A Richmond teenager and Vancouver man were front and centre at the closing ceremony for the Canada Summer Games in Niagara, On.
Golfer Tina Jiang was one of two athletes chosen as flag bearers for Team BC at the ceremony on Sunday.
Tina, a junior member at Quilchena in west Richmond, was accompanied by Vancouver’s Leo Sammarelli, from athletics.
During the Games, she won a pair of gold medals, one from the Women’s Division, as well as a Team BC first place.
Tina was the first golfer to be named a B.C. flag bearer since the debut of the sport at the Games in 2009.
Record-breaking Tina
She set the Canada Games record for lowest 72-hole score at 14-under-par, breaking the previous record set by fellow Team BC alumnus Kevin Kwon at 13-under-par in 2013.
Sammarelli, a class T54 wheelchair racer, won a trio of medals, including a gold on the track.
“Tina and Leo have been exceptional members of Team BC both on and off the field of play,” said Team BC Chef de Mission Jennifer Scott.
Scott said the two athletes “proved their mettle against the top competition in Canada and helped to set the example for what it means to be a member of Team BC.”
Along with establishing herself as the new record holder for 72-hole tournament score, Tina also snapped the record for lowest single-round score for a female at the Games, breaking the record set by her teammate Lauren Kim (-5) earlier in the tournament with a six-under-par.
Tina said she was “so honoured to be the first Team BC golfer to be the flag bearer.”
Trio of medals for Sammarelli
Sammarelli came away from the 2022 Games with gold in the 1500m wheelchair race, silver in the 400m, and bronze in the 100m.
A multi-sport athlete, Sammarelli won three silver medals at the 2019 Canada Winter Games in para-Nordic cross-country skiing and was a national champion boxer prior to his spinal cord injury.
He is also an advocate and pioneer in the world of adaptive boxing, ascending the Grouse Grind on his hands to raise money for the growing sport in 2020.
Sammarelli said his results were a credit to the “people back home,” singling out the support from BC Wheelchair Sports along with his gyms and coaches.”
