After an extra year of anticipation caused by the ongoing pandemic, Team Alberta athletes will participate in the 2022 Canada Summer Games, being held in Ontario’s Niagara Region.

The games get underway tonight (August 6) with the opening ceremonies and one of the seven Airdrie athletes involved in the games will have a very special part in the opening ceremonies for Alberta.  

Sophia Howell from the city has been chosen to carry the Alberta team banner, along with Edmonton's Martyna Ostrzagalo.  Howell will compete in the gruelling triathlon at the games while Ostrzagalo is a member of Alberta's tennis squad.   Delaney Gibb will be the team’s flag bearer. Gibb, from Raymond, is a point guard for the Team Alberta women’s basketball team and recently led the Canadian national women’s basketball team to a silver finish at the 2022 FIBA Americas event.

Another Airdrie competitor who has made her mark on Canadian athletics is also a part of the Alberta contingent.  Sienna MacDonald took home the heptathlon gold medal from the Canadian Track & Field Championships in British Columbia in June.  MacDonald won the event which is another lung-bursting event, made up of seven events over two days.  

The other Airdrie athletes at the games include Saheed Alawiye in athletics, Tana Layton who is a member of the Alberta women's basketball team, Nyema Ingleton and Mykena Walker who are both part of the women's soccer squad, and Daisy Olsen who is a part of the Alberta women's volleyball team.  

This year’s Team Alberta complement is 487, including 385 athletes representing 18 sports and 25 teams.  Eighty-four coaches, managers and technical support staff are with the team as are 18 mission staff.

The opening ceremony will be broadcast on CBC tonight starting at 6:00 pm Mountain time.  Competition gets underway Sunday and continues until the closing ceremonies on Sunday, August 21st.   

The Alberta government has invested $900,000 in the years leading up to the Games to support the development of Team Alberta.

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