Sign the Caledon flag to wish local athletes good luck in Rio

July 22, 2016 · 0 Comments

Stop by a Caledon recreation centre to write well-wishes on a Town flag for local athletes competing in this summer’s Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Caledon’s own Andrew Yorke , Ashley Lawrence and Tess Routliffe are off to Rio next month. Flags for them are at Caledon Community Complex and Mayfield Recreation Complex.
Andrew Yorke (Triathlon)
Sign his flag at Caledon Community Complex.
Yorke, 27, is a triathlete.
Rio is his first Olympic Games.
He grew up playing soccer and basketball and riding his mountain bike on the local pathways near Caledon East.
Yorke met Olympic coach Barrie Shepley after the 2000 Olympics, where Canadian Simon Whitfield won gold. He became an active member of C3’s local Triathlon and Running Program and got started in the annual Caledon C3 Kids of Steel Triathlon.
He is a Humberview Secondary School and McMaster University graduate, where he ran track and cross country. Yorke was on the National Junior Team for Canada, the under 23 National Team for Canada and in 2014 was the top Canadian at the Commonwealth Games. Last year, he was the Canadian National Champion and was the top Canadian at the Pan American Games. He ended the two-year Olympic qualifying period as the top-ranked Canadian triathlete and is focused on going for a medal at the Rio Games in August.
Ashley Lawrence (Women’s Soccer)
Her flag was at Caledon Centre for Recreation and Wellness, but was taken away Monday.
Lawrence, 21, is a Mayfield Secondary School graduate who has loved soccer from a very early age. She represented Canada on the U17 and U20 national soccer teams. For the last three years, the she has played collegiate soccer for West Virginia University, where she has won numerous awards for her talents. Eighteen months ago, she caught the eye of the national team and, after a few trial competitions, was added to the starting lineup. The Women’s Olympic Soccer Team are defending bronze medalists from the London Olympic Games.
Tess Routliffe (Para Swimming)
Sign her flag at Mayfield Recreation Complex
Routliffe, 17, is a member of Canada’s Paralympic Swim team.
This Caledon resident competed at the 2014 Pan Pacific Para-swimming Championships and made it to the finals in six individual events at age 16. In 2015, Routliffe won four gold medals and one silver at the 2015 Toronto Parapan Am Games. She took gold in the 50-metre freestyle, 100-m freestyle, 100-m breaststroke and 100-m backstroke, with the silver in the 200-m.
The Rio Paralympic Games run from Sept. 7 to 18 and will be the largest games in history.
The flags for Yorke and Routliffe will be leaving July 28.