The 2020 Tokyo Olympics are now underway, and it'll soon be game time for a High Riverite.

Kyra Christmas, as part of Team Canada, will face Australia in the early hours of July 24 at 12:30 a.m. in women's water polo.

Christmas was in Athens along with the rest of the Canadian team for the FINA Women's Water Polo World League Super Final 2021 when the Olympics roster was first announced.

While it was obviously a thrill to see she'd made the squad, it was tinged with sadness.

Her team was comprised of 16 athletes, only 13 of which would make the final cut.

"Nothing really prepares you for it. You kind of figure you've been training the whole year, you have your position on your team, you know what your role is. But then when you finally hear your name on the list, it's a pretty great feeling. But at the same time, the team you've been training with the whole year, they've become your family, so it's hard to know that not everyone, who's been working and putting in everything they can, can be on the roster and be there with you. It's a bittersweet moment."

With the games having been postponed for the year, she's glad to have had the extra time to prepare.

According to Christmas, they'll have some stiff competition.

Photo courtesy of Kyra Christmas.

"The U.S. has been at the top for the last six to eight years. They've been back-to-back Olympic champions, so they're always the top team everyone's trying to beat, but the rest of the tournament is really quite competitive. On any given day any team could win so it's a scramble, and I think every game is going to be a fight."

She's hoping to make a splash, with this being the first time Canada's women's water polo team has qualified for the Olympics since 2004.

As such, it's a new experience for the whole roster, minus their assistant coach who is a former olympian.

"It's crazy, no one on our team has been to the Olympics before so we're all newbies when it comes to the Olympics. It's a really exciting moment for us."

Christmas started her career in water polo in High River, and though she moved to Calgary at the age of 15 to be closer to her club, the Calgary Renegades, at times she still thinks back to where it all began.

"I can't even talk about it without getting emotional. I think about it, and I get emotional because I'm proud to come from High River and represent High River and show people that it doesn't matter where you come from. If you work hard and you believe in what you're doing then you can get to wherever you want to be."

 

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