Canada A team of 371 athletes will be sent to Tokyo Olympics That, despite Coronavirus disease Challenges and worries will be the country’s largest Olympic team since the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics.
This Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) said on Tuesday that the 225 members of the team will be female athletes and 146 male athletes.
Due to the COVID-19 delay for a year to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, this is a huge challenge for many Canadian athletes as the pandemic has brought global sports to a halt and eliminated the opportunity to qualify for the Olympics.
“Even before the incredible Canadian athletes participated in their first game in Tokyo, I was very impressed with their results,” Canadian chef de Mission Marnie McBean said in a statement.
“Despite the pandemic, through their creativity and perseverance, they have become the largest Canadian Olympic team in three years.
“Under far from ideal conditions, they have found a way faster and stronger than ever before. I have no doubt that they are ready to show something special at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.”
The youngest members of the team will be 14-year-old swimmer Summer McIntosh and the oldest 56-year-old equestrian Mario Deslauriers.
The team includes 226 Olympic rookies, and 134 participated in the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics.
There are 40 returning Olympic medalists and two athletes who entered the Summer Olympics from the Winter Olympics.
Georgia Simmerling represented Canada in the Alpine Skiing at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics cross-skiing competition. He will become a member of the track and field cycling team.
Vincent De Haître, who participated in Sochi long-distance skating and the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, also jumped to the track and field cycling race.
Canada won a total of 22 medals at the Rio Olympics, including 4 gold medals. This is the country’s biggest gain since the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, when Canada also won 22 medals.
The Tokyo Olympics started on July 23 and lasted until August 8.
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto. Editing by Christian Radnedge)
