Canada currently has 11 medals in the Tokyo Olympics, all achieved by female athletes.

Canadian female athletes serving as inspiration for future generations of girls in sports as they continue to come up on top. Team Canada has won, three gold, three silver and five bronze medals.

Former track and field athlete and three-time Olympic medallist, Leah Pells reflected on the woman’s achievements with CityNews Vancouver.  She said, “It tells me that women are starting to claim the space that we’ve always wanted and deserved. So it makes me feel pretty happy, feel proud”.

The most recent win comes from Team Canada’s women’s rowing team winning gold in Women’s Eight. This was Canada’s first gold medal in any women’s rowing event since 1996. The Canadian women aren’t just winning they are making history.

Penny Oleksiak made history becoming the most decorated Canadian summer Olympics athlete. Oleksiak has earned a total of six medals in her Olympic swimming career. Two of the six came out of the Tokyo Olympics with a bronze medal in the 200m freestyle event and a historic silver in the women’s 4x100m relay marking her record-breaking six medals.

But, this isn’t Penny Oleksiak’s first time making history at the Olympics. At the Rio Olympics in 2016, she became the youngest Canadian Olympic champion at 16 years old and was the first Canadian Olympian to win four medals in a single summer.

Margaret Mac Niel won Canada’s first gold medal, setting an American region record of 55.59 seconds, in the 100m butterfly. Following her Maude Charron won Canada’s second gold medal and became the second woman ever to win an Olympic weightlifting medal for Canada. She won lifting a combined total of 236kg in the 64kg division.

Charron also hopes her win will empower young girls and women. She said, “I hope when women will get into the gym, they’ll try those intimidating barbells. They’re heavy, they’re big, but we can do it also.”

Charron hopes her win aids in dismantling the stereotype that weightlifting is a man’s sport. She said, “If you check who qualified for Canada, four of the five were women.”

Jessica Klimkait took home a bronze medal, making her the first Canadian woman to stand on the podium in judo’s 57-kilogram division. At the 2021 Judo World Champions Klimkait also became the second Canadian ever to win a world title.

The Canadian women serve as inspiration to young girls everywhere and are making millions of Canadians proud. The hashtag #ShetheNorth is trending on Twitter in tribute to the athletes.

Current List of Team Canada Medallists at Tokyo 2020:

Margaret Mac Neil takes home gold for swimming in the Women’s 100m Butterfly event.

Maude Charron takes home gold for weightlifting in the Women’s 64kg event.

Women’s Rowing Team (Lisa Roman, Kasia Gruchalla-Wesierski, Christine Roper, Andrea Proske, Susanne Grainger, Madison Mailey, Sydney Payne, Avalon Wasteneys, Kristen Kit) take home gold for rowing in Women’s Eight event.

Margaret Mac Neil, Penny Oleksiak, Kayla Sanchez, Rebecca Smith, Taylor Ruck take home silver for swimming in the Women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay event.

Jennifer Abel and Mélissa Citrini-Beaulieu take home silver for Diving in the Women’s 3m Synchronized Springboard event.

Kylie Masse takes home a silver for swimming in the Women’s 100m Backstroke event.

Jessica Klimkait takes home a bronze for judo in the Women’s 57kg event.

Women’s Softball Team (Danielle Lawrie, Emma Entzminger, Erika Polidori, Janet Leung, Jenn Salling, Jenna Caira, Jenny Gilbert, Joey Lye, Kaleigh Rafter, Kelsey Harshman, Larissa Franklin, Lauren Regula, Natalie Wideman, Sara Groenewegen, Victoria Hayward) take home a bronze in the Women’s Softball event

Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard takes home a bronze for judo in the 63kg event

Penny Oleksiak takes home a bronze for swimming in the Women’s 200m Freestyle event.

Caileigh Filmer and Hillary Janssens take home a bronze for rowing in the Women’s Pair event