Olympics Archives - Queen's Journal

Queen’s students, past and present, reflect on competing at the Tokyo Olympic Games

Written on September 2, 2021. Posted in Sports.

For some, the Tokyo Olympics were more than just a highlight to watch on TV. Students from Queen’s—past and present—were among those competing at this year’s Summer Games. The Journal reached out to three of these athletes to learn more about their experiences. Ali Ten Hove, Sci ’19, a Canadian sailor...

Queen’s rower qualifies for Tokyo Olympics

Written on June 28, 2021. Posted in Sports.

Gavin Stone, Sci ’19, a Queen’s student and member of the Canadian National Rowing Team, has secured a spot at the Tokyo 2021 Olympics after qualifying in Lucerne, Switzerland at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta. Stone and his Canadian rowing teammates will be representing Canada alongside...

The world needs to boycott the Beijing Olympics. Canada should take the lead.

Written on March 2, 2021. Posted in Editorials.

In 1936, the world was faced with a choice: either attend the Berlin Olympics, hosted by the Nazi regime, or stay home in protest of Germany’s brutal human’s rights violations. We chose wrong. Those Olympics have since been dubbed the ‘games of shame’ due to the world’s willing ignorance of Germany’s...

Hugh Fraser: a trailblazer on the oval and in the courtroom

Written on February 26, 2021. Posted in Sports.

When he was seven years old and new to the country, Hugh Fraser had the Canadian right of passage of experiencing his first snowfall. “I remember running outside and jumping without even putting on my coat. It was something I’d only seen pictures of.” 17 years later, he was entering Montreal’s Olympic...

‘Whatever it takes to get there’: Gavin Stone resets with Olympic postponement

Written on July 27, 2020. Posted in Sports.

In Gavin Stone’s average day, few hours go wasted. Waking up before 5:00 a.m., he’s at the boathouse by 5:30 for a gruelling row of up to 20km and does some form of cross-training in the afternoon. This has been Stone’s daily regimen for the past four years, and it was supposed to culminate in...

Tessa Virtue among 11 former Team Canada athletes starting at Smith School of Business

Written on May 19, 2020. Posted in News.

Queen’s is preparing to welcome a new wave of student-athletes after Smith School of Business and the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) announced the Team Canada Class of 2020-22 on April 3. The program is facilitated by a COC initiative called Game Plan, which recruits and advises athletes who are...

Outcry against trans Olympians denies athletes recognition

Written on March 15, 2019. Posted in Editorials.

Arguing that transgender athletes have an unfair physical advantage sidelines the systemic struggles trans individuals face in day-to-day life—let alone professional sports. British cisgender female Olympians have recently mobilized to criticize transgender women’s inclusion in women’s professional...

From varsity athlete to Olympic hopeful in 11 months

Written on January 25, 2019. Posted in Sports, Volleyball.

Jackie Boyle was certain she’d walked into the wrong gym. Full of 14 year-olds, the ARC looked more like a middle school class than somewhere unproven young athletes could take aim at their Olympic dreams. She hadn’t prepared whatsoever—her mom had signed her up on a whim. Six months later, the fourth-year...

The best stories from the 2018 Winter Olympics

Written on March 2, 2018. Posted in Lifestyle.

Now that this year’s Winter Olympics have come to a close, we find ourselves being confronted with the responsibilities we’ve ignored for the past two weeks re-entering our lives. As midterms, essays and projects come back into view, it’s time to start grasping for any Olympics-related content to...

Don’t dilute the quality of the Olympics for personal gain

Written on March 2, 2018. Posted in Editorials.

If you watched Elizabeth Swaney stroll down the halfpipe at the Olympics and thought, “hey, that could’ve been me,” you’re not alone. As a fan of the games, I tune in not to watch just anyone, but rather to see the best in the world compete. More often than not, professional athletes and Olympians...

This Olympics, make the effort to support female athletes

Written on February 15, 2018. Posted in Lifestyle.

One of the most memorable days of my senior year in high school happened in the midst of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. During the Canada versus USA semifinal men’s hockey game, my school projected the game onto the large screen in our gymnasium. Students were excused from class to watch, teachers...

Why I hate sports but love the Olympics

Written on February 13, 2018. Posted in Lifestyle.

On the morning of Feb. 9, I ran downstairs from my bedroom to the living room and eagerly awaited the start of the 2018 Winter Olympics. My excitement was met by an equal amount of confusion from my housemates. Despite being upset by their complete lack of Olympic enthusiasm, their confusion was justified...

Olympic hopefuls flock to Queen’s

Written on September 29, 2017. Posted in Sports.

Dreams of becoming a Canadian Olympic athlete aren’t as lofty as they once seemed. This Saturday, one of four province-wide RBC Training Ground sites — a funding program designed to uncover Canadian athletes with Olympic potential — is being hosted by Queen’s at the Athletics and Recreation Centre....

Once in a lifetime experience in Rio

Written on September 9, 2016. Posted in Sports.

It’s often believed that one of the many roles of coaches is to help inspire athletes. Due to concussions and shoulder surgery, Rose LaBreche was forced to retire from rugby in 2010 while at Queen’s. With her time as a student athlete over, women’s rugby head coach Beth Barz suggested that to stay...

Olympics not worth the asking price

Written on June 27, 2016. Posted in Editorials.

The Olympic Games create historical memories, writing the world’s best athletes into sports folklore. But after the final ceremony, when the athletes have left and people flock to their outbound flights, what’s left for the host? Oftentimes the economic demands of the Olympics are too high for less...

Former Queen's rugby player is Rio bound

Written on June 6, 2016. Posted in Sports.

As Rugby Sevens makes its inaugural appearance at the fast approaching Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janerio, former Gael Rose LaBreche (BSc. ’10), will make history as one of 12 women’s rugby match officials. LaBreche is also representing Canada in this prestigious role as the sole Canadian Sevens...

Sailing their way to Rio

Written on March 4, 2016. Posted in Sports.

While many will spend their summer watching the 2016 Olympics on TV, three Queen’s students have the chance to represent their country in the Rio de Janeiro Games in Brazil this summer. This January, Olivia Mew, Allie Surrette and Ali ten Hove found out they qualified for the Canadian sailing team...

Patriot love

Written on February 28, 2014. Posted in Editorials.

As the Olympics came to a close last weekend, I started thinking about what it all meant. Specifically, I thought about the emotions that the games elicit and whether or not they’re significant. Why do people obsess over the Olympics? With Team Canada’s exhilarating victories in both men and women’s...

International sporting events bring fame or shame

Written on February 11, 2014. Posted in Opinions.

Jordan Cathcart, ArtSci ’14 The starting gun has just been sounded for the 22nd Winter Olympics as Sochi, Russia plays host to the eyes and ears of the world for a fortnight. The build-up to these winter games caused a media firestorm across the globe as Russian President Vladimir Putin has shown...

QJScience: Winter Olympic host prospects dwindling?

Written on February 3, 2014. Posted in Lifestyle.

In less than two weeks, the 2014 Winter Olympic Games will commence in Sochi, Russia. There are few things more exciting than waking up for 17 days straight and not arguing with family members, housemates, or significant others over the TV remote because, let’s face it, not even the Kardashians can...

Gold medal for attendance

Written on January 21, 2014. Posted in Opinions.

Justin Mathews, ArtSci ’14 There has been a frenzy for Canada (and the US) to boycott the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, in protest over laws that ban “homosexual propaganda”. As rightly outraged as these activists are, and as noble a pursuit this may seem, boycotting the Olympic Games won’t...

Issue 7: Darts & Laurels

Written on September 17, 2013. Posted in Editorials.

Darts: City environmental concerns forgotten The Kingston Environmental Advisory Forum has fallen into disarray. A part of Kingston’s “Canada’s Most Sustainable City” initiative, the group has failed to reach quorum at its last four meetings. A motion that the body passed, which requested that future...

Underground pros

Written on March 22, 2013. Posted in Sports.

Queen’s squash players are getting paid to play at the highest levels. Erin Roberts coached and played in her fourth year with Queen’s team, competing in individual professional matches on the side for cash prizes. She’s currently competing in a $10,000 tournament in Toronto. The OUA first-team All-Star...

‘Focus like a laser beam’

Written on July 30, 2012. Posted in Sports.

Two male rowers are building the Queen’s rowing team’s Olympic pedigree. The last Olympic medal won by a former Gael was Diane O’Grady’s bronze in rowing at the 1996 Atlanta Games. Morgan Jarvis and Michael Wilkinson trained years ago at Queen’s under rowing head coach John Armitage, before qualifying...

Sergeant’s national ambition

Written on July 30, 2012. Posted in Sports.

Three years ago, Mattie Sergeant burst onto the Canadian gymnastics scene by winning a national championship. After watching his country fall agonizingly short of the London Olympics, the Queen’s student is focused on an even loftier goal. Sergeant, PheKin ’13, clinched first place in the 2009 National...

Tag: Olympics