Canadian Boxing Team Named for 2022 Commonwealth Games

Six athletes chosen to represent Canada

OTTAWA - (2022 - 05 - 26) - Commonwealth Sport Canada (CSC) and Boxing Canada today announced the athletes who will represent Team Canada in boxing at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham England taking place July 28 to August 8, 2022.

“There are few big multi-sport games opportunities in an athlete’s pathway to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Birmingham’s 2022 Commonwealth Games are a great showcase to launch their preparation moving forward. Boxing Canada is confident in our team’s successes and wish the team all the best in their quest for gold,” says Roy Halpin, Executive Director of Boxing Canada.

The six athletes (2 women, 4 men) were selected based on their results at the 2020 Olympic Games and the 2022 AMBC Continental Championships. Four of the six boxers are in their first year on the Elite National Team. They will look to the leadership of their teammates, Tokyo 2020 Olympians Wyatt Sanford and Tammara Thibeault. Thibeault will be the sole boxer who also competed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, where she earned a bronze medal.  

On the women’s side, Priyanka Dhillon is coming off a bronze medal performance at the 2022 AMBC Continental Championships, where she represented Canada for the first time. Tammara Thibeault is looking to improve on her previous Commonwealth Games experience, following a fifth-place finish at Tokyo 2020, a gold medal at the Continental Championships, and a gold medal at the 2022 IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships.

The men are all coming off bronze medal performances at the 2022 Continental Championships. Keoma-Ali Al-Ahmadieh will look to improve on his promising debut at the Continental Championships, while Sanford will be looking to redeem himself after a first-round exit at the Olympic Games.

“As a core sport in the Commonwealth Games, and a sport on the program since the inaugural edition of the event's precursor, the 1930 British Empire Games, boxing has a proud tradition for the Commonwealth Games and Canada,” says Scott Stevenson, Executive Director, Team Canada 2022. “With 88 medals won by Canada at the Commonwealth Games we are excited for the boxing competition this summer and anticipate great results from Canada.”

At the 2018 Commonwealth Games, all seven boxers earned a medal (one silver and six bronze). Boxing Canada will look to continue their success and go for their first gold medal in the ring since 2014. 

In preparation for the Commonwealth Games, team members Al-Ahmadieh, Keven Beausejour, and Jerome Feujio will participate in the Eindhoven Box Cup in the Netherlands in June, while the women will be resting from the Women’s World Championships that took place in May. The pre-games training camp will be held in Belfast, Ireland, from July 8-24.

“I feel so honoured to represent Canada! Its surreal. It’s always been a goal of mine to fight internationally for team Canada and it just feels like everything is starting to fall into place this year. I’m excited to compete at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham,” says Priyanka Dhillon.

The boxing competition will take place at the NEC Hall 9, Birmingham, July 29 – August 7 with 14 events, eight men’s and six women’s.

Birmingham 2022 will feature 19 sports and 8 para-sports as part of its program with up to 4,500 athletes taking part. The Commonwealth Games are the only multi-sport event that feature equal standing for sport and para-sport events, and these 2022 Games will showcase the largest para-sport program ever. In addition, for the first time in its history, the Games will feature more medal events for women (135) than men (133).

The boxing team which will represent Canada at the Birmingham 2022 includes:

Athletes:

Coaches:

ABOUT TEAM CANADA 2022

The 2022 Commonwealth Games will be host to 72 participating nations and territories taking part in the Games. The Commonwealth Games are a valuable opportunity as a steppingstone and development opportunity for Canadian athletes, coaches, and managers working towards Olympic and Paralympic success. Canada’s performance projection in 2022 is a top 3 ranking, in total medals, amongst all nations and territories competing. Commonwealth athletes won 80%+ of Canada's medals at the 2020 Olympic Games

Team Canada’s dedicated mission team will provide an optimal environment by celebrating equality, diversity, and non-discrimination. This is in support of our goals needed to enable a best ever performance by Canadian athletes at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

ABOUT BOXING CANADA

Boxing Canada is the national governing body for the sport of Olympic boxing in the country recognized by the Canadian Olympic Committee. The goal of Boxing Canada is to promote, organize and coordinate the sport of Boxing for the advancement of the sport and its members of all levels and ages. The organization’s vision is to inspire Canadians to make Olympic boxing a major sport and physical activity while striving towards Canada being a dominant nation internationally.

ABOUT COMMONWEALTH SPORT CANADA

Commonwealth Sport Canada (CSC) is the franchise holder for the Commonwealth Games and the Commonwealth sport movement in Canada. CSC is an active, contributing member of the Canadian sport community and supports Canada’s athletes to achieve excellence at Olympic, Paralympic Games, and world championships. The mission of CSC is to enrich the lives of youth across the Commonwealth and host the Commonwealth Games. CSC is responsible for all aspects of Canada’s participation in the XXII Commonwealth Games and will be sending a team of almost 400 of Canada’s best athletes and coaches to compete for Canada. The upcoming Games will occur in Birmingham, England from July 28 through to August 8, 2022. For additional information go to: www.commonwealthsport.ca.

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For more information, please contact:

Eleni Siganos
Communication, Marketing & Events Manager
Boxing Canada
Email: esiganos@boxingcanada.org
514-570-1750

Darren Matte
Media Attaché – Boxing
416-768-6847

Patrick Kenny
Communications Team Leader – Team Canada 2022
Email: patrick@commonwealthsport.ca
613 724 7160