Outaouais athletes nominated for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics
Stéphane Berimbere
Team Canada has recently announced the nomination of athletes who will be representing Canada at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. The athletes vary in different sports, from ice skaters to cross-country skiers and they will include some from the Outaouais region.
Laura Leclair from Chelsea, Katherine Stewart-Jones from Chelsea and Antoine Cyr from Gatineau, will be part of Team Canada that will head to Beijing. All three athletes will be part of the cross-country ski team.
The other nominated athletes include figure skaters and they include;
Ice Dance
Laurence Fournier Beaudry (Greenfield Park, Que.) and Nikolaj Sørensen (Montréal, Que.)
Piper Gilles (Toronto, Ont.) and Paul Poirier (Unionville, Ont.)
Marjorie Lajoie (Boucherville, Que.) and Zachary Lagha (St-Hubert, Que.)
Men’s singles
Keegan Messing (Girdwood, Ont.)
Roman Sadovsky (Vaughan, Ont.)
Pairs
Vanessa James (Montreal, Que.) and Eric Radford (Balmertown, Ont.)
Kirsten Moore-Towers (St. Catharines, Ont.) and Michael Marinaro (Sarnia, Ont)
Six of the 13 figure skaters will be making their Olympic debuts.
“Going to the Olympic Winter Games is just such a dream,” said Madeline Schizas, who will make her Olympic debut. “I watched the 2010 Games in Vancouver. I watched Joannie Rochette there, and since then it’s just been such a dream of mine and I’m so happy that I was able to accomplish being named to the team.”
As one of Canada’s most successful sports at the Olympic Winter Games, figure skating has granted 29 Olympic medals, six of which are gold.
“I am very pleased to welcome the members of the figure skating team to Team Canada,” said Catriona Le May Doan, Team Canada’s Beijing 2022 Chef de Mission. “Canada has had such an incredible history of success in the sport of figure skating and the athletes heading to Beijing have had great mentors over the years. We will continue the tradition of excellence in the sport with this team that is made up of those with Olympic experience and some rookies. The precision and grace that these athletes carry on and off the ice inspire me and I look forward to watching them compete for Canada in Beijing.”
Note that as part of the nomination process, all athletes’ nominations are subject to approval by the Canadian Olympic Committee’s Team Selection Committee following its receipt of nominations from all National Sport Organizations.