London, Ont. to celebrate local Olympians at Labatt Park

Labatt Park will be swelling with athletic talent next week as London, Ont., gets set to hold a celebration in honour of the city’s Olympians.

The 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games saw a Londoner’s name on four out of Canada’s seven gold medals as the country come away with its largest medal haul ever.

London’s celebration of its local talent is set for Aug. 28 and will feature appearances from three of those gold medalists, along with other Olympians who hail from the Forest City.

Among the local Olympians making an appearance is Maggie Mac Neil, who captured Canada’s first gold in Tokyo.

The 21-year-old swam her way to the champion’s throne in the 100-metre butterfly with a time of 55.59 seconds, setting a Canadian record at her first Olympics.

The Labatt Park celebration will also feature Susanne Grainger, who was aboard the winning boat when Canada won women’s eight rowing for the first time since 1992.

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Decathlon champion Damian Warner, who served as Canada’s closing ceremony flag bearer, will also be present. The world’s greatest athlete finished his event with an Olympic record-setting score of 9,018 points, making him the fourth person in history to ever top 9,000 points.

Miranda Ayim, Canada’s opening ceremony flag bearer and women’s basketball team member, will also be making an appearance, along with women’s coxless four rower Jennifer Martin.

Next week’s ceremony will include formal introductions for each athlete followed by a question and answer session led by Global’s Mike Stubbs.

Tickets for the event are free of charge, but anyone who wishes to attend must register online through Tourism London.

A total of 3,300 people will be allowed to attend and tickets are doled out on a first-come, first-served basis. A maximum of six tickets are allowed for each registration.

A number of COVID-19 protocols will be in place and masks are mandatory for all guests entering Labatt Park, but can be removed once seated.

Doors open at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 28, with the ceremony getting underway at 12 p.m.

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