The Summer Olympics began Friday in Beijing, with nine athletes who grew up in the West Island or still reside here set to show their wares.
In track and field, Hank Palmer, who spent most of his formative years in Pierrefonds and Dollard des Ormeaux before moving to LaSalle will be part of the Canadian 4X100-metre relay team, while Beaconsfield’s Stephanie Horner and Tobias Oriwol of the Pointe Claire Swim Club are on the Canadian swim team. Baie d’Urfé native Rhian Wilkinson is on the women’s soccer team while Pointe Claire’s Tracy Little will compete on the women’s synchronized swimming team. Nathaniel Miller, a Dollard des Ormeaux native, Beaconsfield’s Justin Boyd along with West Island native Devon Diggle will be part of the men’s water-polo squad while Pointe Claire’s Tom Hall will compete in canoeing. Andrew Willows of the Pointe Claire Canoe Club will be on the men’s kayak squad while Beaconsfield’s Oliver Bone will compete in the sailing competition.
Ile Bizard resident Mandy Mongeon, a member of the McGill University women’s rugby team, was a recent addition to the Canadian under-20 squad at the Nation’s Cup tournament on the campus of Appleby College in Oakville, Ont., last month.
Mongeon is coming off a fine freshman campaign at McGill University where she scored a pair of tries and earned all-conference honours in the Quebec University Rugby League. She is about to enter her second year in the science & arts program.
Mongeon spends her summers playing for the Ste. Anne de Bellevue club when not suiting up for the Martlets.
