In total, Canada won 22 medals and finished 10th place overall, including four gold, three silver and 15 bronze medals.
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Local soccer stars Shelina Zadorsky and Jessie Fleming are expected to arrive in the Forest City, doning the bronze medals they claimed after outscoring Brazil.
Most of the buzz surrounds 16-year-old Oleksiak, who the Canadian Olympic Committee says is the country’s youngest ever gold medal victor at the Olympic Games.
Im just really excited to be home right now, Oleksiak said, adding she looked forward to seeing her mother and her friends.
“CBC/Radio-Canada is proud to be Canada’s Olympic Network through 2024, and to continue to shine a spotlight on these athletes and their stories at the Games and also year-round through our weekly coverage of high-performance sport”, Stremlaw said.
The sisters stress they support the whole team, however.
Now that she’s back home in Toronto, Oleksiak said she wants to “sleep and try to catch up with some of my friends afterwards”. Starting in mid-September, she will also be back in the pool to train.
The Olympic medallist, whose performance this summer has made her a household name, said she’s grateful for the support Canadians have shown her and other athletes.
Residents in Oleksiak’s east-end Toronto neighbourhood are planning a celebration for her return, tentatively planned for August 28th.
“That was an incredible moment because it’s a moment where so many dreams come true”, MacLennan said.
Canada achieved four gold medals during a Summer Olympics twice before: St. Louis in 1904 (men’s 400-metre hurdles, 56-pound weight throw, football and golf), and Amsterdam in 1928 (men’s 100 metres, men’s 200 metres, women’s 4×100-metre relay and women’s high jump).
AM980 will have a reporter at the London International Airport to follow the excitement.
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“We all had a good tournament and we definitely deserved to bring this home”, Fleming said, holding her medal.
