Three Canadian athletes punch tickets to the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games
Closing Ceremony flag bearers Rémi Aubin and Yamina Lahyanssa to lead Team Canada out of Cali 2021
CALI, Colombia (December 5, 2021) – Canada’s Rachel Chan, Brian Yang and Yamina Lahyanssa have all earned direct qualifications to the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games. The three athletes qualified by winning gold at the first-ever Junior Pan American Games held in Cali, Colombia. When competition came to a close on Sunday, Team Canada had won ten medals across six sports.
Chan and Yang dominated the field in badminton with a triple gold medal sweep.
“The Junior Pan American Games were an extremely positive experience for me,” said Yang, who also competed at Tokyo 2020. “I have gained a lot of confidence by building off some key performances since the Tokyo Olympics this summer. I was honored to be one of our nation’s flag bearers in Cali and excited to bring home two medals for Canada!”
The Canadian Olympic Committee tapped Rémi Aubin (Trampoline Gymnastics) and Yamina Lahyanssa (Karate) as flag bearers to lead Team Canada out of the Cali 2021 Closing Ceremony. The event can be live streamed through the Panam Sports Channel at 7:00 p.m. ET.
Rémi Aubin of Rosemère, Quebec placed first in the classification round, and finished the men’s individual trampoline event in eighth place. The 20-year-old won the men’s trampoline title at the 2021 Virtual Canadian Championships in October.
Yamina Lahyanssa of Pointe-Claire, Quebec competed in the women’s karate (-50kg) event. The 2019 Canadian junior champion won the gold medal this morning after defeating her opponent from Mexico. In addition to this gold medal from Cali 2021, 19-year-old Lahyanssa is also a two-time medallist at the Junior Pan American Championships.
Full list of Canadian medal winners:
| Sport | Name | Hometown | Result |
| Artistic Gymnastics – Women’s Individual All-Around | Aurélie Tran | Repentigny, Que. | Bronze |
| Artistic Gymnastics – Uneven bars | Aurélie Tran | Repentigny, Que. | Silver |
| Badminton – Men’s Individual | Brian Yang | Richmond Hill, Ont. | Gold |
| Badminton – Women’s Individual | Rachel Chan | Toronto, Ont. | Gold |
| Badminton – Mixed Doubles | Rachel Chan | Toronto, Ont. | Gold |
| Badminton – Mixed Doubles | Brian Yang | Richmond Hill, Ont. | Gold |
| Karate – Women’s -50kg | Yamina Lahyanssa | Pointe-Claire, Que. | Gold |
| Squash – Women’s Team | Hannah Blatt | Winnipeg, Man. | Bronze |
| Squash – Women’s Team | Sydney Maxwell | Toronto, Ont. | Bronze |
| Squash – Women’s Team | Iman Shaheen | Ottawa, Ont. | Bronze |
| Table Tennis – Men’s Individual | Jeremy Hazin | Richmond Hill, Ont. | Bronze |
| Table Tennis – Mixed Doubles | Sophie Gauthier | Repentigny, Que. | Bronze |
| Table Tennis – Mixed Doubles | Jeremy Hazin | Richmond Hill, Ont. | Bronze |
| Taekwondo – Men’s -58 kg | Nicholas Hoefling | Woodstock, Ont. | Bronze |
To help foster the development of next generation athletes in the Americas, a direct qualification route to Santiago 2023 was set up for each individual athlete who won a gold medal at Cali 2021. Santiago 2023 will act as a qualifier for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games for many sports.
“It is incredibly rare to have two summer multi-sport Games held in the span of a few months. Our Canadian delegation in Cali was small but made a big impact,” said Eric Myles, COC Chief Sport Officer. “We are pleased to support these developing young athletes, some of whom will represent Team Canada in Santiago, Paris and other upcoming Games.”
The Cali 2021 Junior Pan American Games, which were held from November 25 to December 5, saw 3,500 athletes aged 15 to 23 compete across 39 sports.
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Josh Su, Specialist, Public Relations
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