After a complicated year, the Olympic Games are finally here. And Right To Play Canada is proud to celebrate and support our amazing Athlete Ambassadors competing in Tokyo. It’s been a long journey, and we recognize the extraordinary efforts of our athletes to get to the world stage.

We honour our athlete Ambassadors for the immense amount of training and preparation it takes to compete at this level of sport. Getting here is never easy. Getting here after so many unknowns, and in the midst of a global pandemic, is truly remarkable.

Sports unify, both in triumph and defeat. They transcend language and cultural differences. They inspire, they motivate, they excite.

But we also want to honour the work our Ambassadors do outside of competition. Sports – and play – have transformative power; the power to effect real change for children and youth all over the world. Sports build confidence, teaching teamwork and fair play. Sports promote good health and habits. And they create a safe place to experience the highs and lows of competition, without danger, without trauma. Sports and play lead to personal development, and our Ambassadors – and their work – show this in the work they do for children and youth, in Canada and all over the world.

Thank you to all our athletes, we are so excited to see you compete in Tokyo. Let’s go, Team Canada!

Rosie MacLennan

Rosie is an Olympic gold medalist in trampoline (London 2012 and Rio De Janeiro 2017), a 13-time World Championship Medalist, and a three-time Pan Am Games Medalist. She holds a Bachelors in Physical Education and Health from the University of Toronto and is currently pursuing a Master’s of Science at the University of Toronto in the Faculty of Exercise Science. Rosie is currently a Canadian Tire Jumpstart Ambassador and formerly worked as an Advisor of Sport Partnerships from 2012-2015. Rosie has been actively involved in Right To Play as Athlete Ambassador since 2012; she has visited Liberia three times, been featured in 2017's #GirlsLead campaign, and regularly attends and presents at special events. She is also a member of Right To Play's Canadian Advisory Board and the Playmakers Executive Committee.

Kayla Alexander

Kayla is a member of the Canadian National Basketball team, and has played in the WNBA since 2013, currently playing for the Minnesota Lynx. After coming back from two separate knee injuries she helped Team Canada qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. In high school she played for the Canadian National Team and during college played for the Canadian Development Team. Kayla attended Syracuse University on a four-year athletic scholarship and graduated as the women’s program’s all-time leading scorer. She’s also an accomplished children’s book author, who wrote, illustrated, and published her first book, The Magic of Basketball, in 2019. Kayla is a Right To Play Ambassador and – after making the Canadian Olympic Team – visited Senegal as part of Right To Play’s Rally For Girl’s Education, promoting girl’s empowerment through sport.

Erica Wiebe

Erica is a wrestler competing for Canada. She is the reigning Olympic champion in women's 75 kg freestyle, winning gold at the 2016 Summer Olympics. She was the third Canadian champion ever in wrestling at the Olympics, and the second Canadian woman to win gold after Carol Huynh. Wiebe is also the current Commonwealth Games champion in the same weight class, having won the gold medal at the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the Gold Coast, respectively. Erica has a B. Kin ’12 and B.A.(Hons) ’16 from the University of Calgary and has traveled extensively internationally in sport development volunteer roles. She is a passionate advocate for the power of sport and volunteers her time with organizations that include Right To Play, Fast & Female, Kidsport Alberta.

Marnie McBean

Marnie is a former rower, a three-time Olympics gold medallist, and the chef de mission for Team Canada at the Tokyo Olympics. One of Team Canada’s most decorated athletes, she competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, winning two gold medals in coxless pairs and eights, and in the 1996 games won another gold in double sculls and a bronze in quadruple sculls. In 1997 she was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame and in 2002 was awarded the Thomas Keller Medal by FISA, the International Rowing Federation, for her achievements in rowing. A passionate advocate for social change and an accomplished public speaker, Marnie is a Right To Play Ambassador who promotes the transformative power of play; to educate and empower children, to overcome disadvantages, and to help build communities.