VICTORIA — An experienced group of Olympians and Paralympians will lead Canada’s triathletes into the highly-anticipated 2024 season.

Triathlon Canada officially kicked off the critical 2024 campaign with both the Olympic and Paralympic programs uniting in Henderson, Nevada for a winter training camp. Triathlon Canada named a talented line up of 14 athletes who share dreams of qualifying for Paris 2024 while donning the maple leaf at international competitions this summer.

“This is an inspired group of athletes and coaches who have achieved their performance goals at every step of their development,” said Phil Dunne, high-performance director, Triathlon Canada. “We have a nice blend of veterans and NextGen athletes supporting each other in a healthy environment while pushing each other to achieve their individual and team goals. This camaraderie will be on full display as we bring these two programs together for the first time this week to officially begin the Pathway to Paris.”

Two high-powered Paralympians, Stefan Daniel and Kamylle Frenette, along with the lone Olympian, Tyler Mislawchuk,will headline Canada’s senior squad this year. Three members from Canada’s bronze medal-winning Pan Am Games Team – Emy Legault, Liam Donnelly and Brock Hoel – also earned National Team honours for 2024.

Two-time Paralympic medallist and five-time World Champion, Stefan Daniel (Calgary), will be joined by 2020 Paralympic teammate, Kamylle Frenette (Dieppe, N.B.), and Leanne Taylor (Winnipeg), whowill be hunting down her first Paralympic appearance, in the Para program. A bronze medallist at the 2022 World Championships, and fourth-place finisher at the 2020 Paralympics, Frenette is hungry to get back on the start line for the race to Paris 2024. Taylor earned a spot on the National Team for the second-straight year after four, top-five finishes on the elite Para-triathlon circuit last season that included a fifth-place finish at the World Championships. 

“It is a huge honor to be named to the National Team in a Paralympic year. This off season I have had some big breakthroughs, and I can’t wait to see how I stack up against the best athletes in the world on road to Paris 2024,” said Taylor. 

 A two-time Olympian in Tyler Mislawchuk (Oak Bluff, Man.) along with two rising stars, Emy Legault (L’Île Perrot, Que.), and Charles Paquet (Port Cartier, Que.), top Triathlon Canada’s Olympic stream program in 2024.

Mislawchuk became the first Canadian in the 20-year history of triathlon being in the Olympic programme to win the Olympic Test Event for Tokyo 2020. The 29-year-old’s victory in Tokyo (August 2019) capped off a breakthrough season where he won the first two World Cup races of his career before going on to capture his first ever World Triathlon Series podium by winning the bronze in Montreal in 2019. Mislawchuk posted his second-straight 15th place finish at the Tokyo Olympics. After dealing with a season of injuries and setbacks, he was rejuvenate in his drive to Paris with two ninths, a 12th and five top-15 finishes on the World Triathlon Championship Series in 2023 to go along with another World Triathlon Cup podium – a silver in Huatulco.

The 28-year-old Legault represented Canada at the 2023 Pan American Games where she was part of the bronze medal-winning relay team. Legault also placed sixth in the individual women’s race.

Charles Paquet will be driven to make his Olympic debut in Paris. In addition to being a part of Canada’s silver-medal winning mixed relay team at the 2019 Pan American Games, Paquet has consistenly delivered podium performances on the Americas Cup circuit and is now poised to challenge the world’s best. He had a career best World Triathlon Championship Series finish on home turf in 2023 where he was seventh in Montreal. He also had a sixth place finish and won a bronze medal on the World Triathlon circuit last year.

‘I’m very excited for the year. It is fun to get down to some warm weather and to have the Paralypmic and Olympic streams together is pretty awesome. We cross paths at races, but we don’t often get to do camps together so this is pretty exciting and will be lots of fun,” said Mislawchuk. “I’m pretty excited for the season. It’s a big one. I’m trying to keep it low pressure right now before it builds towards the Games. Everything has been going well over the winter. I know from my last two Olympics, timing is everything. It is okay to start slow because being right, and finishing the job at the end of July is all that mantters.”

Triathlon Canada also named eight athletes from across the country to its National Development Team. The group of three women and five men include: Maïra Carreau (La Prairie, Que.); Sophia Howell (Airdrie, Alta.); Cara MacDonald (Ottawa); Mathis Beaulieu (Quebec City); Liam Donnelly (Campbellville, Ont.); Brock Hoel (West Kelowna, B.C.); Aiden Longcroft-Harris (Victoria); and Filip Mainville (Montreal).

“This young group of athletes have proven they can deliver when it counts at all levels of their development pathway. Each of our National Team athletes in both the Olympic and Paralympic programs have achieved podium results against the best triathletes in the world,” said Phil Dunne. “This is also an extremely promising group of National Development Team athletes who are equally determined to achieve their performance goals. It is our goal to work with our funding partners to ensure this group of athletes have the tools they require to succeed well beyond 2024.”

International development level races begin February 16. The opening race on the World Triathlon Championship Series is set for March 8 in Abu Dhabi. Canada’s Para program will begin their race season in Miami, March 8.

Triathlon Canada is the governing body of the sport in the country. Triathlon Canada’s more than 22,000members include athletes, coaches and officials from the grassroots to elite levels. With the support of its valued corporate partners – 94 FORWARD, Training Peaks, Subaru Canada, Z3R0D, Aquaman, Tribe Solutions, Champion System Canada, BOCO Gear Canada, ZiZU Optics, Outway Performance Socks, SCICON, SportShare, WestJet and FulGaz – along with the City of Victoria, Government of Canada, Canadian Olympic Committee, Canadian Paralympic Committee, and Own the Podium, Triathlon Canada develops Olympic, Paralympic and World Champions in all race disciplines. For more information on Triathlon Canada, please visit us at www.triathloncanada.com. 

*****

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Chris Dornan
Triathlon Canada
T: 403-620-8731
E-mail: chris.dornan@triathloncanada.com