(Toronto) The Canadian Olympic Committee and the Canadian badminton team announced Wednesday that Canada will host the largest badminton team in its history at the Tokyo Olympics.
Eight Canadian athletes got their tickets to Japan thanks to their performance throughout the Olympic qualification period, which officially ended on June 15.
They are Rachel Hunderrich, Jason Hu Xu, Joshua Hurlburt Yu, Michelle Lee, Kristen Tsai, Josephine Wu, Neil Yakura and Brian Young. This will represent the maple leaf during the badminton events, which will take place from July 24 to August 2 at the Musashino Forest Sports Center.
With at least one qualified athlete in each event of the program, Canada will be one of nine countries that will participate in an all-out competition in Tokyo.
This wave of successes in Canadian badminton has been brewing for several years now.
In 2015, Canada claimed six medals at the Pan American Games in Toronto (one gold, three silver and two bronze) and two athletes qualified for the Rio Olympics in 2016. Then, at the Pan American Games in Lima in 2019, Canadians won eight medals Four gold, three silver and one bronze.