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Year in Review: Red Deer represented at Olympics, Paralympics

Red Deer's Nicholas Bennett returned home from the 2024 Paralympics with three medals
molly-simpson-olympics-opening-ceremonies
Red Deer's Molly Simpson holds up the Canadian flag during the opening ceremonies at the 2024 Olympic Summer Games in Paris.

Red Deer's Nicholas Bennett returned home from the 2024 Paralympics with three medals.

The para swimmer, who is originally from Parksville, B.C. and now lives in Red Deer, won two gold and a silver at the games in Paris, France from Aug. 28 to Sept. 8. He also served as Canada's flag bearer during the closing ceremony, alongside Ottawa's Brianna Hennessy.

“Being the flag bearer is such a monumental occasion,” Bennett said in a media release.

“Being able to hold the flag and represent all the athletes that have competed is just another level of amazement for me that I have been able to achieve at these Paralympics.”

The Red Deer Catalina Swim Club athlete won his first silver medal on Aug. 31 when he came in second during the men's 200-metre freestyle S14 in 1:53.61. He followed that up two days later with a gold medal in the men's 100m breaststroke with a time of 1:03.98. On Sept. 4 he claimed his second gold medal with a first-place finish in the men's 200m medley SM14 in 2:06.05.

Two Red Deerians competed in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris as well: swimmer Rebecca Smith and BMX cyclist Molly Simpson.

Simpson qualified for the BMX racing finals, finishing fifth overall with a time of 35.833 seconds, which was 1.602 seconds behind gold medallist Saya Sakakbara of Australia. Simpson was the youngest competitor to suit up in the event.

"Representing my country was just incredible. Putting the jersey on it just felt good in representing the maple leaf. It made me feel proud because I was just so excited. I'm happy to be from Canada and happy to be the only Canadian at the BMX event. That was also really special," she said.

"The goal was to medal but I'm overall happy with the experience. It was my first games and getting fifth was exciting. Not only that but the other races as well. I just rode well, I was consistent, and did what I needed to do to get into the final."

Smith made the second and final Olympic Games appearance of her career this past summer. She first competed at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, where she won a silver medal as part of the the women's 4X100m relay team.

"I think this experience compared to the Tokyo Olympics was a lot different with no COVID-19 restrictions. I just had so much fun knowing that my family was there and we had a crowd while we were racing. It was just overall a really exciting time," Smith said.

"Every time I make the national team I don't take it for granted. It is such a grind to stay at such a high level of sport and keep bettering myself. To make that team was incredible. At the Olympic trials in May, I wasn't sure what was going to happen but to make that team after finishing my degree was something I wasn't fully expecting and so exciting."

At this past year's Olympics Games, Smith competed in the women's 100-metre butterfly where she finished eighth in heat four with a time of 58.85. She unfortunately missed the cut to qualify for the finals.



Sean McIntosh

About the Author: Sean McIntosh

Sean joined the Red Deer Advocate team in the summer of 2017. Originally from Ontario, he worked in a small town of 2,000 in Saskatchewan for seven months before coming to Central Alberta.
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