Abbotsford's Shalaya Valenzuela is an Olympic silver medallist.
The 2017 Yale Secondary grad captured the honour as a part of the Canadian women's rugby sevens team, which fell 19-12 in the gold medal game to New Zealand at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Tuesday (July 30).
Canada opened with a 17-14 win over Fiji on Sunday (July 28) and also lost 33-7 to New Zealand on Sunday. They closed the pool play with a 26-17 win over China on Monday (July 29). Canada then spoiled host country France's medal hopes with a 19-14 win later on Monday.
That set up a semi-final match with Australia on Tuesday morning and Canada pulled off a 21-12 upset win to advance to the gold medal match.
Valenzuela was technically a reserve on the team, but did dress for action in the game against China and earned the medal as a result. Reserves train, prep and travel with the team, but only receive a medal if they crack the roster for a game.
She grew up playing for both the Abbotsford Rugby Football Club and the Yale Lions, before spending time in both the UFV Cascades and Victoria Vikes rubgy programs. She made her national rugby team debut in 2022. Valenzuela spent two years in the Rugby Canada Maple Leaf Academy and previously played for the BC Bears U23 team. Last summer also saw her compete in rugby at the Pan Am Games in Chile.
Valenzuela is one of five Indigenous athletes on the Canadian Olympic team and represents the Tseshaht First Nation, which is based on Vancouver Island.
The silver medal marks the best finish ever for the Canadian women's side in rugby sevens at the Olympics. The team had previously won bronze at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
