Seven Canadian athletes to watch at the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games
1,900 athletes aged 15-18 from around the world will be competing in South Korea.
The 2024 Winter Youth Olympics are just two weeks away, and Canadian athletes and coaches are doing final preparation before heading to Gangwon Province, South Korea.
Being held from January 19 to February 1, the Games will reuse many of the venues from the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang — where Canadian athletes won 29 medals, their highest total ever. Approximately 1,900 athletes aged 15-18 will be competing, across seven sports, 15 disciplines, and a total of 81 events.
The Winter Youth Olympics have been a launch pad for several Canadian athletes over the years that have since gone on to grab headlines at the senior level, including NHL rising star Adam Fantilli, short track speed skater Florence Brunelle, and luger Natalie Corless, among others.
Here are some athletes to keep an eye on in Gangwon later this month.
Kaiya Ruiter (Figure Skating)
Already one of Canada’s top figure skaters, 17-year-old Kaiya Ruiter will head to Gangwon looking to show her talents on the world stage ahead of a potential push for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.
Ruiter finished second in the women’s singles event at the 2023 Canadian National Skating Championships, behind only Canada’s breakout star of the 2022 Winter Olympics Madeline Schizas. Ruiter was seven points back of Schizas, and nine points above third place Fiona Bombardier. She will take part in the 2024 National Skating Championships this week, where she will look to improve on last year’s result before travelling to South Korea.
She is also a two-time junior national champion, and last March skated to a top-10 finish at the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships in her hometown of Calgary.
“I feel honoured and beyond excited to be named to Canada’s Youth Olympic Games Team,” said Ruiter in a press release. “My dream, and what drives my training, is to represent Canada on the grandest stages in figure skating. With this opportunity, I get to compete on the same ice where my idol, Kaetlyn Osmond, won two Olympic medals. I am so proud, and I will do my best for myself, my family and Canada. Thank you to everyone who has supported me to make this dream come true.”
Maya Yuen (Luge)
Currently a member of Luge Canada’s Junior Development Team, Maya Yuen was inspired to try the sport after watching the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics on television. She will now have the opportunity to compete on that same track — the Alpensia Sliding Centre — at Gangwon 2024.
Yuen placed second at Luge Canada’s 2023 Canadian Youth Championships, also winning a bronze medal at the Youth A Continental Cup in Whistler in January 2023. The 17-year-old from Calgary will be one of three Canadian lugers hoping to follow in the footsteps of previous medallists in the sport at the Winter Youth Olympic Games.
Representing Canada at Lillehammer 2016, Brooke Apshkrum struck gold medal in women’s singles and Reid Watts took bronze in men’s singles. At Lausanne 2020, Natalie Corless and Caitlin Nash won the silver medal in women’s doubles. Apshkrum and Watts went on to compete at PyeongChang 2018, while Watts and and Corless took to the track at Beijing 2022.
“It is an honour and a privilege for me to be chosen to represent Canada at the Youth Olympic Games,” said Yuen in a press release. “I will be proudly wearing the maple leaf as a symbol of Canada’s values on my clothes and in my heart. Being able to participate at this high level of sport is validation that my time and effort on and off the track is being rewarded. I am looking forward to creating lifelong memories while competing on the world stage.”
Tarik van Wieren (Ski Jumping)
Ski jumpers have been catching the headlines in Canada over the past few years, starting with a historic bronze medal in the team event at Beijing 2022, and continuing with the unprecedented success Alexandria Loutitt and Abigail Strate have been having on the international stage since.
Sixteen-year-old Tarik van Wieren will look to follow in their footsteps, beginning with the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games. With facilities in his hometown of Calgary no longer in use, van Wieren has had to travel internationally to train and compete — including stops in the United States at Lake Placid, Park City and Steamboat Springs, as well as training in Poland and Slovenia. It’s in Planica, Slovenia where he has trained with the Canadian national team athletes and fellow Calgarians Loutitt, Strate, Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes, and Matthew Soukup — at their training base there.
He booked Canada’s quota spot at the 2023 FIS Nordic Junior World Ski Championships in Whistler, British Columbia, and in December was officially selected for the team after being ranked the top Canadian at the Notodden FIS Cup in Norway.
“Tarik is a very talented up-and-coming athlete,” said Mike Bodnarchuk, Co-Chair of Ski Jumping Canada, in a press release. “You can’t help but admire his grit and determination to become a competitive ski jumper given the lack of facilities here in Canada. I’m thrilled that Tarik’s hard work enabled him to qualify for the Youth Olympic Games. This will be a tremendous opportunity for him to build on.”
Eamon Wilson (Cross-Country Skiing)
The only member of Canada’s Gangwon 2024 cross-country ski team who has raced internationally outside of Canada, 17-year-old Eamon Wilson heads to South Korea with an impressive track record.
Wilson — from Burnaby, British Columbia — picked up gold and silver medals at the 2023 Canada Winter Games, and stepped onto the podium three times at the 2023 Nordiq Canada Ski Nationals. He is also a member of the Development National Ski Team, and looking to continue his upward trajectory.
He booked a trip to Gangwon as the top male qualifier at the Alberta Cup 1 & 2 in Canmore, Alberta in December — finishing fourth in the Sprint event and second in the Distance event.
“Qualifying for the 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games in South Korea has always been a dream of mine.” said Wilson in a press release. “It’s a huge honour to represent Canada, and wearing the same race suit as the athletes who competed in the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games is really cool. There has been a lot of hard work by myself, and the people supporting me, so being named to the team feels like recognition of that.”
Charlie Beatty (Freestyle Skiing)
One of Canada’s brightest young freestyle skiing talents — Horseshoe Valley, Ontario’s Charlie Beatty — has ambitions of competing at Milano Cortina 2026, but first is aiming to take full advantage of an opportunity to compete at the Winter Youth Olympic Games.
In 2022, Beatty was one of the youngest athletes to be selected to Freestyle Canada’s NextGen program when he was 14 years old. Now 16, he will be competing in the men’s slopestyle and big air events in Gangwon.
He is the reigning junior world champion in slopestyle, and has been competing on the senior World Cup circuit since — an opportunity earned as a result of that title. Previous accolades also include winning the slopestyle and halfpipe events at the 2019 junior national championships.
“I am honoured and excited to be representing Canada at the 2024 Winter [Youth Olympic Games],” said Beatty in a press release. “I am looking forward to a great experience and to learning a lot about what the Games have to offer.”
Cheyenne Tirschmann (Biathlon)
Cheyenne Tirschmann is the only member of Canada’s six-person Gangwon 2024 biathlon team from outside of Alberta, with the 16-year-old hailing from Whitehorse, Yukon. Her and cross-country skier Aramintha Bradford — who is also from Whitehorse — are the only two athletes from Canada’s three territories going to Gangwon.
Primarily a cross-country skier, Tirschmann won gold and silver medals in that discipline at the 2023 Arctic Winter Games in Wood Buffalo, Alberta. A multi-sport athlete, Tirschmann competed in both biathlon and cross-country skiing at the 2023 Canada Winter Games in Prince Edward Island — as well as athletics at the 2022 Canada Summer Games in Niagara, Ontario.
In South Korea she will be looking to get even more biathlon experience under her belt, with the 2023 Canada Winter Games her first major races in that discipline. She qualified for Gangwon 2024 with a top-three finish at the Canada National Team Trials in Canmore, Alberta in November.
“I am so excited to have the opportunity to represent Canada at the 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games in South Korea,” said Tirschmann in a press release. “I feel so much support and encouragement from the Yukon and Sovereign biathlon community and I am looking forward to getting my first international biathlon experience!”
Eli Bouchard (Snowboarding)
Lac Beauport, Quebec’s Eli Bouchard caught the eye of snowboarding fans as an eight-year-old, when he was believed to be the youngest snowboarder in the world to ever land a double backflip. Now 16, Bouchard is heading to Gangwon 2024 looking to continue building on an impressive budding career, in both slopestyle and big air.
At the 2023 Canada Winter Games, Bouchard won gold in both the big air and slopestyle events. He is the reigning national junior champion in slopestyle, and finished seventh in the event at the 2023 Junior World Championships in New Zealand — where he also finished 34th in big air.
He has made several appearances on the senior World Cup circuit, including finishing 15th out of 53 athletes at the Big Air World Cup in Edmonton in early December
“I am truly honored to be selected to participate in the Youth Olympic Games in South Korea,” said Bouchard in a press release. “Representing my country on such a prestigious stage is a dream come true, and I am eager to embrace the challenges and opportunities that come with this incredible experience. The support from my snowboarding community and the chance to showcase my skills on the international stage fill me with gratitude and excitement. I look forward to giving my best and making my country proud at the 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games.”
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I love that a few of them mentioned the PyeongChang games, and how they’re excited to play on that same stage. I’m sure it offers up a little extra motivation for them