The London 2012 Olympic Games are upon us and for the next two weeks Canadians will be glued to their televisions and computers watching our country’s finest compete against the best in the world.
Among those who will be representing Canada are a handful of athletes who are either from Scarborough, or have a significant Scarborough connection in that they spent their formative years at Birchmount Park Collegiate in Birch Cliff.
Here’s who we’ll be cheering for once the Games begin:
Justyn Warner
Justyn Warner. Photo: Claus Andersen//Athletics Canada
Sprinter Justyn Warner is the Canadian men’s 100 metre champion and will be competing in the 100 metres as well as the 4 x 100 metre relay. He ran a personal best of 10.15 seconds at the Canadian trials in Calgary in June.
25-year old Justyn graduated from Birchmount Collegiate in 2005, and in his final year he won four provincial titles: 100m, 200m, 4 x100 m and 4 x 400 metres.
Justyn now lives in Markham, Ontario and he’s engaged to Canadian hurdler Nikkita Holder.
His preliminary heats begin on Saturday August 4th.
You can follow Justyn on twitter @justynwarner
Ian Warner
Ian Warner (in yellow). Photo: Claus Andersen//Athletics Canada
Another Birchmount Collegiate grad, Ian Warner, will be competing in the men’s 4 x 100 metre relay in London.
22-year old Ian was second in the Canadian trials in Calgary with a time of 10.20, just two one-hundredths of a second below the Olympic A standard.
Ian is the brother of Justyn Warner and together they propelled the 4 x 100m relay team to its fastest time of the year, 38.48 seconds in Ottawa last month.
The 4 x 100m relay heats begin on Friday August 8th.
You can follow Ian on Twitter @CoverGround.
Aaron Brown. Photo: Claus Andersen//Athletics Canada
Aaron Brown
20-year old Aaron Brown is another sensational runner who went to Birchmount Collegiate who will be representing Canada in the men’s 200 metres.
Aaron finished fifth in the 100 at the Olympic trials in Calgary and withdrew from the 200 metre race due to a nagging hamstring injury.
He initially failed to qualify for London but was added to the Olympic team under the “rising star exemption” after he surpassed the Olympic standard and won the 200 metre sprint at the Ontario Athletics Championship in Ottawa last month.
The men’s 200 metre heats begin on Tues. August 7th.
Crystal Emmanuel
Crystal Emmanuel. Photo: Claus Andersen//Athletics Canada
Scarborough native Crystal Emmanuel is competing for Canada in the women’s 200 metres.
20-year old Emmanuel made the Olympic team by winning at the Canadian trials last month in Calgary, with a time of 23.27 seconds.
In 2011, she was the Canadian champion over 100 and 200 metres.
Although born in Scarborough, Crystal spent time growing up in the Bahamas and now lives in East York.
Crystal’s 200 metre heats begin on Mon. August 6th.
Crispin Duenas
Crispin Duenas
Crispin Duenas is a 26-year old Scarborough resident and another Birchmount Collegiate grad. Crispin will be competing in his second Olympic Games in men’s individual Archery.
Crispin says he had a childhood fascination with Robin Hood and was introduced to archery by his grade 8 math teacher at John A. Leslie Public School.
He competed at Beijing in 2008 and won a silver medal at the 2011 Pan Am Games in Guadalajara. He majored in physics at the University of Toronto.
Crispin is the son of Fillipino parents who immigrated to Canada in 1977.
