montreal athletes 2024 olympics
Sports

Montreal athletes to cheer for at the 2024 Olympics

by Cindy Lopez

Leylah Fernandez, Lu Dort and Félix Auger-Aliassime are among the many Montrealers repping our city in a wide range of sports in Paris this summer.

Paris is hosting the 2024 Summer Olympics from July 26 through Aug. 11. After the last couple of Olympics under COVID protocols, it’s the return of fans, families and friends cheering for medal hopefuls and personal bests in the city of lights.

Paris will be an ambitious games, starting with their opening ceremony (July 26 1:30 p.m. EST) held on the Seine River as the athletes will have their parade of nations on the waters (and a possible Celine Dion comeback performance). 100 years after the last time they held the games, Paris is combining iconic landmarks with sport and is considered the most sustainable games to date. There are still Olympic controversies such as France’s Hijab ban, security concerns, and whether or not the Seine River is clean for various swimming events. Team Canada will be sending 337 of their top athletes but plenty of Montrealers returning or competing at their first Olympics. Get ready to watch from our screens but remember the 6-hour time difference. 

The Canadian men’s basketball team will be competing at the Olympics for the first time since 2000 and surprised the basketball world with their third place finish at the FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup. The national team can boast a couple of Montrealers, with Bàsquet Girona centre Khem Birch and Oklahoma Thunder guard Luguentz Dort on the roster. Canada starts the tournament against Greece on July 27.   Meanwhile, the women’s basketball team, featuring a mix of rookies and veteran players, is aiming for a medal this tournament. Notre Dame guard Cassandre Prosper will be making her Olympic debut, while Canadian national team veteran guard Nirra Fields will compete in her third Olympics. Canada will go up against France on July 29. 

Montreal is well represented on the tennis court, with Félix Auger-Aliassime and Leylah Fernandez. Both are no strangers to Canada’s success in international tennis. Auger-Aliassime ranks 19th in the ATP standings and was part of the 2022 Davis Cup winning team for Canada. Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open Finalist (and Cult MTL August 2023 cover star) was the Most Valuable Player in Canada’s victory in the 2023 Billie Jean Cup. Both will be on the Roland Garros courts starting July 27. 

Montreal athletes to cheer for at the 2024 Olympics

Another Canadian racquet sport athlete is Lachine’s Edward Ly, who will be competing in singles and doubles in table tennis. Ly helped Canada win silver in team table tennis at the 2023 Pan Am Games in Santiago, Chile, and will be competing on July 27. 

Canada has had significant success in swimming in recent years, and there will be Montrealers in the pool in this Olympics.  Patrick Hussey will be competing in the men’s 4x100m individual relay on July 27, and Ilya Kharun, a Canadian record holder in the 200m butterfly, will be in the pool on July 31 in the 200m and on Aug. 3 in the 100m butterfly.

Canada is sending their strongest team in athletics. A couple of Montreal notables in track and field: middle distance runner Simone Ploude will compete in the 1,500m on Aug. 6 and Marie Éloïse Leclair is part of the women’s 4 x100m relay team, which includes Sade McCreath, Audrey Leduc and Crystal Emmanuel, racing on Aug. 8

Canada’s women’s water polo team will improve from their seventh place finish at the Tokyo Olympics as they took the silver medal at the 2023 Pan Am games. Returning from the Tokyo games are Montreal’s Axelle Crevier, Elyse Lemay-Lavoie and Clara Vulpisi, while Serena Browne will be making her Olympic debut. Canada is up against Hungary on July 29. 

For the first time since the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Canada is sending a men’s gymnastics team, featuring Laval’s William Emard. Team qualifications take place on July 27, with the final on July 31, and individual events will happen from Aug. 3 to 5. 

This will be the third Olympics for Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard, the defending bronze medalist in Judo in the 63kg event. Watch the 2022 Commonwealth games champion add another medal to her collection when she competes on July 30. Fellow judo athlete Arthur Margelidon will be competing in his second games. Ranked ninth in the world in the 73kg event, the 2023 Pan American champion will wrestle on July 26.

Pointe-Claire’s Nathan Zsombor-Murray returns for his second Olympics in diving, competing in both the 10m individual platform and 10m synchronized platform with diving partner Rylan Wiens. Both made history capturing bronze at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships. Zsombor-Murray followed up with double silver at the 2023 Pan American games. The 10m individual platform starts on July 29, while 10m synchronized platform qualifications are on Aug. 9, followed by finals on Aug. 10. 

It’s a mix of experience and new faces in artistic swimming as Jacqueline Simoneau returns to the sport after a two-year retirement to compete in her third Olympics. She has had success alongside Audrey Lamothe at World Cup events since they paired up this year. Lamothe will be competing in her first Olympics; the pair will be part of the team event on Aug. 5 and duet event on Aug. 9. 

Dressage, better known to new watchers as “horse ballet,” will be fun to watch as the competition is being held on the grounds of Chateau Versailles. Naïma Moreira Laiberté and Camille Carier Bergeron were part of Canada’s bronze-medal-winning dressage team at last year’s Pan Am Games and will compete in the team event on Aug. 3, with solo dressage taking place on Aug. 4. 

Virginie Chenier is the top Canadian woman in archery and has competed in three Pan Am Games. She will be making her Olympic debut before the opening ceremonies, as the archery competition is being held on July 25. 

The Canadian women’s eight rowing team will look to defend their gold medal from the Tokyo games. Look for Montreal-born Kasia Gruchalla-Wesierki and her teammates going for gold as of July 29. 

As Canada has had success in trampoline, they have a lone competitor in the sport these Olympics. Cheer for Longueil’s Sophiane Methot, who’ll be continuing the Canadian trampoline tradition on August 2. 

Canada is well represented in fencing, with a team including two Montrealers. Maximilien Van Haaster returns for his third Olympics in Individual and Team Foil on July 29 and Aug. 4, while François Cauchon will be making his Olympic debut in the sabre individual and team events on July 27 and July 31. Both have had team success at the Pan Am Games (Van Haaster Silver in Team Foil and Cauçhon gold in Team Sabre). 

Île-Perrot native Emy Legault will swim, bike and run her way through Paris in the triathlon. Legault, the 2023 Pan Am bronze winner in the mixed relay, will compete in the individual event held on July 31 and the mixed relay on Aug. 5. 

Wrestler Alex Moore will be competing in the 86kg freestyle event. After battling various injuries over the last few years, the 2002 Commonwealth Bronze medalist will finally make his Olympic debut on Aug. 8. ■

For more on the 2024 Olympics, please visit the official Olympic Games website.

For more Montreal sports coverage, please visit our Sports section.

Posted in Sports

by Cindy Lopez

Contributor
Cindy Lopez is a Montreal based photographer who is the main photographer at Cult MTL. Cindy has photographed various assignments, from music festivals to news and sporting events and is a main contributor to the Cult MTL Instagram. On occasion, she writes sports related stories ranging from lists to events for the website.