Posts in category: National

Uncharacteristically cold and blustery conditions swept across St. John’s during the 2025 Canada Summer Games. With temperatures rarely climbing above 12°C, gusting winds, and occasional rain showers, athletes had to contend with more than just their competitors on the track and in the field. But while the skies were grey, the Ottawa Lions still found plenty of silver linings — earning multiple podium finishes, highlighted by three medals of the silver variety, along with a gold and bronze.

For Connor Fraser, it was another step onto the national podium — his third straight silver medal. The Carleton University student launched the discus 47.97 metres to claim second place, continuing a remarkable streak of runner-up finishes. It was his third consecutive silver at a national-level championship, following back-to-back second-place showings at the Canadian Championships, including just three weeks earlier on home soil in Ottawa.

Fraser had to battle the tricky St. John’s winds, fouling four of his six throws. His fifth-round effort, though short of his 51.55m personal best, was enough to secure his spot behind Alberta’s Weezy Eze. Still, Fraser told Ottawa Sports Pages the Games were “by far my favourite track and field experience I’ve ever had.”

In the women’s shot put, Jessica Gyamfi capped her marathon season with perhaps her most memorable performance yet. Competing in her 26th meet of the year, she rose to the occasion under brutal headwinds, delivering one of the best throws of her career.

Living up to the often-shouted mantra of “last throw, best throw,” Gyamfi sent her sixth-round effort out to 13.22 metres to secure the bronze medal.

“It’s like, pray you can keep your form and push against the winds,” Gyamfi explained to Ottawa Sports Pages.

It was a fitting capstone to a long, demanding season, and her medal marked the first by a Lions woman in the Canada Games shot put since Caroline Larose and Sultana Frizell shared the top two podium spots in 2001.

On the track, Zachary Jeggo added to the Lions’ silver collection with a strong run in the men’s 400 metres. His 47.74-second effort put him just four tenths behind Quebec’s Mickael Allaire for gold. But his week didn’t end there.

The soon to be Simon Fraser University freshman later returned to the track as part of Team Ontario’s gold medal-winning 4×400-metre relay squad, extending the Lions’ proud tradition in the event and joining past winners Devin Biocchi (2013), Stuart Pearson (2009), and Tyler Fawcett (2009).

In his Canada Games debut, Liam Davis held his own against the country’s best throwers. He finished eighth in the men’s shot put with a toss of 14.48 metres, and placed sixth in the hammer throw with a personal-best 50.69 metres — a breakthrough in tough conditions.

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.

When Jay Yetman, standing just outside Alberta’s 24-yard line, took a pass from his Team Quebec teammate, it looked like just another routine phase of play. But with just over 30 seconds left in the first half of the Canada Summer Games bronze medal match, the McGill University student turned an ordinary reception into the game-winning score.

In an instant, Yetman shifted his focus to the in-goal area and exploded forward, hunting what would become his sixth try of the tournament. With Quebec leading 12–5, he was quickly met by an Alberta defender who leapt onto the back of the 20-year-old’s jersey — clinging on for several metres before falling away. The Glebe Collegiate graduate shrugged off one more would-be tackler before tumbling across the line, extending Quebec’s lead to 17–5 at the break. Alberta would score twice in the second half to close the gap to 17–15, but Yetman’s effort proved to be the bronze medal–winning try.

A natural fit for Rugby 7s, where the need for speed is paramount, Yetman began his career with the Ottawa Lions nearly a decade ago. He belongs to an exclusive club in Lions history — one of just 14 sprinters to have run sub-11 for 100m, sub-22 for 200m, and sub-50 for 400m.

Wednesday’s medal was the culmination of a tournament where speed, grit, and versatility collided. Yetman crossed the try line three times in a 31–7 win over Prince Edward Island, added another in a 36–5 victory over Nova Scotia, and scored once more in a 57–0 rout of Yukon. Quebec finished pool play 3–1, tied with host Newfoundland, then stormed past New Brunswick 48–12 in the quarterfinals before falling 24–12 to eventual gold medalists Ontario in the semis.

That Yetman was starring in a different uniform — and a different sport — might surprise those who know him only from the track. Just 10 days earlier, he was wearing Ottawa Lions colours at Terry Fox Athletic Facility, sprinting in the 100m and 200m at the Canadian Track and Field Championships. At McGill, he is a rare two-sport athlete, balancing the precision and explosiveness of sprinting with the chaos and contact of rugby.

In doing so, he follows unique footsteps. Yetman becomes the second Lions athlete in as many Canada Summer Games to compete outside of track and field, after Audrey Goddard represented Ontario in volleyball in 2022.