Former weightlifter Christine Girard has been named Canada’s chef de mission for the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, which will take place from October 20 to November 5, 2023.
The Canadian Olympic Committee made the announcement Thursday at the Institut national du sport du Québec.
Girard, a native of Elliot Lake, Ont., but raised in Rouyn-Noranda, has represented Canada at several international competitions, including the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and London in 2012.
It was in London that she became Canada’s first weightlifting medalist after capturing bronze at 63 kg. This medal turned into gold when, three years later, a new round of doping tests pinned the two athletes who had beaten her.
The following year, in 2016, she learned that her fourth place at the Beijing Games had instead turned into a bronze medal, following the exclusion of another weightlifter.
Girard, 38, also won a gold medal (2011) and a silver medal (2007) at the Pan American Games.
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