PATH TO PARIS: USask, Huskie Athletics well represented at Olympics

“Special and surreal would be the two words that first come to mind,” said Reindl, the head coach of the Huskies track and field and cross-country teams and the personal coach of first-time Olympian and former Huskie national champion hurdler Michelle Harrison. “With Michelle, it was something that we had talked about and planned about for a number of years, but it’s not quite real until you see it happen. It was always my goal to coach an athlete at the Olympics and to do that is something that I take a lot of pride in. I have a lot of pride in the Huskies program and in my journey and my pathway and my experiences and all those who supported me. It was my first Olympics and I hope it’s not my last.”

Like a number of athletes at this year’s Olympics, Harrison battled illness at the Summer Games and didn’t eat for three days during training leading up to her 100m hurdles event. But the three-time Canadian champion was determined to race and courageously gutted it out to compete in her heat and repechage events, but came up short of advancing to the semifinal round.

“We were in Barcelona for a camp before the Olympics with all the athletics team and unfortunately the stomach bug was going through the team and she avoided it for six days and the second to last day she unfortunately caught it,” said Reindl. “So, unfortunately, we got into Paris and she had not eaten for about three days. So to compete against the best in the world feeling under the weather wasn’t the competition readiness that we had hoped for.”

Despite the disappointment for Harrison, having one of his star athletes finally achieve her dream to compete in the Olympics was one of the highlights of Reindl’s coaching career, with the USask College of Kinesiology alumnus now in his eighth season as Huskies head coach.

“In reflection on the journey and the process and successful qualification, while the results were disappointing, the journey and process of becoming an Olympian was something that Michelle can always hold her head high about. She is a remarkable athlete who worked so hard to get there and I am so proud of her,” said Reindl, who is now off to Lima Peru, to help coach Canada’s team in the World U20 championships.

Like Reindl, Jay also soaked up every minute of his first Olympic experience. Jay served as a member of the support staff in charge of video and helping with game preparation for Thomaidis, the long-time Huskies women’s basketball coach who is also head coach of the German women’s basketball team that surprised many in the basketball world by advancing to the Olympic quarter-finals. For Jay, a communications and advancement co-ordinator with USask’s College of Education and long-time member of the support staff for Thomaidis’ Huskie team, the Olympics proved to be everything he thought it would be, and so much more.

“Being a part of the Olympic culture and environment was unbelievable,” said Jay, a USask alumnus who holds kinesiology and education degrees and will begin a master’s degree in the fall. “Everywhere you go you see the five Olympic rings and you see Olympic medallists walking around in the Olympic Village, you see these world-class athletes just going about their business, living their lives as normal as possible in a high-stress environment. Being a part of that and seeing how international the event is, and for me being able to contribute in the games, in a small way, was super unique and once-in-a-lifetime.”

Coincidentally, one of the most memorable moments of the Olympics for Jay was being able to watch his family friend Harrison – a fellow graduate of Saskatoon’s Lakeridge elementary school and Evan Hardy Collegiate high school – take to the track in Paris.

“I was able to watch Michelle Harrison run in the 100-metre hurdles, so that was really special because my sister went to high school and elementary school with her and I always knew her and her family,” said Jay. “So being able to see two Lakeridge/Evan Hardy kids make it to the Olympics and to see her hard work pay off was really special.”

For his part, Jay never imagined his own Olympic journey would come as a member of the German national team staff. But he was thrilled when Thomaidis asked him to join her through the qualifying process, and was honoured to help play a role in the underdog German team’s path to Paris, from being ranked 19th in the world to clinching one of the 12 spots in the Olympics, to finishing in the top eight in the Summer Games.

“Growing up I never thought I would get this opportunity to participate in an Olympics. It didn’t even cross my mind,” said Jay, who has been part of Thomaidis’ support staff with the Huskies for the past decade, helping contribute to seven Canada West titles and two national championships. “Being able to join Team Germany’s staff for their first Olympics and being able to be a part of two wins and making it to the quarter-finals, especially in their first appearance, was amazing … The two national championships with the Huskies were historic, and this once-in-a-lifetime experience is another top highlight of my sporting life.”

Jay had a front-row seat to watch Thomaidis work her magic at the highest level of international competition, with the legendary Huskies coach once again showing the Thomaidis touch in guiding Germany to upsets of reigning European champion Belgium and 2021 Tokyo Olympic silver medallists Japan, before falling to the powerhouse Olympic champions from the United States and the silver medal-winning host team from France.

“Working with Lisa and former (Huskies assistant) coach Claire Meadows and seeing them operate at the highest level was an honour,” said Jay. “The players at the Olympics are world class and able to operate at the highest level, which brings out the best in everyone. Lisa’s basketball IQ was on full display. The respect that she has from other coaches and players from around the world was special to see.”

Interestingly, Thomaidis’ success with Germany came at the same time as the Canadian team struggled to three straight losses under a new coaching staff. Thomaidis had coached Canada at the three previous Olympics, the first as an assistant in London in the 2012 and the next two as head coach in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro and in Tokyo in 2021, when Canada twice advanced to the quarter-finals before being eliminated. While disappointed for her former players on the Canadian national team, Thomaidis was thrilled for her new German squad, which had never before even qualified for the Olympics.

“It really was special,” said Thomaidis. “Our preparation was wild. We were in five different countries and seven different cities and actually COVID went through our team right before we got to the Athletes Village, so in the entire time together we had only one practice with 12 healthy bodies where we could actually all be together. The miraculous thing was just getting to the Olympics, given the constraints we had with player injuries and illness and limited practice time and then we get drawn into the group of death with USA, Belgium and Japan … We shouldn’t have won a game just based on rankings, so for us to go out and win two games and make the quarter-finals was amazing.”

Thomaidis will continue to juggle coaching both her USask and German teams for the next two years, as she strives to take the Huskies back to the national championship while also travelling overseas again to guide Germany in the European championship in June of 2025 and hosting the World Cup in Berlin in September of 2026.
 
“The schedules up until now haven’t really conflicted too much, and have been largely complementary,” said Thomaidis, who is determined to take the Huskies back to the national final after falling a shot short in a 70-67 loss to the Carleton Ravens in last season’s championship game. “The upcoming (one-week German team competition) windows in November and February certainly offer a bit of a challenge, but I am fortunate to have an awesome Huskies coaching staff here to take over and it is a pretty seamless transition with a veteran team. So we are fortunate that we can make it work.”

A two-time national champion, three-time U SPORTS coach of the year, four-time Olympian and six-time Canada West coach of the year in her 26-year career as Huskies head coach, Thomaidis ranks among the greatest coaches in Canadian university sports history.

For Huskies Chief Athletic Officer Shannon Chinn, having Huskie Athletics well represented at year’s Paris Summer Olympics was excellent exposure for USask’s athletics program.

“I think it is fantastic,” said Chinn. “It just shows the level of high-performance competition that there is in Huskie Athletics and in U SPORTS and that is translating to the world’s stage. Having opportunities like this for our Huskie coaches and our alumni like Michelle Harrison is wonderful.”

PARIS POINTS: The Paralympics are up next, with the opening ceremonies slated for Wednesday. The University of Saskatchewan will be represented by education student Jacob Wassermann (Para-rowing) and USask alumni Shelby Newkirk (Para-swimming) and Nikita Ens (Para-swimming), Julie Kozun (Para-sitting volleyball) and 2021 Para-cycling bronze medallists alumni Dr. Keely Shaw (PhD), while USask graduate and former Huskie basketball player Erica Gavel will serve as an athlete ambassador with the World Anti-Doping Agency at the Paralympics … In addition to Michelle Harrison, Jason Reindl, Lisa Thomaidis and Connor Jay, USask was represented at the Paris Olympics by bronze medal-winning diver Rylan Wiens of the College of Kinesiology, diver Margo Erlam of Arts and Science, and artistic swimmer Sydney Carroll from Education.