Team Canada Opening Ceremony, Podium Gear Unveiled for Paris Olympics
Team Canada athletes will be outfitted by Lululemon at the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris this summer.
The gear the athletes will wear during the opening ceremony, podium, media appearances and closing ceremony was revealed by Lululemon on Tuesday. The brand will outfit Team Canada for the second time in the Olympics and for the first time during the Summer Games.
Take a look.
Olympic and Paralympic athletes were involved in the design and testing process of the gear, allowing for more adaptable and customizable features to be incorporated. Some of those innovations include magnetic close zippers and more accessible pockets for Paralympians along with jackets and pants that can quickly convert to short sleeves and shorts in the warmer weather in Paris.
Team Canada athletes pose in gear for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Lululemon
Tennis player Leylah Fernandez was among the athletes who revealed the red-and-white-emblazoned gear in Toronto on Tuesday. She is most excited by how the gear represents Canada and the pride the athletes hold for their country.
“Once I saw the kit, I was like, ‘Wow, this is it,’” Fernandez told SI. “Hopefully we do well and hopefully we are able to bring back medals so that we can showcase this kit a lot more and just show that Canada is an awesome country.”
Wheelchair rugby player Zak Madell was one of the Paralympians who helped test the gear for nearly two years and provided feedback on improvements to be made. He is most appreciative of the accessibility of the final product and how it fits on his body.
“A lot of thought, research, even insight from the Paralympic athletes went into this," Madell said. "Seeing our insight from the conversations I had a couple years ago really coming to fruition and seeing it as part of the kit has been a really good experience.”
Wheelchair rugby player Zak Madell wears the Closing Ceremony kit for Team Canada.
Lululemon
It was important to the Lululemon team to include Madell and others to test the gear and create a collection that met the athletes’ needs. For Lululemon chief product officer Sun Choe, that meant including small but meaningful details—like a fidget-spinner-type piece on the cord of a bucket hat or words of encouragement printed in text and braille on the inside of jackets to ease nerves that may arise.
Ultimately, the collection’s designs—inspired by the ‘City of Light ’—are reflective of efforts to make the Team Canada kit for the upcoming summer Games inclusive and adaptable throughout various situations to all who wear it.
“So proud of what we’ve been able to do to kind of solve the emotional pressure, as well as making sure that we had adaptable clothes that really worked for the Paralympians,” Choe said.
The gear will be seen in action this summer when the athletes enter the opening ceremony in Paris on Friday, July 26 and throughout the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
