Meet Team Canada for the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games

Team Canada will be represented by 79 rising stars at the 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Gangwon, South Korea.

The fourth edition of the Winter YOG will take place January 19 – February 1 in the same region where, just six years ago, Canadian athletes won 29 medals at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games. One member of Team Canada at those Games, curler Lisa Weagle, will be making a return to the region in her new role as Chef de Mission.

READ: Chef de Mission Lisa Weagle shares Olympic wisdom and hopes for Team Canada youth at Gangwon 2024

This time, she’ll be the chief cheerleader and mentor for the team of teenagers ranging in age from 14 to 18. Team Canada will be among the 1900 athletes – the most ever at a Winter YOG – competing in a fully gender balanced sport program that features 81 events in 15 disciplines.

The biggest change from previous YOG is that mixed nationality team events are no more. One key aspect of YOG that will continue is providing these young athletes with an incredible learning opportunity as they are exposed to the concept of a major international multi-sport Games. The YOG experience goes beyond medals, teaching them about such things as preventing competition manipulation, staying mentally fit, and anti-doping.

Read on to learn more about some of the athletes representing Team Canada, how you can watch and cheer them on, and a few other fun facts.

Team Canada Athletes at Gangwon 2024

Alpine Skiing – 3

Thomas Carnahan (Ottawa, Ont.)
Elsa Feliciello (Piedmont, Que.)
Aida Draghia (Châteauguay, Que.)

Thomas Carnahan is the 2022 U16 slalom national champion. Canada has won two medals in alpine skiing at past YOG. Before they became Olympians, Roni Remme and Ali Nullmeyer each won silver in the women’s slalom at Innsbruck 2012 and Lillehammer 2016, respectively.

Biathlon – 6

Julia Bartlett (Calgary, Alta.)
Flora Csonka (Calgary, Alta.)
Dawson Ferguson (Camrose, Alta.)
Luke Hulshof (Calgary, Alta.)
Justin Konoff (Calgary, Alta.)
Cheyenne Tirschmann (Whitehorse, Yuk.)

Five of the team members will be making their international competitive debuts. Only Flora Csonka has previously raced in an international event.

Bobsleigh – 2

Talia Melun (Whistler, B.C.)
Isaak Ulmer (Calgary, Alta.)

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Talia Melun and Isaak Ulmer will compete in the women’s and men’s monobob events, respectively. In November, they both competed in IBSF OMEGA Youth Series races on the Olympic track in PyeongChang which will also host the sliding sport competition at Gangwon 2024. Both are coached by recently retired four-time Olympian Christopher Spring.

Cross-Country Skiing – 4

Aramintha Bradford (Whitehorse, Yuk.)
Leanne Gartner (Canmore, Alta.)
Cedric Martel (Thunder Bay, Ont.)
Eamon Wilson (Burnaby, B.C)

Eamon Wilson is the only member of the team who has previously raced internationally outside of Canada. The Development National Ski Team member won gold and silver at the 2023 Canada Winter Games and stood on three podiums at the 2023 Nordiq Canada Ski Nationals.

Curling – 6

Mixed Team
Chloe Fediuk (Edmonton, Alta)
Owain Fisher (North River, N.S)
Nathan Gray (Dartmouth, N.S)
Allie Iskiw (Edmonton, Alta)

Mixed Doubles
Cailey Locke (Conception Bay South, N.L.)
Simon Perry (Portugal Cove, N.L.)

Chloe Fediuk and Allie Iskiw were recently part of Canada’s silver medal-winning team at the 2023 World Junior-B Curling Championships. They also represented Team Canada Alberta at the 2023 Canada Winter Games where their quartet won the silver medal. Owain Fisher and Nathan Gray were part of Team Nova Scotia at those same Canada Winter Games where they contributed to a gold medal.

Cailey Locke and Simon Perry fought back from being down 3-1 to win a best-of-seven series that served as the national mixed doubles trials. Not surprisingly, the young Newfoundlanders are both inspired by two-time Olympic medallist Brad Gushue, whose daughter Hayley plays on a team skipped by Locke. They aim to follow in the footsteps of fellow Newfoundlander Nathan Young who won gold at the last Winter YOG when mixed doubles was a mixed NOC event.

Figure Skating – 8

Ice Dance
Audra Gans (Prévost, Que.) and Michael Boutsan (Prévost, Que.)
Caroline Kravets (Kitchener, Ont.) and Jacob Stark (Waterloo, Ont.)

Men’s Singles
David Li (Richmond, B.C.)

Pairs
Annika Behnke (Peace River, Alta.) and Kole Sauve (Grand Prairie, Alta.)

Women’s Singles
Kaiya Ruiter (Calgary, Alta.)

Kaiya Ruiter is the most experienced member of the figure skating team. She made her senior ISU Grand Prix debut in October at Skate Canada International after winning silver in the senior women’s event at the 2023 Canadian Championships. She placed 10th at the 2023 ISU World Junior Championships in her hometown of Calgary.

Li competed in two ISU Junior Grand Prix events this fall while both ice dance duos made their ISU Junior Grand Prix debuts. For the first time at the Winter YOG, the team event will resemble that of the Olympic team figure skating event rather than being a mixed NOC format.

Freestyle Skiing – 10

Halfpipe

Quincy Barr (Calgary, Alta.)
Trent Morozumi (Calgary, Alta.)

Slopestyle/Big Air

Charlie Beatty (Horseshoe Valley, Ont.)
Gabrielle Dinn (Kamloops, B.C.)
Ella Garrod (Vernon, B.C.)
Matthew Lepine (Ottawa, Ont.)

Moguls

Citrine Boychuk (Sherwood Park, Alta.)
Bradley Koehler (Quebec, Que.)
Flavie Lamontagne (Quebec, Que.)
Jeremy Sauvageau (Montreal, Que.)

Charlie Beatty is the reigning world junior champion in men’s ski slopestyle, while Matthew Lepine won silver in men’s big air at those same FIS Junior World Ski Championships.

The coach of the moguls team is three-time Olympian Audrey Robichaud.

Ice Hockey – 18

Goaltenders
Mateo Beites (Sudbury, Ont./Barrie, OMHA-U16)
Colin Ellsworth (Aurora, Ont./York Simcoe, OMHA-U16)
Carter Esler (Okotoks, Alta./Okotoks, AEHL-U18)

Defence
Cameron Chartrand (Saint-Lazare, Que./Bishop Kearney Selects, USHS)
Callum Croskery (Oakville, Ont./Oakville, OMHA-U16)
Ryan Lin (Richmond, B.C./Delta Hockey Academy, CSSHL-U18)
Zach Nyman (Toronto, Ont./Vaughan, GTHL-U16)
Daxon Rudolph (Lacombe, Alta./Northern Alberta, CSSHL-U18)
Keaton Verhoeff (Fort Saskatchewan, Alta./RHA Kelowna, CSSHL-U18)

Forwards
Alessandro Di Iorio (Vaughan, Ont./Vaughan, GTHL-U16)
Beckham Edwards (London, Ont./Detroit Little Caesars, US15U)
Tynan Lawrence (Fredericton, N.B./Shattuck-St. Mary’s, USHS)
Aiden O’Donnell (Cole Harbour, N.S./Dartmouth, NSU18MHL)
Mathis Preston (Penticton, B.C./Okanagan Hockey Academy, CSSHL-U18)
Liam Ruck (Osoyoos, B.C./Okanagan Hockey Academy, CSSHL-U18)
Markus Ruck (Osoyoos, B.C./Okanagan Hockey Academy, CSSHL-U18)
Adam Valentini (Toronto, Ont./Toronto Marlboros, GTHL-U16)
Braidy Wassilyn (Puslinch, Ont./Markham, GTHL-U16)

Team Canada will be looking for a third straight Winter YOG medal in men’s hockey after winning bronze at Innsbruck 2012 and Lausanne 2020, sandwiched around a silver medal at Lillehammer 2016.

Luge – 3

Ava Lucia Huerta (Calgary, Alta.)
Bastian van Wouw (Red Deer, Alta.)
Maya Yuen (Calgary, Alta.)

Ava Lucia Huerta is the youngest member of Team Canada at Gangwon 2024. She and Maya Yeun will compete in women’s singles while Bastian van Wouw is competing in men’s singles.

Canada has won three medals in luge at past Winter YOG, including gold by Brooke Apshkrum and bronze by Reid Watts in the women’s and men’s singles events, respectively, at Lillehammer 2016.

Short Track Speed Skating – 4

Courtney Charlong (Campbellton, N.B.)
Victor Chartrand (Laval, Que.)
Alexis Dubuc-Bilodeau (Trois-Rivières, Que.)
Océane Guérard (Quebec City, Que.)

Courtney Charlon and Victor Chartrand bring the most experience to the team, having competed in ISU Junior World Cup events earlier this season. They’re also aiming to compete at the ISU Junior World Championships in February.

This is just the second time Canada has sent a short track team to the Winter YOG. At Lausanne 2020, Florence Brunelle won two medals. She became an Olympian just two years later at Beijing 2022.

Ski Cross – 4

William ‘Kael’ Johnston (Calgary, Alta.)
Anne-Marie Joncas (Whistler, B.C.)
Cole Merrett (Calgary, Alta.)
Kael Oberlander (Big White, B.C.)

All four ski cross athletes will be competing in their first overseas international event. They look to add to Canada’s two Winter YOG medals in the discipline, which includes a gold by future Olympian Reece Howden at Lillehammer 2016.

Ski Jumping – 1

Tarik VanWieren (Calgary, Alta.)

The lone member of Canada’s ski jumping team in Gangwon, Tarik VanWieren made his international debut at the 2023 FIS Junior World Ski Championships on home snow in Whistler last February.

Snowboard – 10

Halfpipe
Felicity Geremia (Calgary, Alta.)
Lily-Ann Ulmer (Calgary, Alta.)

Slopestyle/Big Air
Eli Bouchard (Lac Beauport, Que.)
Amalia Pelchat (Whistler, B.C.)
Neko Reimer (Rossland, B.C.)
Avery Spalding (Havelock, Ont.)

Snowboard Cross
Olivier Gagné (Lac-Etchemin, Que.)
Rose Savard-Ferguson (Baie-Saint-Paul, Que.)
Anthony Shelly (Whistler, B.C.)
Hannah Turkington (Whistler, B.C.)

Seven of Team Canada’s snowboarders have competed at the FIS Junior World Championships. Felicity Geremia, Lily-Ann Ulmer, and Eli Bouchard have also competed in FIS World Cup events against some of the best in the world.

The snowboard team includes a couple of second-generation athletes. Amalia Pelchat’s father Jean-François was a World Cup competitor in the halfpipe in the 1990s, just before snowboard became an Olympic sport. Rose Savard-Ferguson had been a competitive figure skater before discovering snowboard, moving away from the sport in which her mother, Marie-Claude Savard Gagnon, became an Olympian in the pairs event at Nagano 1998.

Canada has won five Winter YOG medals in snowboard, including three by Liam Brearley at Lausanne 2020 in the halfpipe, slopestyle, and big air events.

How to Watch the 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games

CBC/Radio-Canada will provide a livestream at CBCSports.ca and the CBC Gem app. The Olympic Channel will also provide full livestream coverage.