Paris, here they come: 2 New Brunswick athletes latest to be named to Team Canada
Craig Thorne and Jill Irving will make Olympic debuts along with Brooklyn Douthwright
Two New Brunswick athletes are among the latest to get the news that they will be heading to the 2024 Paris Olympic Summer Games.
For Craig Thorne of Quispamsis, the moment he found out was surreal.
"It's just a once in a lifetime opportunity," he said. "I'll never forget it."
The 23-year-old hurdles athlete said he started doing track during his early high school years and joined the Saint John Track and Field Club.
As he got into late high school, Thorne knew he wanted to pursue track further, and luckily, he was recruited by the University of Guelph, where he has been for five years now.
Thorne said that he was running decent times around two years ago, but he never would have thought he'd make the 2024 Olympics, instead he was aiming for 2028. But last summer, he progressed well and had a shot at making the team for the world championship team.
"Unfortunately, I just missed out on that, but, you know, that kind of gave me a lot of motivation," he said. "I would say probably around this time last year, I realized that I have a legitimate chance [at going to the Olympics]."
According to a release from Athletics Canada, Thorne won his second national title at the Bell Track and Field Trials, taking gold in the men's 110-metre hurdles.
On July 2, Athletics Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee announced its roster for the Games, but Thorne was still left anxiously waiting as he had fallen short of making the cut for his specific event.
But Thorne said there are a few days where, if people from other countries are injured or not running anymore, they voluntarily bow out of an event, which would then open up a spot for Thorne.
"It was a very stressful, like, anxious time, you know, just checking my emails, checking my phone for messages. But once I got it, it was just a sigh of relief."
Chris Belof, a coach with Athletics New Brunswick and Saint John Track and Field, was Thorne's last coach before he left New Brunswick. He said he was fortunate to play a small role in Thorne's development.
"We knew that he was on a pathway to be very, very successful," said Belof. "It's his composure on competition day, his excitement around competing — there's not anxiety, there's excitement — and you know, that's a rare thing.
"He's always up for an extreme challenge."
Belof is part of the national coaching staff this summer, so he will be in Paris for the Olympics. He hopes he'll have the opportunity to watch Thorne compete, if his schedule allows.
Along with Thorne, two other Olympians have been named from New Brunswick this summer. Swimmer Brooklyn Douthwright, 21, of Riverview secured her spot on the Canadian team in May.
Jill Irving
And while Thorne and Douthwright are taking on the Olympics for the first time in their early 20s, another New Brunswick athlete is making her debut at 61 years old.
Jill Irving of Moncton was recently named to Team Canada for dressage — a form of horse riding sometimes described as "horse ballet." The horse responds to their rider's commands while performing prearranged movements, aiming to give off the impression that the horse is executing the moves on its own.
"I've been competing my whole entire life, and I started becoming much more focused when my children went off to university. So I would say in about 2008, I put the pedal to the metal," she said.
Irving said one of her horses spent around eight or nine years competing, but he became too old to make the 2020 Olympics, which were postponed until 2021, so she bought a new horse, Delacroix, around two years ago, and began preparing him for competition.
She said Delacroix proved to be much more powerful than her previous horse, so it took her a while to harness that power. But now that she is comfortable with her new teammate, she said he is very reliable in the ring.
"He's got my back," she said.
According to Team Canada, Irving has recorded numerous top-10 finishes since her Fédération Equestre Internationale debut in 2013.
"It's a dream come true," she said.
"As a child, I remember watching the Olympic Games, you know, and I'm not a younger athlete — I've been doing this a long time.
"Dreams can come true and you just have to stick with it, work hard and keep going no matter what."
The Paris Olympics will run from July 26 to Aug. 11. Dressage and swimming events start on July 27, while athletics events begin on Aug. 1.
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With files from Lars Schwarz and Information Morning Summer