Two boxing athletes named to Canadian Olympic Team for Paris 2024

MONTREAL (July 2, 2024) – Boxing Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee have announced the roster of Team Canada boxing athletes nominated to compete at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The athletes are:

Wyatt Sanford (Kennetcook, N.S) – Men’s 63.5kg
Tammara Thibeault (Shawinigan, Que.) – Women’s 75kg

Both athletes qualified for Paris 2024 when they won their respective weight classes at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games.

Thibeault, who lives and trains in Montreal, will make her second Olympic appearance. At Tokyo 2020, she advanced to the quarterfinals, matching Canada’s best Olympic result in any women’s boxing event. The reigning Commonwealth Games champion and 2022 World champion also captured gold at the 2023 AMBC Continental Championships. At the Lima 2019 Pan American Games, Thibeault initially came home with a bronze medal but was later upgraded to silver after her semifinal opponent was disqualified for doping.

“I haven’t quite accomplished what I want to yet at the Olympics. Like a lot of things in life, things didn’t always go according to plan or as expected. With the pandemic, the preparations leading up to the Olympics in Tokyo were below par, especially because boxing is such a close-contact sport, so training was really impaired. So things didn’t pan out the way I wanted to, but that’s okay because I have another opportunity now!”, said Thibeault. “I’m very happy for all the successes I’ve had, but it’s all leading up to something for me. It’s all leading up to that final piece, the title of Olympic Champion. That’s what I’m going towards, and I know that I have to ground myself in the process of getting better every day.”

This will be the second Olympic appearance for Sanford, who was also the only male boxer on Team Canada’s Tokyo 2020 team. The 25-year-old, originally from Kennetcook, N.S., moved to Montreal in 2017 where he currently trains full-time at Boxing Canada’s National Training Centre. Sanford won bronze at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and advanced to the round of 16 at the 2019 World Championships.

“It’s me in the ring, but it’s for the whole community. Without my hometown, I wouldn’t be where I’m at and I always fight with them on my side,” said Sanford.

Canada has won 17 Olympic boxing medals, dating back from Antwerp 1920. The most recent was David Defiagbon’s silver medal won in the men’s heavyweight category from Atlanta 1996. No Canadian woman has yet won an Olympic boxing medal.

“I am very proud of the work that our athletes, coaches and staff have done so far during the Olympic qualification process,” said Kraig Devlin, Boxing Canada’s High Performance Director. “Now, with still more tough work ahead for all, I am confident that the challenges and obstacles we overcame as a team have prepared us to excel on the Olympic stage in Paris.”

Boxing will take place July 27 to August 10 (Day 1 to 15), with preliminary rounds at the North Paris Arena and finals at Roland Garros Stadium (Philippe-Chatrier).

“Congratulations to Tammara and Wyatt who punched their ticket for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Our boxers have worked tirelessly to be there, and they are ready to do whatever it takes to defend Canada’s colours and step on the Olympic podium,” said Bruny Surin, Team Canada’s Paris 2024 Chef de Mission. ”Dodge the punches, achieve your goals, and show the world the power of Team Canada.”

Team Canada’s boxing team for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games also includes the following coaches and support staff:

Samir Elmais (Montreal, Que.) – Coach
Vincent Auclair (Montreal, Que.) – Coach
Kraig Devlin (Victoria, B.C.) – Team Leader
Dr. Alexis Gagnon-Dolbec (Montreal, Que.) – Mental Performance Consultant

Prior to being named to Team Canada, all nominations are subject to approval by the Canadian Olympic Committee’s Team Selection Committee following its receipt of nominations by all National Sport Organisations.

The latest Team Canada Paris 2024 roster can be found here.

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MEDIA CONTACTS:

Christopher Lindsay, Executive Director
Boxing Canada
T: 613-290-1099
E: clindsay@boxingcanada.org 

Tara MacBournie, Program Manager, Sport Communications
Canadian Olympic Committee
C: 647-522-8328
E: tmacbournie@olympic.ca