Team Canada recently unveiled its list of 338 athletes heading to the Paris 2024 Olympics. And it spans multiple generations.
Along with the large variety of events the maple leaf will be represented in, there is also a significant age disparity among the country’s team members.
Canada’s youngest athlete is 14-year-old skateboarder Fay De Fazio Ebert. Meanwhile, the nation’s eldest team members are technically old enough to be her grandparents.
On the men’s side, 59-year-old Canadian equestrian team member Mario Deslauriers will compete in his fifth Games.
Deslauriers, a two-time Canadian Show Jumping Champion, made his Olympic debut before many of Canada’s athletes were even born. The Saint-Jean, Quebec, native first took part in the Olympics in 1984, finishing fourth individually and helping Canada to another fourth-place team finish in 1988.
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He recently returned to the Canadian team, competing in the 2018 World Equestrian Games and 2019 Pan American Games. In Tokyo 2020, three decades after his first Olympic appearance, Deslauriers finished 22nd in the final.
However, he is a few years younger than fellow Canadian equestrianist Jill Irving.
As one of the nation’s top dressage talents, Irving, 61, will make her Olympic debut when she and her mount Arthur hit the Paris track later this month.
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The reigning Pan American Games champion in team dressage is coming off a gold medal win in Lima, Peru, in 2019.
Since 2013, the Moncton, New Brunswick, resident has consistently placed in the top ten at major events and won several prestigious competitions. Notably, she helped Canada win its first gold team medal at the 2017 Nations Cup.
Irving is Canada’s oldest Olympic team member since Ian Millar competed in the London Games in 2012 at the age of 65.
A total of nine athletes over the age of 40 will represent Canada in Paris.
Along with Deslauriers and Irving, five other seasoned equestrian team members will suit up at the Games: Michael Winter (49), Amy Millar (47), Erryn Ballard (43), Karl Slezak (42), and Jessica Phoenix (40).
Meanwhile, 43-year-old Alena Sharp will attempt to bring Canada glory on the golf course.
Perhaps most impressive of all is 44-year-old distance runner Malindi Elmore, who will take part in her fourth Olympics after making her international debut in the 1500m 20 years ago.
The 2024 Olympic Games kick off on July 26 and conclude on August 11.
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