(Toronto) Canada will have the biggest badminton team in its history at the Tokyo Olympics, the Canadian Olympic Committee and Badminton Canada announced on Wednesday.
Eight Canadian athletes secured their tickets to Japan by virtue of their performances throughout the Olympic qualification period which officially ended on June 15.
They are Rachel Honderich, Jason Ho-Shue, Joshua Hurlburt-Yu, Michelle Li, Kristen Tsai, Josephine Wu, Nyl Yakura and Brian Yang. These will therefore represent the maple leaf during the badminton events, which will be played from July 24 to August 2 at the Musashino Forest Sports Center.
With at least one athlete qualified in each of the events on the program, Canada will be one of nine countries that will be in action across the board in Tokyo.
This wave of Canadian badminton success has been brewing for several years now.
In 2015, Canada captured six medals at the Pan American Games in Toronto (one gold, three silver and two bronze) and qualified two athletes for the Rio Olympics in 2016. Then, at the Pan American Games in Lima in 2019, the Canadiens won eight medals – four gold, three silver and one bronze.
