RECAP DAY 6: Canada adds to medal count and advances across events on busy Tuesday at FISU Games
Canadian student-athletes were in action across six sports Tuesday at the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games, highlighted by a historic swimming medal, a first-place team standing in men’s artistic gymnastics, and multiple qualifications in athletics. Canada also continued competition in archery, badminton and taekwondo, while table tennis wrapped up its final day of action in Berlin and surrounding venues.
Archery
A group of seven Canadian archers opened individual competition at the 2025 FISU World University Games with their respective ranking rounds.
In men’s recurve, Victor Chen (Vancouver, B.C. / Waterloo) placed 53rd with a score of 616 and is set to face New Zealand’s Ben McLean in the 1/48 elimination round. Teammate Benjamin Lee (Kitchener, Ont. / Waterloo) finished 70th with 592 points and will face Poland’s Jakub Bak.
On the women’s compound side, Jyotsna Challa (Halifax, N.S. / Dalhousie) ranked 37th with 652 points and is scheduled to face Malaysia’s Natasha Binti Mohd Shahruddin. Brynnleigh Lohner (Carbon, Alta.), who was without her bow due to transit delays, placed 51st and will take on Leann Drake of the United States in the 1/24 round.
In men’s compound, Trevor Hoy (Norwood, Ont. / Trent) finished 55th with a score of 671 and will compete against Hong Kong’s Ho Chun Justin Ngai in the opening elimination round.
In women’s recurve, Natalee Chan (Mississauga, Ont. / Toronto) placed 60th with 589 points and is slated to meet the Netherlands’ Suzanne de Vries, while Amelia Gagne (Peterborough, Ont. / Trent) ranked 63rd with 584 points and will face Slovakia’s Kristina Druskova.
Artistic Gymnastics
Team Canada topped the standings after the opening day of the men’s artistic gymnastics team event at the 2025 FISU World University Games. With a total score of 239.593, the Canadians finished first overall, thanks to strong event performances including first-place finishes on rings and horizontal bar.
Breakdown of Canada’s event results:
- Floor: 38.466 (4th)
- Pommel Horse: 38.933 (2nd)
- Rings: 40.432 (1st)
- Vault: 41.432 (2nd)
- Parallel Bars: 39.298 (3rd)
Horizontal Bar: 41.032 (1st)
William Emard (Laval, Que. / UQAM) and Ioannis Chronopoulos (Milton, Ont. / Nebraska) led the way for Canada in Day 1 of the men’s artistic gymnastics all-around qualification, sitting first and second overall following six strong rotations in Berlin. Emard posted the day’s top total with a score of 82.899, while Chronopoulos followed closely with 82.532.
Emard delivered standout performances on floor (14.066) and parallel bars (13.800), both ranking among the top three of all competitors. He also added a 13.700 on rings and a 13.600 on high bar, maintaining a consistent presence near the top in every event. Chronopoulos, meanwhile, was especially strong on pommel horse, recording a 14.166—the highest score of the day in that event. He also scored 13.833 on floor and 13.733 on rings, showing impressive balance across apparatus.
Athletics
Canada’s second day of athletics at the 2025 FISU Games saw three top-12 finishes and several athletes advance to finals and semifinals in Bochum, Germany.
Vivian Ogor (Waterloo, Ont. / Western) highlighted the day by placing seventh in the women’s 100m final, running a personal-best 11.65 seconds. Western teammate Liv Sands (London, Ont.) finished eighth in the shot put with a mark of 15.96m, while Hannah Hagerty (Regina, Sask. / Saskatchewan) placed 11th in the long jump at 5.65m.
Favour Okpali (Lagos, Nigeria / Western) surged to a spot in the women’s 400m final, clocking 52.84 seconds in the semis. High jumper Aidan Grout (Maple Ridge, B.C. / Toronto) advanced to the final after clearing 2.13m, and Jonathan Podbielski (Regina, Sask. / Regina) qualified for the men’s 1500m final with a time of 3:44.16. Sophie Coutts (Toronto, Ont. / Western) also moved on in the women’s 800m after running a personal best of 2:05.04.
Other Canadian performances included a PB from Shelby MacIsaac (Riverview, N.B. / UNB) in the 400m hurdles (1:00.22), a strong men’s 400m hurdles semifinal by Windsor’s Benjamin Tilson (51.69), and a top-10 overall 1500m effort from Alec Purnell (Dundas, Ont. / McMaster). Paige Willems (400m), Travis Campbell (100m) and Julia Agostinelli (800m) also raced in semifinal rounds.
Badminton
Following the team event, badminton competition continued with mixed doubles, singles (men’s and women’s), and doubles (men’s and women’s) events.
Advancing in their competition were Chloe Hoang (Markham, Ont. / Ontario Tech) and Timothy Lock (Markham, Ont. / Humber), who earned a straight-sets win over Saudi Arabia in their mixed doubles round of 64 match.
Kiren Milan Deraj (Winnipeg, Man. / Herzing College) and Sherry Wu (Ottawa, Ont. / Humber) dropped their round of 64 mixed doubles match in straight sets to Poland, while Jasper Tang (Markham, Ont. / Western) and Sophia Nong (Thornhill, Ont.) also fell 2-0 to Japan in their mixed doubles opener.
In women’s singles action, Alena Yu (Edmonton, Alta. / Alberta) was edged 2-1 by Japan’s Suzu Nakahara in the round of 128. On the men’s side, Harold Tan (Markham, Ont. / Toronto) lost 2-0 to Ukraine’s Dmytro Shcherbatiuk in the round of 128.
Tang returned to the court alongside Victor Lai (Scarborough, Ont. / York) in the men’s doubles round of 64, where the Canadian duo earned a 2-0 win to advance. Tan and Nathan Mills (Toronto, Ont. / Toronto) were also in action in men’s doubles but were eliminated following a 2-0 loss.
Table Tennis
The final day of action for table tennis was Tuesday as all three competitors were eliminated from their respective brackets.
Ivy Liao (Vancouver, B.C. / UBC) lost 4-0 in the women’s singles round of 64 to Japan’s Kyoka Idesawa.
In the men’s singles round of 64, both Kevin Guo (Oakville, Ont. / Yale) and Terence Yeung (North York, Ont. / Western) each lost their matches 4-0. Guo was eliminated by Cho Daeseong, while Yeung lost to Kazakhstan’s Aidos Kenzhigulov.
Taekwondo
All three athletes were eliminated in the quarterfinal round of their respective weight classes on Tuesday.
Yohan Chang (Vaughan, Ont. / York) opened with a pair of 2-0 victories in the men’s 63kg division over Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Ibrahim Donko and Poland’s Dominik Papierowski before falling 2-0 to Kazakhstan’s Samirkhon Ababakirov.
Sophia Fokas (Richmond Hill, Ont. / Humber) also won her first two matches of the women’s division, beginning with a 2-1 win over Poland’s Lucja Oleszczuk and a 2-0 win against Ecuador’s Miley Domenica Guanga Nazareno. She was eliminated in the quarterfinal round by China’s Qing Guo.
Sofie Nicholson (Surrey, B.C. / Simon Fraser) was the final individual in action, competing in the women’s 73kg category. She defeated Latvia’s Viktoija Helviga 2-0 before being eliminated in the quarterfinal by Belgium’s Sarah Chaari.
Canada wraps up taekwondo competition Wednesday with the women’s team event, which will feature Nicholson, Josipa Kafadar (Burnaby, B.C. / Simon Fraser) and Leonarda Andric (Ottawa, Ont. / Ottawa).
Swimming
Ashley McMillan (Penticton, B.C. / USC) won Canada’s first swimming medal of the 2025 FISU Games on Tuesday night, capturing bronze in the women’s 200m individual medley.
McMillan posted a time of 2:12.63 after moving into medal position with a strong backstroke leg and holding off Italy’s Chiara Della Corte down the stretch. It marked Canada’s first swimming medal at a FISU Games since 2019, and first in the women’s 200m IM since 1999.
Julie Brousseau (Ottawa, Ont. / Florida) also raced in a final, placing seventh in the women’s 200m freestyle in 1:58.87.
Two Canadians advanced to Wednesday night finals, with Ben Loewen (Toronto, Ont. / Toronto) qualifying fifth overall in the men’s 200m backstroke and Shona Branton (Port Lambton, Ont. / Western) earning the second-fastest semifinal time in the women’s 100m breaststroke.
Earlier in the day, Delia Lloyd, Emma O’Croinin, Chris Weeks and Liam Weaver did not advance past 50m freestyle heats.
Swimming concludes Wednesday after seven days at Europasportpark Berlin.