By Canadian Press

Olympic champion weightlifter Christine Girard named Pan Am Games chef de mission

Feb 16, 2023 | 8:52 AM

MONTREAL — Olympic champion weightlifter Christine Girard has been named Canada’s chef de mission for the Pan American Games in Chile later this year.

The 38-year-old from Rouyn-Noranda, Que., will lead the Canadian team into Santiago’s Pan Am Games from Oct. 20 to Nov. 5.

Girard became Canada’s first Olympic gold medallist in weightlifting when her bronze medal from London in 2012 was upgraded to gold six years later.

When more than 1,500 drug tests from Beijing in 2008 and London were re-tested in 2016, the two competitors ahead of her in London were stripped of their medals because they tested positive for banned substances.

Girard was also upgraded from fourth in Beijing to the bronze medal in the redistribution of medals.

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Girard, who lives in Gatineau, Que., has continued to work in the area of drug-free sport since retiring from sport.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 16, 2023.

The Canadian Press