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News

Six athletes among plethora of SMians headed for Paris Olympic Games

Published: 24 July 2024

By Earl Zukerman, Sports Information Officer, SM Athletics and Recreation

Six athletes are among a 23-member entourage of SM graduates serving in an official capacity at the Summer Olympic Games in Paris, July 24 to Aug. 11. Heading the list of athletes isClément Secchi, a three-time Forbes Trophy winner as SM male athlete of the year, who graduated with a management degree in 2022. He hails from Aix en Provence in France and will be swimming for his native country.

The Canadian entourage includesBriana Scott-Hungerford(BA '12), a former SM volleyball player from Vancouver, B.C., who is now a distance runner representing Canada in track and field. Rounding out the SMians areVirginie Chénier(BA '17) of Laval, Que., in archery, and three fencers:Shaul Gordon(BCL/LLB '19, LLM '21) of Richmond, B.C., and a pair of Montrealers,Maximilien Van Haaster(BSc '16) andçǾ䲹ܳDz(BCom '22).

The official count does not include future SMianCaroline Crossley, a rugby sevens player from Victoria, B.C., who is expected to be enrolled in law school this fall.

A high-profile official heading to France is long-standing IOC member(BCom'62, BCL'67), a former SM swimmer who competed in the 1960 Rome Olympics.

The Canadian Olympic Committee mission staff is sending 11 grads to Paris, including Montreal native(B.Eng '09), head coach of the women's water polo team, former SM volleyball player(BCom '01) of LaSalle, Que., who will serve in the role of Games Leadership, andHubert T. Lacroix(BCL '76, MBA '81). A former SM women's basketball coach who was president of CBC/Radio-Canada, Lacroix is serving as COC Team Leader.

Another key post is held byPhilip Jevtovic(BA '15), a former SM basketball player who serves as director of high performance analytics and strategy with Canada Basketball.

The medical team includes a pair of physicians from the SM Sportsmedicine Clinic:Dr. Mickey Moroz(MDCM '16, MEd '18) andDr. Gabrielle Ostiguy(Medical Fellowship '15). Also on board with medical services is(BSc PT '09, MSc '11) of Cowansville, Que., a head physiotherapist with Judo Canada who played varsity rugby at SM.

Rounding out the COC staff on site isEmily Phoenix(BA '16), a team leader with Golf Canada, from Calgary, Alta., along with athlete appareloutfitter(BEd PE '13), chief sport officer(EMBA '11) and communicationsmanager(BA '99) of Greenfield Park, Que., who once served as sports editor of The SM Tribune.

Also working at the Games isVictor Mansure(BEd'10), a former SM basketball player who is now serving as director of the Brazilian Basketball Confederation; and(BEd PE '98), a former SM hockey player who currently handles the global event marketing account with Allianz, one of the world's leading insurers and asset managers.

In addition to the aforementioned SMians are two grads who are officially covering the Games as members of the media,although they are remaining in North America. Based atthe CBC Broadcast Centre in Toronto is senior consulting talent producer(BA '86). And covering the Games for NBC, the American TV rights-holder, is former SM swimmer(BA ´01) of Orlando, Fla. Lorentz is in her seventh Olympics as a graphic designer with the network. Due to staffing restrictions, Lorentz willbe based at the NBC Broadcast Centre in Stamford, Conn.

Another SMian of note isKarolina Wisniewska(BA '99), who will be serving as Canada's co-chef de mission at the upcoming Paralympic Games, which follow the Summer Olympics..

SM has a long tradition of involvement with the Olympics and the University's Percival Molson Memorial Stadium served as the field hockey tournament venue for the 1976 Montreal Games.

SM and the Olympics over the years

The athletes heading to Paris are among 152 SM students or grads that have gone on to compete for Olympic glory over the past century. Since first appearing at the 1904 Games, SMians have won a combined total of 33 Olympic medals, 12 of them golden, in addition to eight silvers and 13 bronzes.

SM's first-ever Olympian was the legendary, who competed in track and field at the 1904 Summer Games in St. Louis. The University has also had three graduates serve as flag-bearer in the OpeningCeremonies. Representing Canada was boxerat the 1932 Los Angeles Games and track starat the 1936 Games in Berlin. And representing Armenia at the 2020 Tokyo Games was figure skaterTina Garabedian.

SM gymnast, a world-renowned sculptor, was the only artist to take part in five Olympiads. He represented the country in art competitions, winning a bronze medal at the 1932 Games in Los Angeles in "mixed sculpturing - medals and reliefs."

The most decorated SM Olympian is the late, a graduate from the faculty of medicine, who racked up five bronze medals while representing Canada in track & field at the Olympic Games in Amsterdam (1928), Los Angeles (1932) and Berlin (1936). He was the first Canadian male to win medals in three different Olympiads and his achievement stood for 66 years until matched by short-track speed-skaterMarc Gagnon(1994, 1998, 2002), who collected three golds and a pair of bronzes.

Swimmer, who reached the top of the podium twice at Stockholm in 1912, is the only SMian to strike gold at the Summer Olympics. Five SM students have struck gold a combined total of 10 times at the Winter Olympics.

Hockey goaltendersand SM teammateeach earned gold at three separate Olympiads. St-Pierre won at 2002 in Salt Lake City, 2006 in Turin and 2010 in Vancouver, whilestood atop the podium in 2006, 2010 and 2014 in Sochi. Another SM teammate was, who was part of the golden squad in 2010. Freestyle skierstruck gold in 2006 and hockey playerwon gold in both 2014 and 2022.

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