Eleven athletes with connections to York University took part in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, and brought York Lions pride to the world stage of excellence in sport. York undergraduate student Katie Vincent earned a bronze medal for Canada with her partner Laurence Vincent-Lapointe in the Canoe Sprint, contributing to the nation’s final medal count of 24 (seven gold, six silver and 11 bronze).
Competing in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics were:
Jason Ho-Shue (Badminton), a Canadian badminton player and a student in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies.
Results: Men’s Doubles – Rank: 9; lost games in the group play stage; didn’t advance to next round
Katie Vincent (Canoe-Kayak), an undergraduate student in York’s Faculty of Health and a canoe-kayak sprint athlete.
Results: Canoe Sprint – Women’s Canoe Single 200m – Finished eighth in the final with a time of 47.834
Canoe Sprint – Women’s Canoe Double 500m – Bronze medal with a finish time of 1:59.041
Brandie Wilkerson (Beach Volleyball), who attended York until 2014 and starred for the women’s volleyball team during her time with the Lions.
Results: Rank: 5 (eliminated by Latvia in quarterfinal)
Melissa Humana-Paredes (Beach Volleyball), a York alumna who previously played for four years for the Lions.
Results: Rank: 5 (eliminated by Australia in the quarterfinal after going undefeated for every round prior)
Shady El Nahas (Judo), a York alumnus who competed as a wrestler at York in 2017.
Results: Men – 100 kg – Rank: 5; made it through to the contest for the bronze medal and lost to Portugal
Brittany Crew (Shot Put), a decorated former Lion with multiple medal-winning performances at international competition and recently earned a slew of impressive awards for York at the national stage.
Results: Athletics – Women’s Shot Put – Finished; no rank
Pierce Lepage (Decathlon), a runner who graduated from York University in 2019 with a degree in interdisciplinary social science.
Results: Athletics – Men’s Decathlon – Rank: 5
Bismark Boateng (Track & Field), who competed in track at York after transferring from Ryerson where he initially competed in soccer.
Results: Athletics – Men’s 100m – Finished eighth in Round 1 heat with a time of 10.47; did not advance
Athletics – Men’s 4 x 100m Relay – Finished; no rank
Khamica Bingham (Track & Field), a 2020 humanities graduate and highly decorated track and field competitor.
Results: Athletics – Women’s 100m – Placed fifth in semi-final heat with a time of 11.22; did not advance to final
Arthur Szwarc (Indoor Volleyball), who was a Lion for two seasons, earning accolades in both years for men’s volleyball.
Results: Rank: 8 (eliminated by Russian Olympic Committee in quarterfinal)
Syed Muhammad Haseeb Tariq (Swimming), a York University graduate from the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies and former member of the York University Lions competitive swim team.
Results: Men’s 100m Freestyle – Placed sixth in his heat with a time of 53.81; did not advance
Other notable York affiliations
Two York-affiliated athletic therapists also joined the Canadian Olympic team. Alumna Andrea Prieur, a certified athletic therapist, was part of the Health Services team and alumna Natalie Ghobrial was with the women’s softball team as their athletic therapist.
Two York graduates were heard on the broadcasts during events: Lance Winn, who graduated from York with a political science degree in 1991, called the play-by-play for the softball tournament on CBC, where Canada earned a bronze medal; and Andi Petrillo, an English and mass communications graduate, who split time with the legendary Scott Russell as studio host for the main CBC coverage.
Behind the scenes, Anne-Marie Thuss was a member of the women’s basketball team’s staff as team manager. Her squad finished the round robin with a 1-2 record and did not advance to the quarterfinal due to point differential. Thuss competed with the Lions in the 1980s.