From sayonara to bonjour. With Tokyo 2020 in the rear view mirror, a year later than anybody expected, here are 15 for France 鈥� Island athletes looking to make their Olympic debuts in three years at the 2024 Paris Summer Games:
Mathea and Sanoa Olin 颅(Surfing): The waves in Teahupo鈥檕, Tahiti, have been described as a 鈥淲all of Skulls. The gifted teenage Tofino sisters could be riding that daunting wall in the Olympic surfing competition to be held on the other part of the world from Paris.
Desirae Ridenour and Hannah Henry (Triathlon): The 21-year-old Cowichan Bay product Ridenour was fourth with the Canadian relay team at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and moved up to the silver medal in the 2019 Lima Pan Am Games. Her Olympic moment may be coming, along with that of Pan Am Games silver-medallist teammate Henry of Victoria.
Jazmine Wilkinson (Soccer): The 19-year-old midfielder from Nanaimo, in the NCAA 颅Pac-12 with the Arizona State Sun 颅Devils, has represented sa国际传媒 in U-17 and U-20. She could be part of sa国际传媒鈥檚 next golden generation in the Olympics.
Anna Mollenhauer (Field Hockey): A generational story is unfolding as UVic Vikes standout Anna, out of SMUS, looks to follow Olympian mother Nancy Mollenhauer into the Games.
Erin Attwell (Cycling): The rising Victoria track star, silver medallist in the 2019 Lima Pan Am Games, looks to be 颅pedalling toward the Paris Olympic 颅velodrome.
Adam Keenan and Ethan Katzberg (Hammer): The 颅Victoria thrower Keenan won his fourth national championship, but despite being sa国际传媒鈥檚 best, the Lambrick Park graduate鈥檚 throw at nationals this year did not reach Olympic qualifying standard for Tokyo. The 2018 Commonwealth Games fourth-place finisher will have to wait to Paris 2024 for his Olympic debut. The Canadian second-ranked hammer-thrower behind Keenan is Katzberg of Nanaimo, who is 19 and ranked third in the world in his age group, and headed to the world junior track and field 颅championships in Kenya.
Agnes Esser (Discus): This nation鈥檚 best female 颅discus thrower is with 颅Athletics 颅Victoria. The three-time 颅Canadian champion and three time all-America with the NCAA Big Ten University of 颅Minnesota Golden Gophers, is out of Frances Kelsey Secondary in Mill Bay and has been biting around the edges of Olympic qualifying for several years and could make it for Paris.
Thana Fayad (Volleyball): The six-foot-two outside-hitter from Victoria can slice to the net and spike with power. The Oak Bay High graduate, out of NCAA Div. 1 University of San Diego, is a member of the Canadian NextGen team centralized at the national training centre in the Richmond Oval. NextGen means just that.
Liam Keane, Peter Lancashire, Jack Walkey (Rowing): Keane of Victoria City Club, Brentwood College-graduate Lancashire and Claremont 颅Secondary-graduate Walkey were in the gold-medallist men鈥檚 four crew last month at the world U-23 championships in the Czech Republic. Paris beckons next.
Elan Jonas-McRae (Climbing): The Nanaimo product, out of Boulders Gym in Central Saanich, could literally be climbing the walls in the City of Lights.
