Tyler Mislawchuk withdraws from mixed team relay event
TOKYO (July 29, 2021) – Triathlon Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee announced on Thursday that Tyler Mislawchuk has withdrawn from the Tokyo 2020 triathlon mixed team relay event due to an achilles injury he sustained during his individual race this week.
As a result, Alexis Lepage (Gatineau, Que.) will be added to Canada’s relay team and have the opportunity to make his Olympic debut.
“At the direction of team doctors, Tyler Mislawchuk has withdrawn from the mixed team relay event on Saturday at the Olympic Games,” said Triathlon Canada’s High Performance Director Eugene Liang. “Unfortunately, during the individual race, Tyler aggravated his achilles tendon, which ultimately led to some cramping during the run portion of the race due to compensating for the pain. Since the completion of the individual race, we have been working with our medical team to mitigate the irritation in his achilles tendon, but unfortunately there is still some risk of further damage to the achilles should he start. Tyler is a world class athlete who is driven to perform. Our number one priority is to always protect the health of our athletes. This decision is not made easily in light of how competitive all our athletes are.”
Mislawchuk says he wants to support Team Canada by lining up on Saturday with his teammates, but understands this difficult decision will protect his long term health and performance goals.
“It’s devastating not to have the opportunity to line up with my teammates this weekend in the Olympic debut of the mixed team relay due to injury,” said Mislawchuk. “It will be tough watching from the sidelines and not being able to contribute. That said, this also presents an opportunity for my friend and training partner Alexis to compete in the Olympics. I know he is up to the task and will make Canada proud. I will be supporting my teammates in their final preparations. and will be cheering them on with the rest of Canada.”
-30-
TEAM CANADA CONTACTS:
Chris Dornan, Triathlon Attaché
WhatsApp: 403-620-8731
C: 81-80-2038-3279
E: hpprchris@shaw.ca
Josh Su, Press Operations Lead
WhatsApp: 647-464-4060
C: +81-8095-071-174
E: jsu@olympic.ca
Thomas Hall, Communications Lead & Press Chief
WhatsApp: 514-790-1054
C: +81-7041-115-673
E: thall@olympic.ca