GUELPH, Ont. – Four Canadian athletes with strong ties to the University of Guelph represented Team Canada at the 2024 Olympic summer games in Paris. From qualifying for Olympic finals, to setting national records and new personal bests, the following Gryphon Olympians made the entire U of G family proud with their performances at Paris 2024.
University of Guelph Alumni Competing at Paris 2024:
Jacqueline Madogo (Women's 100m, Women's 200m, Women's 4x100m Relay)
Zoe Sherar (Women's 400m, Women's 4x400m Relay)
Craig Thorne (Men's 110m Hurdles)
Sarah Douglas (Sailing)
Jacqueline Madogo
Women's 4x100m Relay: 6th
* Made finals with a national record time of 42.50 in the semifinal heat
* Finished in 6
th place with a time of 42.69
Women's 200m: 20th
* 4th in her heat with a personal best time of 22.78
* Won her repechage heat topping her personal best from her heats with a time of 22.58 to qualify for semifinals
* 7th in her semifinal heat with a time of 22.81 (DNQ for finals)
Women's 100m: DNQ for semifinals
* 4th in her heat with a time of 11.27
Zoe Sherar
Women's 4x400m Relay: 6th
* Qualified for finals with a time of 3:25.77
* Finished 6th in finals with a season-best time 3:22.01
Women's 400m: DNQ for semifinals
* 7th in her heat with a time of 51.97
* 3rd in her repechage heat with a time of 51.43 (DNQ for semifinals)
Craig Thorne
Men's 110m Hurdles: DNQ for semifinals
* 7th in his heat with a time of 13.60
* 3rd in his repechage heat with a time of 13.62 (DNQ for semifinals)
Sarah Douglas
Women's Sailing (Women's Single-Handed Dinghy): 8th
In her Olympic debut, University of Guelph graduate Jacqueline Madogo put together a sensational showing on the track at Paris 2024.
The 24-year-old from Ottawa, who graduated with a degree in psychology from the University of Guelph in the spring of 2023, competed in the Women's 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay. In the Women's 4x100m relay, Madogo helped Canada set a new national record while booking a spot in the Olympic finals for just the fourth time in the last 48 years. Madogo ran the 2nd leg of Canada's Women's 4x100m team, with her time of 10.28s helping the team set a national record time of 42.50s to qualify for the finals where Canada would finish 6th overall. Aside from playing a key role in the women's unforgettable performance in the 4x100m relay, Jacqueline also impressed in the Women's 200m where she
twice set a personal best (once in the heats, then again in the repechage round) en route to qualifying for the semifinals in the Women's 200m, ultimately finishing 20th overall. In the Women's 100m, Madogo would narrowly miss out on auto-qualifying for the semifinals after finishing 4th in her heat (with top three automatically qualifying for the semifinals).
Zoe Sherar, a two-time Athlete of the Year at the University of Guelph, helped Team Canada to a season-best time in the finals of the Women's 4x400m in her first Olympics. The 24-year-old from Toronto, who has completed her undergraduate studies at U of G in arts and sciences, as well as a Masters from U of G in sport management, ran the opening leg of the relays for Canada in the 4x400m relay, helping the Canadian quartet post a season-best time of 3:22.01s. Sherar and company were less than a second away from a national record and would ultimately place 6th in Paris in the women's 4x400m relay. Sherar also ran individually in the Women's 400m, finishing 7th in her heat with a time of 51.97s. She was able to shed over five tenths off her time in her repechage heat to place in 4th with a time of 51.43s but was unable to qualify for the semifinals.
Craig Thorne, a recent graduate of the University of Guelph with a Bachelor of Science in biological science, made his Olympic debut in the Men's 110m hurdles at the Stade de France.
The 23-year-old from Quispamsis, New Brunswick would finish with a time of 13.60s in his opening race in the 110m hurdles, followed by a 4th-place finish in the repechage heat with a time of 12.62. Sarah Douglas, who graduated from the University of Guelph in 2017 with a Bachelor of Commerce in marketing management, earned the title of two-time Olympian in sailing, with the 30-year-old following up an impressive appearance in Tokyo by once again qualifying for the finals in Paris. Douglas qualified for the medal round (with only the top 10 sailors qualifying for the final medal round in a field of 43), placing 8th in the final standings in the Women's Single Handed-Dinghy off the shores of Marseille.
Related stories:
Canadian Running Magazine: Canadian sprinter's incredible path to Olympic debut
OttawaSportsPages.ca: Soccer player-turned-sprinter Jacqueline Madogo fast-tracks her road to the Olympics
TSN: Zoe Sherar didn't choose the 400 metre; the event chose her
CBC: Cheering crowds, tearful moments: New Brunswick Olympians recall roller-coaster ride
CBC: A day on the water with Canadian Olympic sailor Sarah Douglas
CBC: Canadian women's 4x100m relay team reflects on performance in final
gryphons.ca: Gryphon Olympians – Paris 2024
