These gritty female athletes from Kingston are taking their tenacity to the world stage this July and August for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
You can watch them run the basketball court or hit the swimming pool during the Olympics, from July 26 to August 11, and the Paralympics, from August 28 to September 8, on CBC or CBC Gem.
Kingston Olympic and Paralympic athletes
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Aaliyah Edwards – Basketball
Aaliyah Edward’s career hitting jump shots and locking down rebounds began on Kingston’s basketball courts where she played for both the Kingston Impact club and the Frontenac Falcons, her high school team.
Edwards is now a powerhouse rookie in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Kingston native plays for the Washington Mystics, ranking sixth on her squad in scoring and second in rebounds.
She’s taking a break from her illustrious WNBA career to play for Team Canada in Paris. This isn’t Edwards’s first-time shooting hoops for her home country–she was the youngest member of Canada’s women’s basketball team at the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
In that same year, Edwards won the BIG EAST Sixth Women of the Year while playing for the University of Connecticut’s (UCONN) women’s basketball team. With Edward’s determination, UCONN made it to the championship semifinals game this year where they ended their season after a heartbreaking loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Edwards finished her tenure at UCONN with 1,861 career points. She’s one of six UCONN female basketball players in franchise history with over 1,800 baskets and 1,000 rebounds.
Edward’s makes her Olympic comeback on July 29 when Team Canada plays France. Read Aaliyah Edwards gets ready to take on the world to learn more about the Kingston local’s story.
Rewatch live recordings of Aaliyah Edwards in the Olympic games:
- Women’s Basketball – Canada vs France: https://gem.cbc.ca/live-event/42936
- Women’s Basketball – Australia vs Canada: https://gem.cbc.ca/live-event/43005
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Jennifer Casson – Rowing
Hitting the water for Team Canada is rower Jennifer (Jenny) Casson.
Casson spent her teenage years traversing Kingston’s waterways at 5 a.m. with the Kingston Rowing Club (KRC). But her childhood dream wasn’t to row for Team Canada–she stumbled upon the sport while recovering from a running injury and eventually developed an affinity for gliding across the St. Lawrence River perched in her racing shell.
The Kingston native left the city in 2014 to pursue rowing and a degree in exercise and sport science at the University of Tulsa. While attending university in Oklahoma, Casson placed second in the Lightweight 8+ Petite Final at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association’s National Championship.
Casson went on to receive several accolades with her lightweight double sculls rowing partner, Jill Moffatt, who she’s been racing with since 2018. They won the B final at the 2018 World Cup in Serbia. A year later, at the 2019 World Cup, Casson and Moffatt clinched the gold medal in the B final.
Most recently, the duo advanced to the A final at the 2023 World Rowing Championships where they placed fourth, securing their spot in Paris 2024. They placed twelfth overall in the B finals at the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Strongly bonded and equally competitive, Casson and Moffatt are going for the podium on July 28.
Rewatch live recordings of Jennifer Casson in the Olympic games:
- Day 2: Rowing – Preliminaries, lightweight double sculls rowing (fast forward to 1h 33 min): https://gem.cbc.ca/live-event/42879
- Day 3: Rowing – Preliminaries, lightweight double sculls rowing (fast forward to 2h 54 min): https://gem.cbc.ca/live-event/42889“
- Day 5: Rowing – Semi-Finals, lightweight double sculls rowing (fast foward to 2h 7 min): https://gem.cbc.ca/live-event/42982
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Kristina Walker – Rowing
From the flat, calm waters next to her family’s farm on Wolfe Island to the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium, Kristina Walker is taking her racing shell to the international stage.
The former KRC member is competing in her second Olympic Games this summer. Walker participated in the 2023 Rowing World Cup II in Italy, where her team of four won the B final gold. She clinched a second-place spot in the women’s eights event at the 2023 World Cup III and a first-place spot at the 2024 World Cup II.
Prior to her career winning gold medals, Walker competed with the University of British Columbia’s rowing team. She’s been a member of Rowing Canada’s National Team since 2018.
Catch Walker gliding across the water on July 29 during the women’s eights rowing race.
Rewatch live recordings of Kristina Walker in the Olympic games:
- Day 3: Rowing – Preliminaries, women’s eights rowing race (fast forward to 2h 33 min): https://bit.ly/3ym0hHW
- Day 6: Rowing – Finals, women’s eights rowing race (fast forward to 43 min): https://gem.cbc.ca/live-event/42978
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Abi Tripp – Swimming
Abi Tripp honed her freestyle in the heart of the Limestone City, and now she’s bringing her perfected stroke to Paris 2024. Tripp swam for the Kingston Y Penguins, which provides a safe swimming environment for youth with disabilities and their able-bodied siblings. After years of early morning swim lessons, Tripp became one of two 14-year-olds on the 2015 national Para-swimming team.
Tripp has been striving for the podium ever since, taking home the silver medal in the SB7 100-metre breaststroke at the 2023 Para Swimming Championships in Manchester. At the London 2019 World Para Swimming Championships, she snagged the bronze medal in the 4 x 100-meter freestyle relay.
The Kingston-local competed for Team Canada at the 2021 Paralympic Games in Tokyo and was nominated to her second Games following the 2024 Paralympic team trials in Toronto.
You can watch Tripp compete during the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, taking place August 28 to September 8.
Also suiting up for Team Canada are athletes from Queen’s University. Check out which Gaels are headed to Paris in Queen’s community members chasing Olympic dreams in Paris.
