Vancouver police officer representing Canada at Paris Olympics
This year’s Paris Summer Olympics will feature a Canadian athlete with an interesting day job.
Amar Dhesi is not only a world-class wrestler, he also works as a police officer with the Vancouver Police Department (VPD). He’ll be representing both his country and his workplace at the Olympics this summer.
Dhesi got a nice sendoff from VPD Deputy Chief Steve Rai on social media who sent out a positive message wishing his coworker luck.
Good luck to @VancouverPD's Constable Amar Dhesi, heading to summer #OlympicGames in a few weeks carrying two flags-#Canada & #VPD. Thanks for dropping by with a #TeamCanada memto! #HardWorkPaysOff #rolemodel #joinvpd #WrestlingCommunity @CityofVancouver #2024ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/ZzkdprpZob
— DCC Steve Rai (@DeputyChiefRai) June 27, 2024
Dhesi was born in Surrey, British Columbia. His dad Balbir was a strong wrestler in India before moving to Canada and helped coach Dhesi when he was growing up.
This will be the 28-year-old’s second time competing at the Olympics as he also competed at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Games where he finished 13th in the 125kg wrestling event. One of his biggest career highlights came when he won a gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in the same weight class.
Dhesi qualified for this summer’s event by finishing in the top-two spots at this year’s Pan American Olympic Qualifier.
While he’s had a decorated career on the world stage, Dhesi’s profile on the Canadian Olympic website still lists his gold medal at Grade 9 British Columbia Provincials as one of his proudest moments across his wrestling days.
The opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics takes place on July 26. Canada earned 19 medals in total at the last summer games, including five gold medals. The nation’s record for medals at a summer games came in Los Angeles in 1984, when it recorded 44.
This year’s Paris Olympics run until August 11, when the closing ceremonies will take place.
Canada has earned 17 medals in wrestling events across Olympics history. The most recent was during the Rio 2016 Olympics when Erica Wiebe won a gold medal in the 75kg weight class.
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