Olympians put Alberta on the map in Rio

From the races in Rio to the roads of Alberta – our athletes are coming home.

Dozens of Team Canada’s 314 athletes hail from our province, and the last leg of them will get a warm welcome when they get back.

A local boy sprinted to a bronze medal finish against some of the fastest men in the world. Crescent Heights High School alum Akeem Haynes was part of the 4×100 men’s relay team that crossed the finish line fourth, but was awarded the bronze after Team U.S.A. was disqualified for an illegal baton exchange.

Calgary’s Allison Beveridge helped Canada make an early appearance on the podium, taking the bronze in Team Pursuit Cycling. The University of Calgary kinesiology student raced with teammate and Dinos alumni Kirsti Lay in the four-kilometre race, finishing in four minutes 14.627 seconds.

Jen Kish of Edmonton and Ashley Steacy of Lethbridge also captured bronze with the Women’s Rugby Sevens team. Helping with a repeat bronze medal performance from the London Olympics, Stephanie Labbe stood on the podium with the Canadian Women’s National Soccer Team.

And while she’s not an Alberta-made product, Erica Wiebe has called Calgary home while training with the University of Calgary Dinos for the last eight years. She took home the gold in women’s wrestling in the 75 kg weight class. Wiebe is the first Dinos alum to win an individual Olympic gold medal since 1992.

While they made it to the quarterfinals, Calgary’s Ben Saxton and Chaim Schalk of Red Deer lost to the Dutch in beach volleyball. The indoor team was eliminated at the same stage in Rio, with locals Rudy Verhoeff and Graham Vigrass on the roster.

It wasn’t a medal finish for Calgary swimmer Jason Block who finished the 100 metre breast stroke in 24th place and raced with the men’s 4x100m medley team that finished in the 16th spot.

There were 32 Alberta Olympians who competed in Rio, 17 of them were from Calgary.