The Ottawa Lions will proudly send four athletes to represent Team Ontario at the 2025 Canada Summer Games, where athletics competition begins Tuesday at the Fortis Canada Games Complex in St. John’s, Newfoundland. The competition runs through Saturday, bringing together the country’s best emerging athletes. The Lions will look to build on the club’s six-medal haul from the 2022 Games in Niagara.
Fresh off his second straight silver medal at the Canadian Championships, Connor Fraser arrives in St. John’s as one of the country’s most consistent discus throwers. One of three Lions throwers making the trip to The Rock, the Carleton University student secured his Canada Games spot with a dominant performance at the provincial trials earlier this summer and will aim to add another national medal in Saturday’s final.
After a season most athletes could only dream of, Jessica Gyamfi will be looking to end things on a high note in the shot put. Following a bronze medal at the USports Championships and University of Ottawa Athlete of the Year honours, the soon-to-be third-year nursing student earned the ultimate honour, representing Canada at the World University Games in Germany. Since winning Ontario’s selection trials, Gyamfi placed fifth at the Canadian Championships. She will line up in qualification on Wednesday with an eye toward Saturday’s final.
Rounding out the throwers, Liam Davis will double up in the shot put and hammer throw. A fourth-place finish in the shot and a 12th-place showing in the hammer at nationals confirmed his steady progression, and he’ll open his Games on Tuesday in the shot put before contesting the hammer on Wednesday.
On the track, Zachary Jeggo will represent Ontario in the 400 metres and the 4x400m relay. The 18-year-old recently earned bronze in the U20 400m at the Canadian Championships, anchored the Lions to a Canadian Club record in the 4x400m, and closed his season with a personal best over 300m at the Twilight finale. He begins competition Tuesday night with the 400m preliminaries and is slated for relay duty Wednesday, with finals later in the week.
Schedule to Watch (All times Eastern)
- Tuesday, Aug. 19 – Davis: Shot Put Final (11:30 a.m.); Jeggo: 400m Prelims (5:40 p.m.)
- Wednesday, Aug. 20 – Gyamfi: Shot Put Qualification (11:30 a.m.); Davis: Hammer Final (6:30 p.m.); Jeggo: 4x400m Prelims (7:20 p.m.)
- Friday, Aug. 22 – Jeggo: 400m Final (2:10 p.m.)
- Saturday, Aug. 23 – Fraser: Discus Final (10:45 a.m.); Gyamfi: Shot Put Final (11:00 a.m.); Jeggo: 4x400m Final (6:55 p.m.)
All events will be streamed live on Canada Games Athletics and CBC Sports’ YouTube channel.