Congratulations HWDSB Olympians!
The 2024 Olympic Games are underway in Paris – and we are so proud to cheer on the athletes who got their start at HWDSB!
Here are the HWDSB Grads competing the 2024 Olympics:
Heather Bansley, Beach Volleyball: Waterdown District High School
Heather has competed in three Olympic Games: Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020, and now Paris in 2024. She was named the 2017 Golden Horseshoe Athlete of the Year, and reached the quarter-finals in both the Rio and Tokyo Games. In her spare time, she loves reading autobiographies, memoirs, and fiction, listening to podcasts, and cooking.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Basketball: MacNab Secondary School
Shai is considered to be one of the best basketball players in the world and plays in the NBA for The Oklahoma City Thunder. He was runner up for NBA MVP this past season, and had one of the greatest years ever by a Canadian basketball player in 2023, culminating in him becoming just the second basketball player to be named Canada’s Athlete of the Year (Northern Star Award) and Canadian Press Male Athlete of the Year (Lionel Conacher Award).
Eleanor Harvey, Fencing: Westdale Secondary School
Eleanor Harvey became Canada’s first ever Olympic medallist in fencing when she won the bronze medal in the women’s individual foil event on Day 2 of Paris 2024. In her Olympic debut at Rio 2016, Harvey achieved Canada’s previous best ever Olympic result in any individual fencing event when she placed seventh in the women’s individual foil, making it as far as the quarterfinals after defeating the world number one.
James Hedgcock, Cycling: Westmount Secondary School
James started riding a bike at age 2, and at age 5 was the age-group Canadian BMX Champion. After switching from BMX biking to cycling, he won gold in the men’s team sprint at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games, and won four golds at the Canadian championships last year.
Carson Mattern, Cycling: Westmount Secondary School
Carson won a Pan Am Games gold medal in Santiago in 2023, as well as golds from the UCI Junior World Championship. In his spare time, he enjoys discovering new music from different regions and cultures. Carson started his undergraduate degree at McMaster University in 2022 with the eventual goal of going to medical school, and volunteers with the Rotary club in Ancaster.
Congratulations to all of our HWDSB Olympians! We are so proud!
Updated on Friday, August 02, 2024.