These southern Alberta athletes will represent Canada at the 2024 Paris Olympics

A detail is seen on the closing ceremony 'look' during the unveiling of the Team Canada x lululemon Athlete Kit for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Toronto on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young)

Canada is sending 338 athletes to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris and 21 of them have a connection to southern Alberta.

In total, there are 35 Albertans listed on the Team Canada website that were selected for the games, with several of them hailing from Calgary.

The games’ opening ceremony will take place on July 26 at 12 p.m. MDT, but official competition begins on July 24 continuing until August 11.

Team Canada won 24 medals at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, including seven gold, seven silver and 10 bronze. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the last games took place in the summer of 2021, but the competition was still known as the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Here are some of the hometown athletes you should keep an eye on when the Olympics kick off in Paris.

Jonnie Newman – Artistic Swimming

Jonnie Newman, born in Grand Prairie, Alta., but from Calgary, will represent Canada in artistic swimming as part of her first Olympic games.

She joined the senior national team in 2022, helping Canada win bronze at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games.

Newman, 18, started artistic swimming at the age of 10 after watching the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Rory Linkletter – Athletics

Rory Linkletter, of Calgary, will represent Canada in the men’s marathon competition.

Linkletter qualified to make his Olympics debut after setting a personal best time of 2:08:01 at the Seville Marathon in February.

He previously represented Canada in the 10,000m at the Lima 2019 Pan American Games, finishing sixth.

Yvonne Ejim, Kacie Bosch – Basketball

Yvonne Ejim, of Calgary, and Kacie Bosch, of Lethbridge, Alta., will represent Canada in basketball.

Ejim is preparing for her second major international appearance with the Canadian senior national team after she won a bronze medal at the 2023 FIBA Women’s AmeriCup.

She played college basketball at Gonzaga University, winning the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year and WCC Player of the Year in her senior year in 2023-24.

Bosch is a part of Canada’s 3x3 basketball squad. She made her 3x3 national team debut in 2021 helping Canada to a bronze medal at the FIBA 3x3 AmeriCup.

Bosch finished off her university basketball career by spending four years at the University of Lethbridge and served as an assistant coach for the Pronghorns in 2023.

Sarah Orban – Cycling, Track

Sarah Orban, of Calgary, will represent Canada in the track cycling team sprint event.

Competing in her first Olympics, Orban previously represented Canada at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games, winning bronze in team spring. She also reached the quarterfinals of the individual sprint, finishing sixth overall.

Along with training for track cycling, Orban was also a varsity soccer player and track and field athlete at the University of Lethbridge.

Caeli McKay, Margo Erlam – Diving

Caeli McKay and Margo Erlam, both from Calgary, will represent Canada in diving.

McKay qualified for her second Olympic games in 2024, having also competed in Tokyo in 2020, finishing fourth in synchronized platform 10m.

She started diving at age six after being inspired by seeing Olympic medallists crying on the podium during the 2004 games in Athens.

Erlam is competing in her first Olympics in Paris, after qualifying by winning the women’s 3m springboard event at the Canadian Diving Trials in May.

She started diving at age four, following in the footsteps of her older sister Martine. While she’s originally from Calgary, she moved to Saskatoon at the age of 16 to train with the Saskatoon Diving Club.

Jessica Sevick, Kasia Gruchalla-Wesierski – Rowing

Jessica Sevick, of Strathmore, Alta., and Kasia Gruchalla-Wesierski, of Calgary, will represent Canada on the women’s eight rowing team.

Sevick, born in Victoria, B.C., made her Olympic debut in Tokyo in 2020 where she competed in the double sculls event.

She moved to the women’s eight team in 2022 and helped Canada bring home several medals internationally between 2022 and 2024.

After she was seriously injured while training for luge as a 12 year old, she took up rowing, which eventually led to her attending the University of British Columbia to race for the Thunderbirds and competing in international competitions for Canada.

Gruchalla-Wesierski, born in Montreal, Que., also made her Olympic debut in Tokyo, winning gold for Canada with the women’s eight team – the country’s first Olympic win in the event since 1992.

She grew up as an alpine skier but transitioned to rowing at age 23 after a broken leg ended her skiing career.

Keyara Wardley, Piper Logan, Krissy Scurfield – Rugby

Keyara Wardley, of Vulcan, Alta., Piper Logan, of Calgary, and Krissy Scurfield of Canmore, Alta., will represent Canada in rugby sevens.

Wardley, born in Calgary and now living in Victoria, is preparing for her second Olympics, having suited up for Canada in Tokyo in 2020.

She scored two tries in two games before a hip injury sidelined her for the rest of the tournament.

Wardley started playing rugby sevens at age 16 and made her debut with the senior Canadian sevens team in 2019.

Logan is heading to her first Olympics in Paris and previously represented Canada in the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago.

She has played rugby with the Calgary Hornets and the University of British Columbia.

Scurfield is also heading to her first Olympics. She has suited up as a member of the University of Victoria’s rugby team.

Tye Ikeda, Michele Esercitato – Shooting

Tye Ikeda and Michele Esercitato, of Calgary, will represent Canada in shooting, both making their Olympic debuts.

Ikeda earned an Olympic quota spot for Canada after finishing second in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions at the Continental Championships of the Americas in Buenos Aires, Argentina in April.

He then claimed that spot for himself at the team selection trials in May.

Esercitato, born in Genoa, Italy, earned his spot on the Olympic squad by beating Santiago 2023 Pan Am Games gold medallist Tugrul Ozer at the team selection trials in May.

Lorne Wigginton, Yuri Kisil, Apollo Hess, Ingrid Wilm, Finlay Knox – Swimming

Five athletes from southern Alberta will represent Canada in Paris:

Wigginton, 18, will make his Olympic debut in Paris after making his Team Canada debut at the World Aquatics Championships in 2023, where he was the youngest member of the men’s swimming team at age 17.

He has wanted to compete for Canada since he watched Canadian swimmers win medals at the 2012 games in London.

Kisil is preparing for his third Olympics, having competed in Rio in 2016 and Tokyo 2020.

He had some of his best finishes in 2020, coming in fourth in the 4x100m freestyle relay, and seventh in the 4x100m medley relay.

Hess was named to Team Canada, for his first Olympics, after placing second in the men’s 100m breaststroke at the 2024 Olympic Swimming Trials.

He won five medals at the 2022 U Sports Championships as a member of the University of Lethbridge’s swimming team. His silver medal in the 100m breaststroke was the Pronghorns’ first medal at the championships since 2005.

Wilm was born in Norwich, England, but also lived in Norway, Abu Dhabi, UAE; and Doha, Qatar; all before the age of 12, when her family settled in Calgary.

This will be her first Olympics, after qualifying by finishing second in the 100m backstroke at the 2024 Canadian Olympic Trials. She missed qualifying for the Tokyo Games in 2020 by one spot.

Knox, born in Leeds, England, is heading to his second Olympic games, having competed in Tokyo.

He moved from Leeds to Christchurch, New Zealand, at age two and then to Canada at age seven.

Knox recently won gold in the men’s 200m individual medley (IM) at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships – becoming the first Canadian man to win gold at the championships in 17 years, and Canada’s first world champion in 200m IM since 1978.

Brett Walsh – Volleyball, Indoor

Brett Walsh, from Calgary, will represent Canada in indoor volleyball.

He will make his Olympic debut in Paris. He currently plays pro volleyball with Alterna Stade Poitevin, in France.

Rae Lekness – Water Polo

Rae Lekness, from Calgary, will represent Canada in on the women’s water polo team.

The centre forward has represented both the Calgary Renegades Water Polo Club and San Jose State University.

She is making her Olympic debut in 2024, after taking home a silver medal with Team Canada at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago.