Canada finishes 14-day Youth Olympics with 5 medals in Senegal
Canada finished with five medals in four sports as the Summer Youth Olympics concluded Friday in Dakar, Senegal.
Fencer Simon Shan, boxer Mehreen Khakh named flag-bearers for closing ceremony
The Canadian Press
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Canada finished with five medals in four sports as the Summer Youth Olympics concluded Friday in Dakar, Senegal.
The 28-member Canadian team won one gold, one silver and three bronze medals at the 14-day Games, which brought together nearly 2,700 athletes representing 204 national Olympic committees.
China led with 33 medals, followed by Japan with 28, while the Russian Federation and Mexico tied with 14 each. Egypt and host Senegal collected 12 apiece, the most for African countries at the first Olympic sporting event held on the continent.
Three of Canada's medals came Wednesday, when Simon Shan of West Vancouver, B.C., became the country's first Youth Olympic fencing champion with gold in men's individual epee, while boxers Mehreen Khakh of Kitchener, Ont., and Lisandro Garcia Rebelo of Mississauga, Ont., earned bronze in the women's 51-kilogram and men's 55-kilogram divisions, respectively.
During the opening week, Anes Mati of Anjou, Que., won silver in men's 66 kg judo, while 14-year-old Evie Pritchard of Nanaimo, B.C., Canada's youngest athlete, took bronze in women's street skateboarding, which made its Games debut.
Shan and Khakh were named Canada's flag-bearers for Friday's closing ceremony.
For Shan, 16, the victory in Dakar was his first international gold medal.
Earlier this year, Shan captured silver at the FIE Cadet world championships, following his bronze from last year.
“I’m feeling great. I’m very happy, very excited. I don’t think I’ve fully processed it yet. I’m just very grateful to be able to come here, represent Canada and win,” said Shan.
'Good experience to be a medallist'
The 17-year-old Mati was the first Canadian athlete to reach the medal podium in Dakar. He is the reigning cadet world champion in the event, and will be competing at the junior world championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan next week.
“I’m really happy to have been able to get this medal and add it to my medal collection,” he said. “It’s a really good experience to be a medallist and to know that I have a medal at the Youth Olympic Games."
Khakh, 17, was the first Canadian woman to compete in boxing at the Youth Olympics.
All the preparation and hard work back home ... has been great.Canadian boxer Lisandro Garcia Rebelo
“I feel super proud that I get to not only represent my country, but represent my people, represent my background,” said Khakh. “I started boxing five years ago just for the exercise. I’d never even thought I would have a fight, let alone be at the Youth Olympic Games, being the first-ever Canadian female boxer.”
Rebelo discovered boxing through conditioning classes for football when he was 12 years old.
“The journey has been great," said Rebelo, now 17. "All the preparation and hard work back home, everything leading up to this tournament, has been great. Now we just have to keep moving forward and doing what we do best.”
At 14, Pritchard was the youngest Canadian athlete in Senegal.
She is the top-ranked Canadian woman in the World Skate street rankings at 20th, and will use this multi-sport Games experience during her pursuit to qualify for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
“I’m just really glad to be representing Canada," she said. "I love inspiring people and I’m just really happy. I had a lot of fun, and everyone else did so well."
WATCH | Pritchard picks up Canada's second medal in Dakar:
B.C.'s Evie Pritchard wins skateboard bronze medal at Youth Olympic Games
November 5|
Duration
3:06
14-year-old Evie Pritchard of Nanaimo, B.C., scored a total of 137.79 points to claim a bronze medal in the skateboarding women's street final, at the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal.KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.