10 Canadians We Can’t Wait to Watch Compete in Rio

Mark Oldershaw

Event: Canoe 1000m

You could say Oldershaw was raised on the water with a paddle in his hand. He is a third generation Olympian, and the fifth member in his family to make it to the Olympics. This will be his third time at the games. During the 2012 London games, he captured bronze in the 1,000-meter race.

Brooke Henderson

Event: Golf

By preschool she was swinging a 3 iron, and at 10 she placed second in the ladies’ club tournament in her hometown of Smiths Falls. At just 18-years-old, Henderson is one of the top three female golf players in the world. She’s the reigning women’s PGA Champion, and was voted the Canadian female athlete of the year in 2015.

Melissa Bishop

Event: 800m

Last summer, Bishop took home gold at the Pan Am Games in Toronto in her marquee event, the 800m. She ran a career-best 1:57:52, making her the current national record holder and first Canadian woman to finish below the minute 58 seconds mark. Bishop is hoping to improve upon her 2012 Olympics performance where she was unable to advance beyond the heats.

Ryan Cochrane

Event: Swimming, 400m and 1,500m Freestyle

Cochrane is the co-captain of the Canadian swim team, and has been labeled the person who saved Canadian swimming. He has more medals than any other athlete in Canadian history for the sport, and is a safe bet to add to the total in Rio.

Micah Powell

Event: 4x400m

Powell comes from good running genes-her mom, Canadian TV personality, Rosey Edeh and dad, Mike Powell (who holds the world long jump record) are both track and field Olympians. Micah began her athletic career in tennis and was inspired to switch lanes while watching the 2012 track and field Games on television.

Andrea Seccafien

Event: 5,000m

Andrea’s mom was a recreational runner who inspired her to pick up the sport. Don’t let her small stature fool you; she’s a force on the track. This will be the elite distance runner’s first Olympics, dedicating the race to the memory of her mom.

Rosie MacLennan

Event: Trampoline

The 27-year-old has the honour of being the flag-bearer for Canada at the opening ceremonies. MacLennan competed in both the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, winning Canada’s first-ever gold medal and reaching a career-high score.

Reid Coolsaet

Event: Marathon

Coolsaet made the leap from long-distance runner to a marathoner in 2009, taking home the national title for the first time. He continues to be a record-breaker, and in 2011 clocked a 2:10:28 finish making him the second-fastest marathoner in Canadian history, just 19 seconds off the Canadian record.

Derek Drouin

Event: High Jump

As a kid, Drouin followed his older sister, Jillian to the track, trying high jump like her. She switched her focus to heptathlon and Derek stuck to high jump. Now, the 6’5″ athlete is the Canadian national record holder with a jump of 7 feet 10 inches, and is also the reigning high jump world champion.

Mohammed Ahmed

Event: 5,000m & 10,000m

Ahmed moved to Canada from Somalia when he was 11, and by 13 he followed in his brothers’ tracks and picked up running. In his Olympic debut in London in 2012, he finished a respectable 18th. No stranger to international success, Ahmed captured gold in the 10,000m for Canada at last year’s Pan Am Games in Toronto.

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