Local athletes to watch as Olympic Games Paris 2024 get underway | CBC News

The opening ceremonies for the Olympic Games Paris 2024 will be held Friday and there are local athletes to cheer on over the course of the next two weeks.

But some of the action gets underway Thursday, including Kitchener’s Eric Peters who will take part in the qualifying round for men’s individual archery.

Below are the local athletes you’ll want to watch and cheer for over the next two weeks, listed in alphabetical order.

Natalie Achonwa, Basketball

Natalie Achonwa, 31, of Guelph currently plays for the Minnesota Lynx in the WNBA  and this is her fourth Olympic Games. The team placed eighth at London 2012, seventh at Rio 2016, and ninth at Tokyo 2020. 

She was first selected for Team Canada when she was 16 and, at that time, she was the youngest player to ever compete on the senior women’s basketball team.

She says going to the Olympics in Paris will be “very magical” with the events being held with the city as a backdrop.

“Knowing the sacrifice, the time, everything that has gone into getting to this point, a fourth Olympics would be legacy securing, for sure,” she says in an Olympic bio provided to CBC Sports.

“To know that we’ve gotten Canada basketball to a point that we are expecting to be in the Olympics, that would be truly an honour.”  

When to watch: Canada takes on France on Monday, followed by Australia on Aug. 1.

WATCH | Natalie Achonwa on WNBA coming to Toronto, and her fourth Olympic Games:

Corey Conners, Golf

Corey Conners, 32, of Listowel will be taking part in his second Olympic Games, having previously competed in Tokyo in 2020 where he finished in 13th place.

Conners golfs in the PGA and earned his second career PGA Tour victory in 2023 at the Valero Texas Open.

When to watch: Round 1 of golf is on Aug. 1.

WATCH | Corey Conners qualifies for Paris 2024, will represent Canada with Nick Taylor:

Corey Conners qualifies for Paris 2024, will represent Canada with Nick Taylor

Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., finishes tied for ninth place at the U.S. Open to capture the second Olympic spot for Canada in men’s golf. Conners will be joined in Paris by Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., who secured the top spot.

Ben Flanagan, 5,000 m

Ben Flanagan, 29, of Kitchener said on his Instagram account that he’s “absolutely honoured to represent Canada at my first Olympic Games.”

He called the opportunity a “dream come true for me,” in a post on July 2 when it was announced he would be part of Team Canada.

His Athletics Canada profile says Flanagan has been competing since 2010, when he took part in the Legion Canadian Youth Championships in Ottawa and the AO Bantam Midget Youth Championships in London, Ont.

In 2023, he finished 23 in the 5,000 m at the World Championships, and took home gold in the Canadian Championshps. He’s also the 10 km Canadian record holder.

When to watch: The heats for the 5,000 m will take place on Aug. 7. The final is scheduled for Aug. 10.

Tristan Jankovics, Swimming

Tristan Jankovics, 20, of Puslinch qualified for the Olympics when he won the men’s 400m individual medley at the Olympic Swimming Trials in May. 

He started swimming competitively when he was five and has represented Canada internationally at the 2022 Junior Pan Pacific Championships where he placed seventh in the 100m backstroke, 12th in the 200m backstroke, 12th in the 200m individual medley and 14th in the 100m breaststroke. He currently competes collegiately for The Ohio State University.

When to watch: The men’s 400m individual medley takes place Sunday.

Jamal Murray, Basketball

Jamal Murray, 27, plays for the Denver Nuggets but got his start on basketball courts in the Stanley Park area of Kitchener.

“We kind of made that court kind of popular because no one really played on that court before and we started having three-on-threes and started to have a lot of runs there and people would just come and watch,” Murray told CBC Toronto’s Dwight Drummond.

“I didn’t need anybody to teach me to play,” Murray said of basketball, saying his father taught him everything he knows about the sport.

“I’ve always had a love for the game, I’ve always wanted to be the best and play at a high level.”

When to watch: Canada’s men’s basketball team takes on Greece in their first game Saturday. Their second game is July 30 against Australia.

WATCH | Jamal Murray and coach Jordi Fernández gear up for Paris 2024:

From the NBA to Team Canada: Jamal Murray and coach Jordi Fernández gear up for the Summer Games

Canada’s men’s basketball team is days away from competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The roster is stacked with GTA talent, including Jamal Murray. The 27-year-old from Kitchener plays for the Denver Nuggets. He tells CBC’s Dwight Drummond about his untraditional training and how he credits his dad for his skills on the court.

Eric Peters, Archery

Eric Peters, 27, of Kitchener, Ont., will make his Olympic debut in Paris.

Peters won silver in men’s recurve at the 2023 Archery World Championships — the best-ever result for a Canadian.

Peters says he got into archery when he was 11 after reading about it in fantasy novels. He started competing at the age of 12 and started going to provincial national and international events when he was 13.

He’s a University of Waterloo graduate with a bachelor of science.

Besides archery, he also enjoys Magic the Gathering, rock climbing, video games and cooking.

When to watch: Archery events get underway Thursday July 25 with the men’s individual ranking round. The men’s individual elimination round will take place July 30.

Tyler Rorke, Cycling

Tyler Rorke, 21, of Baden will be attending his first Olympics and he will be competing in both the men’s sprint and the men’s team sprint.

He started cycling at the age of 13 on a mountain bike and got into track cycling the following winter.

He won gold in the men’s team sprint at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games alongside James Hedgcock and Nick Wammes. Just a few months prior, he had won gold with Hedgcock and Wammes in the men’s team sprint at the 2023 Pan American Championships.

When to watch: The men’s team sprint qualifying round will take place Aug. 5 with the finals on Aug. 6. The men’s sprint qualifying round will take place Aug. 7 with the finals on Aug. 8.

Claire Scheffel, Artistic Swimming

Claire Scheffel, 20, is from Brantford and trains in Elmira. This is her first time at the Olympics.

She first joined the senior national program in 2021 and competed at the World Aquatics Championships in 2022. She was initially an alternate, but ended up competing after a teammate was injured.

She competed in all three team routines to help Canada qualify a full team for Paris 2024. She also helped Canada win bronze at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games. 

Her Team Canada bio says her favourite motto is: “Just keep swimming.”

When to watch: The team will hit the water to do their technical routine on Aug. 5, their free routine on Aug. 6 and the acrobatic routine on Aug. 7.

How to watch the Olympics

CBC will provide extensive live coverage of the Olympic Games Paris 2024. 

Coverage will be across CBC and partner networks TSN and Sportsnet, CBC Gem, the CBC Paris 2024 website and the CBC Paris 2024 app.

CBC’s coverage will include Olympians, Paralympians, World Champions, experienced broadcasters and fresh faces. CBC/Radio-Canada will also provide Indigenous language coverage for 3×3 basketball, canoe/kayak, skateboarding and wrestling in Cree, Innu and Atikamekw, as well as basketball in Inuktitut. 

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