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.The Summer Olympics begin in Paris on Friday, July 26 and Queen’s community members will be going for gold.

Taylor Perry and Chloe Daniels

These two members of the Queen’s women's rugby team Chloe Daniels (Business) and Taylor Perry (Arts and Science) will be wearing the maple leaf in the women’s rugby sevens competition.

The duo has played key roles on the field for the Gaels. 

Daniels has international experience playing for Canada, suiting up in the Emirate Dubai 7s and Pacific Four Series, and was a reserve for the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2022. With the Gaels she was named an OUA All-Star and OUA Rookie of the Year in 2021 after helping them win the program’s first U SPORTS Women’s Rugby Championship.

Perry was named an OUA Second Team All-Star this past season after helping the Gaels repeat as OUA Champions in 2023 and claim a bronze medal in the U SPORTS Women’s Rugby Championship. Perry was also named a U SPORTS Second Team All-Canadian in 2019.

Women’s rugby sevens is scheduled for July 28-30. Canada will play in Pool A, with New Zealand, Fiji, and People’s Republic of China.

Claire Meadows

The head coach of the Queen’s women's basketball team, Meadows will serve as an assistant coach for Germany at the Paris Olympics.

With extensive experience at the university, national and provincial coaching levels, Meadows most recently led the Gaels to a second straight OUA Wilson Cup final and third straight U SPORTS Women’s Basketball Final 8 Championship in 2023-24.

The women’s basketball competition starts on July 28, with the gold medal final being held Aug. 11.

William Jones

Alumnus William Jones will represent Canada in the men’s 49er sailing event in Paris.

It is a second straight Summer Games for Jones, after previously competing at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Since then, Jones has represented Canada in several international events, including the World Sailing Hempel World Cup, Sailing World Championships and Pan Am Games in 2023 (where he won a bronze medal), and the 49er and 49erFX World Championships in 2024. 

Jones, who graduated with an engineering degree in 2017, was part of the Queen's varsity sailing club from 2013-17 season and helped the Gaels capture the Canadian Intercollegiate Sailing Association (CICSA) National Championship each season. 

The men's 49er event at the Paris 2024 Olympics take place from July 28 to Aug. 1.

Emily Bugeja

Alumnus Emily Bugeja is representing Canada in the women’s kite sailing competition as the event makes its Olympic debut in Paris.

A 2022 graduate of the Electrical Engineering program, Bugeja qualified for the Olympics as the top ranked Canadian at the 2024 Formula Kite World Championships and the Trofeo Princesa Sofia regatta.

Bugeja took up the sport three years ago after competing in sailing events at the national and international levels in the 29er class. 

The women’s kite competition is being held Aug. 4-8.

Maggie Coles-Lyster

In 2017, Maggie Coles-Lyster became Canada’s first ever junior world champion in track cycling when she won the women’s points race a day after taking silver in the omnium. She was a double silver medallist at the 2019 Pan American Games in the women’s team pursuit and women’s omnium. 

In 2021, Coles-Lyster debuted at the elite UCI Track World Championships where she helped Canada to a fourth-place finish in the team pursuit and finished fourth in the women’s scratch race. She competed in the omnium at the world championships for the first time in 2022 and finished fourth, missing the podium by just two points. Earlier that year, she won bronze in the scratch race at the Commonwealth Games where she had come close to the podium in the points race as well as the road race. 

She is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in the Health Sciences program.

The Cycling – Track events at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games take place Aug. 5-11.

Jackie Boyle

Former Queen's women's volleyball player Jackie Boyle will be at the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics as part of Team Canada's cycling team as an alternate for Team Canada in the cycling track events.

Boyle, who graduated with a degree in Life Sciences in 2019, took up cycling after participating in the RBC Training Ground program. She has been competing in the sport ever since, earning medals at the 2023 Pan American Championships (silver in the team sprint), and the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games (bronze in team sprint).

The Cycling – Track events at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games take place Aug. 5-11.

Cassidy Deane

Former Queen's women's rower Cassidy Deane is part of Team Canada's Women's 8+ Rowing team. Deane and her boatmates qualified in May with a gold medal finish at the World Cup in Switzerland.

Graduating with a degree in Physical and Health Education, Deane rowed for the Gaels from 2016 to 2019. During that time, she collected three gold medals, two silver medals and one bronze medal in OUA Championship competition and two bronze medals in the Canadian University Rowing Championship. 

The Women's 8+ competition begins on July 29.

Derek Gee

After making his Olympic debut in track cycling, Derek Gee has developed into a top tier road cyclist. He earned himself global recognition with his outstanding performance at the 2023 Giro d’Italia, making breakaway attempts in seven stages, resulting in four runner-up finishes and two fourth-place finishes. He placed second in the points classification and received the award for combativity in his first appearance in a cycling Grand Tour. 

Gee made his Tour de France debut in 2024 and posted a third-place finish in the ninth stage. He won back-to-back national titles in the individual time trial in 2022 and 2023. 

Leading up to his Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020, Gee had been a key contributor to Canada’s rise in the men’s team pursuit in track cycling. At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Gee was a member of the men’s team pursuit that finished fifth for Canada’s best Olympic result in the event since 1932. He also raced with teammate Michael Foley in the Madison.  

At age 18, he decided to leave competitive cycling behind to attend Queen’s University. But he soon realized that cycling was his passion and after a year of being in school full time. He will be returning to his studies as he pursues a Bachelor of Science.

The road cycling competition will be held Aug. 3. 

Georgia Lewin-LaFrance

Alumnus Georgia Lewin-LaFrance qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games with her older sister Antonia by placing eighth at the 49er and 49er FX World Championships in Lanzarote, Spain this past March. 

A 2022 graduate of the civil engineering program at Smith Engineering, Lewin-LaFrance once again finished eighth at the 2024 49er FX European Championships in May. The sisters won the bronze medal at the 2021 49er FX European Championships and then finished sixth at the 2021 49er FX World Championships – the best Canadian performance ever at the competition.

In Paris the event is called in the Skiff and races are being held July 28-Aug. 1.

Game Plan – Smith Certificate in Business

A total of 18 students and alumni from the Smith School of Business’ Certificate in Business program are competing in the Summer Olympics in Paris.

For Game Plan Award students, the certificate is open to those who have already completed an undergraduate degree or are currently enrolled in an undergraduate program at any school, offering them an opportunity to expand their business knowledge while continuing to train at a high level. 

Since 2016, Smith School of Business has been the Official National Business Education Partner of the Canadian Olympic Team, as well as a Founding Partner of Game Plan, Canada’s total athlete wellness program, helping athletes plan for success beyond sport.