ASC: The Aboriginal Sport Circle congratulates Indigenous athletes competing in the Paris 2024 Olympics

July 26, 2024

Ottawa, ON - The Aboriginal Sport Circle (ASC) is thrilled to congratulate Indigenous athletes representing Team Canada at the Paris 2024 Olympics and wishes them every success at the Games. A collective of Provincial/Territorial Aboriginal Sports bodies, the ASC is Canada's national voice for sport, physical activity, and recreation for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people.

"In a real sense, these athletes have already won," says Vanessa McGregor, Interim Executive Director of the ASC. "They have worked so hard for so many years to get to the pinnacle of their sport internationally. In gaining a place to compete at the Olympics, they make their families, communities, and all Indigenous People in the country proud."

The Indigenous contingent at Paris includes at least five athletes at the Olympic Games and one at the Paralympic Games, which will begin in late August.

Apollo Hess, a 21-year-old swimmer and member of the Kainai Nation in southern Alberta, will be competing in his first Olympics this year. Wrestler Justina Di Stasio, a former world champion from Norway House Cree Nation, will represent Canada in the women's 76-kg weight class. Margo Erlam, a 21-year-old spring board diver based in Saskatoon, is Métis, as is Fynn McCarthy, a member of the Canadian men's volleyball team from Lake Country, British Columbia.

Just named on July 22, 25-year-old rugby player Shalaya Valenzuela, a member of Tseshaht First Nation, rounds out the Indigenous Olympic Games contingent. At the Paralympic Games at the end of August, Desiree Isaac-Pictou of Eel River First Nation will represent Canada on the wheelchair basketball team.

The ASC will cheer on these Indigenous Olympians over the next month, alongside millions of other Canadians tuning into the Games. These athletes are true role models, inspiring Indigenous youth in sport across the country.

For more information about the ASC and the provincial and territorial Aboriginal sports bodies its work supports, please visit our website at www.aboriginalsportcircle.ca.

Know any other Indigenous athletes who have qualified for Team Canada at the 2024 Paris Olympics? If so, let us know at: ascoffice@aboriginalsportcircle.ca.

 

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