligible after missing time because of pregnancy. Her next fight is to best her fifth-place finish at Rio 2016.

Maude Charron

Rimouski, Que.

Weightlifting, 63 kilograms

Charron, 28, is one of Canada’s best shots at a gold medal. Most recently, she won gold at the Pan American Championships in April, breaking the continental records for the 64 kg weight class in snatch, clean and jerk and total.

Andre De Grasse

Markham

Athletics, Men’s 100 metres, 200 metres, 4×100-metre relay

He struggled with injury in 2017 and 2018 but De Grasse, 26, a three-time medallist, is keen to make history again by winning Olympic medals in all three sprint events — this time all gold.

Evan Dunfee

Richmond, B.C.

Athletics, Men’s 50 kilometre race walk

This is a last shot for Dunfee, 30, in this event at the Olympics, no matter where his career goes next. The 50-km race will be dropped from Paris 2024. Dunfee is looking for a podium after finishing fourth at Rio 2016.

Malindi Elmore

Kelowna, B.C.

Athletics, Women’s marathon

Elmore, 41, is back at the Olympics 17 years after making her debut in Athens, Greece in 2004, when she ran the 1,500-metre race. In January, 2020, she shattered the Canadian marathon record, running her second-ever try at the distance in 2:24:50.

Brooke Henderson

Smith Falls, Ont.

Women’s golf

Henderson, 23, and a 10-time winner of the LPGA Tour who is currently the seventh-ranked golfer in the world, finished in a tie for seventh in the women’s event in Rio 2016. The former world No. 1 holds the record for most professional golf wins by a Canadian.

Melissa Humana-Paredes and Sarah Pavan

Toronto and Kitchener, Ont.

Women’s beach volleyball

Canada hasn’t won a beach volleyball medal since the sport made its Olympic debut in 1996. Humana-Parades and Pavan rank second worldwide. The duo dropped just two sets over five elimination matches en route to a world championship win and Olympic berth in 2019.

Jessica Klimkait

Whitby

Judo, women’s 57 kilograms

The 24-year-old booked her spot at her first Olympic Games in style, by winning gold at the world judo championships in June. No Canadian has won Olympic gold in judo.

Ghislaine Landry

Toronto

Women’s Rugby 7s

Rugby 7s team captain Landry, now 33, was instrumental in Canada earning bronze in the sport’s Olympic debut at Rio 2106. She is one of the most prolific try-scorers in women’s rugby and led Canada with 41 points in Brazil.

Rosie MacLennan

Toronto

Women’s gymnastics, Trampoline

MacLennan, 32, is the only Canadian to win a gold medal in two consecutive Games in the same event. In Tokyo, she will go for an unprecedented third gold. MacLennan battled serious injuries in recent years, including a broken ankle in 2019, to go for gold.

Kylie Masse

LaSalle, Ont.

Swimming, women’s 100 and 200-metre backstroke

Masse broke her own Canadian record with a time of 57.70 to win the 100-metre backstroke at the Olympic trials in Toronto in June. She is the reigning world champion in the event. The 25-year-old took home bronze at the 200 m event at Rio 2016.

Sean McColl

North Vancouver, B.C.

Sport climbing, men’s combined

McColl is a four-time world champion in the combined event, which is making its Olympic debut in Tokyo. He had won 34 World Cup medals across multiple disciplines as of February 2020, and 12 open national titles dating back to 2007.

Summer McIntosh

Toronto

Swimming, women’s 200 and 800 metre freestyle

Expect Canada’s youngest athlete, at 14 years old, to draw some attention to the pool. McIntosh stole the show at Canada’s recent Olympic trials, winning the 200-metre freestyle final and breaking her own national age group record in the 800-metre freestyle.

Tyler Mislawchuk

Oak Bluff, Man.

Men’s Triathlon

The 26-year-old won the World Triathlon Cup in June, the final men’s race of the Olympic qualifying period. The performance follows a breakout season in 2019 when he claimed victory at the same event and became the first Canadian to win an Olympic test event in the 20-year history of triathlon as part of the Olympic program.

Penny Oleksiak

Toronto

Swimming, women’s 100 and 200-metre freestyle

The darling of the 2016 Rio Olympics at 16 years old, Oleksiak became the first Canadian athlete to win four medals in a summer games. And in her debut, no less. Oleksiak, now 21, became a household name, and has since admitted the spotlight, and pressure, has affected her. How will she fare in her second games remains to be seen.

Skylar Park

Winnipeg

Taekwondo, women’s 57 kilograms

Park, 22, has already won two gold medals in international competition this year, at the Spanish Open and at the senior Pan Am Championships. In 2019, Park won a bronze medal at the world taekwondo championships, a silver medal at Pan Am Games and three bronze medals on the Grand Prize Tour.

Jacqueline Simoneau

Saint-Laurent, Que.

Artistic Swimming, duet, team

The 25-year-old walked away from the FINA Artistic Swimming World Series Super Final in June with six medals. Gold in solo technical and solo free, as well as duet technical and duet free with partner Claudia Holzner. Bronze in team technical and team free.

Christine Sinclair

Burnaby, B.C.

Women’s soccer

The all-time goal-scoring record holder in international soccer will compete in her fourth Olympics. Sinclair may be 38 years old but she remains among the team’s most important players. If Canada wants to better the bronzes it earned at London 2012 and Rio 2016, Sinclair needs to be on form.

Laurence Vincent-Lapointe

Trois-Rivieres, Que.

Canoe, women’s C1 200 metre and C2 500 metre

The 29-year-old, who was provisionally suspended for a failed drug test in 2019 and forced to miss the world championship despite later being cleared, holds the world record in the C1 200 at 44.504 seconds. She and teammate Katie Vincent hold the world record for the C2 500 — at one minute, 51.428 seconds.

Damian Warner

London, Ont.

Athletics, men’s decathlon

Warner, 31, is the world’s top-ranked men’s decathlete. He previously won a bronze medal at Rio 2016. As recently as May, he shattered his Canadian record in the decathlon with 8,995 points, breaking his old mark of 8,795.

Erica Wiebe

Stittsville, Ont.

Wrestling, women’s 68 kilograms

After a golden Olympic debut at the 2016 Rio Games, Wiebe is looking to follow in the footsteps of Canadian teammate MacLennan and win the same colour medal in the same event five years on.

Michael Woods

Ottawa

Cycling, men’s road race

Woods’s most recent success came at the Tour de France this month, when he survived a crash to claim the polka-dot jersey as leader of the King of the Mountains classification, becoming only the second Canadian to wear the jersey. He left the Tour with three days left to recover in time for the Olympics.

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