The University of Alberta will be well represented this summer in Paris, as the world turns its focus on the capital city of France, and the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. 

Three current and former Golden Bears & Pandas student-athletes will compete in the 33rd Olympiad and 17th Paralympic Games, with a handful of other connections between the Games and the University of Alberta.

Bears and Pandas competing in Paris will be 2020 Olympic Gold Medalist Kelsey Mitchell, first-time Paralympian Amanda Rummery, and two-time U SPORTS Men's Volleyball champion Brett Walsh. University graduate Daniel Gu also qualified for his first Olympic Games, as he will represent Canada in Fencing. 

The Olympic Games will kick off on Friday with the opening ceremony on the Seine River in Paris, with the Paralympics getting underway on August 28th. 

In official competition, Golden Bears & Pandas student-athletes and coaches have now represented the UofA at 28 Olympic Games and one Paralympic Games, earning 10 medals (3 Gold, 1 Silver, 6 Bronze). 

2024 Paris Connections

Kelsey Mitchell

• Played with the Pandas Soccer team from 2012-14. 
• Competing in her second Summer Olympics in Track Cycling; also represented Canada at 2020 Tokyo Games. 
• Captured gold in the women's track cycling sprint in Tokyo.
• Won gold in the sprint at the 2019 Pan American Games and Pan American Championships.
• Captured silver in the sprint, and bronze in the keirin at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. 
• Member of the 2013 Canada West Champion Pandas Soccer team.

Amanda Rummery

• Rummery, a sprinter with the Pandas Track & Field team, qualified for the 2024 Paralympics. She is the first Golden Bear or Panda to compete in the Paralympic Games. 
• This is her first time qualifying for the Paralympic Games, after narrowly missing a spot in the 2021 Tokyo Games. The University of Alberta Education student and Pandas Track athlete met the standard in the Para Ambulatory 400m with a time of 59.08 at the Canadian Trials. 
• Rummery has competed at the 2019 and 2023 World Para Athletics Championships, highlighted by a fourth place finish in the 400m at the 2023 World Championship in Paris.
• Rummery currently holds the Canadian T46 record in the 100m, 200m, and 400m.
• A graduate of MacEwan University, Rummery joined the Pandas Track & Field program in 2022 while working on her Education after-degree.

Brett Walsh, '17 BCom

• Walsh was a setter with the Bears Volleyball team from 2012-17.
• Named to the Canadian Men's Volleyball Olympic roster.
• Helped the Bears capture back-to-back Canada West and CIS titles in 2014 and 2015.
• 2016 Canada West & CIS Player of the Year.
• Canada West all-time leader in assists with 4,039.
• Has been with the Canadian National team since 2017. Spent the 2023/24 professional season with France's Alterna Stade Poitevin. 

Daniel Gu, '20 BSc PEK

• Gu, a Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation graduate, will be making his Olympic debut in Fencing later this month. 
• Gu first represented Canada internationally at the 2014 FIE World Junior Championships at the cadet level. He went on to compete at the junior level at three straight FIE World Junior Championships from 2016 to 2018. In November 2016 he won individual foil gold at an FIE Junior World Cup in Guatemala.
• He is coached by his mother Jujie Luan, who is a four-time Olympian. She won individual foil gold at Los Angeles 1984 while representing China. She competed for Canada at Sydney 2000 and Beijing 2008. 

Ryley Barnes, '22 BA

• Golden Bears Volleyball outside hitter from 2011-16. 
• Barnes is an alternate on the Canadian Men's Volleyball Olympic roster.
• Helped the Bears capture back-to-back Canada West and CIS titles in 2014 and 2015.
• Barnes was the 2014 CIS Championship MVP. 
• His 1,117 career kills are the third most in Golden Bears history. 

Aleah Nickel

• Nickel wrestled with the Pandas from 2019-24. 
• Finished 2nd at the Canadian Olympic Wrestling trials in December. Named an alternate for 2024 Paris Games. 
• 2024 Canada West Wrestler of the Year - Female Competition. 
• Three-time Canada West gold medalist, and 2024 U SPORTS gold medalist (68kg). 

Dr. Kristin Anstey, '07 BSc, '11 MD

• Dr. Anstey is the Team Physician, Canadian Women's Basketball team. 
• Anstey is the Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Family Medicine in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry.
• She is also a primary care sport and exercise medicine physician at the Glen Sather Sports Medicine Clinic. 
• She is a former Team Doctor with the Golden Bears Hockey program. 

Nicole Ban, '15 MCoach

• Was an assistant coach with the Pandas Volleyball program in 2014/15. 
• Is the head coach of the Canadian Women's Sitting Volleyball team. 
• The Canadian sitting women are currently ranked #1 in the world. 

Michael Cook

• Is the Lead, Strength & Conditioning for the Volleyball Canada Men's Indoor team. 
• Paris will be Cook's second Olympic Games on the staff for Volleyball Canada, also working the 2020 Tokyo Games. 
• Cook was the head coach, Sport Conditioning with the Green and Gold Sport System and Golden Bears and Pandas Athletics from 2012-20.