WINDSOR, ON -- Windsor and Chatham-Kent natives, Miah-Marie Langlois and Bridget Carleton are keeping their Olympics dream alive and well, despite its one-year delay.
Canada’s senior national women’s basketball team qualified for the 2020 Olympics in February after a 30-point victory over Sweden.
"That was one of the highlights of my career to this point. It was kind of all of your hard work up to that point over the last four years had paid off," says Carleton. She has suited up for the WNBA but Tokyo would have been her Olympics debut.
"It’s like a four year plan for us. As soon as the Olympics in Rio finished, a new quad is starting, our sight has been on 2020 ever," she says.
That four-year plan has extended into a five-year plan. Veteran Miah-Marie Langlois represented Canada in the 2016 Olympics and knows this upcoming year will be when the real work begins. She says there is no time to celebrate until the team is standing on the podium with medals around their necks.
"We missed the opening ceremonies (at the 2016 Olympics) because we had a game the next day. A lot of the show that people see, it’s for the fans. When we’re at the Olympics, it’s pure competition."
With training facilities closed due to the pandemic, staying in tip-top shape requires extra creativity.
"I can just dribble out here with no net be good with it. I do my workouts at home and I run."
Langlois says she trains herself when she is playing professional basketball overseas.
"This type of lifestyle for me is familiar."
Besides a common passion for the game, the twelve players on the national team are also close off the court.
"We care for one another. I think that stems from when we train every summer together." Carleton describes her team as 'a big family atmosphere'.
In Ontario, COVID-19 restrictions have only loosened only for single or individual competitor sports. For now, the team stays in touch through frequent video calls to keep each other motivated.
