Tuxedo resident Olivia Meier represents Canada at 2023 Parapan American Games

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Many of us might not consider badminton to be a winter sport, but for former Tuxedo resident Olivia Meier, badminton is a year-round competitive pursuit and a constant and gratifying presence in her life. At the time this is being written, the 24-year-old athlete is getting ready to represent Canada in badminton at the 2023 Parapan American Games in Santiago, Chile in November.

While Olivia is currently a student in the Faculty of Law at the University of Ottawa, she grew up in the Winnipeg neighbourhood of Tuxedo. Her parents, she says, were drawn to the neighbourhood, and chose to raise their two daughters here, because it was quiet, felt safe, and was close to both Assiniboine Park and the Assiniboine Forest.

“The neighborhood of Tuxedo was a great place to grow up,” Olivia says. “My family and I enjoyed spending time outdoors when I was younger, riding our bikes or going for long walks through the Assiniboine Forest. Additionally, my home was close to where I went to school and was close to many friends and family.”

Olivia’s father, Dean, was born and raised in Winnipeg. Her mother, Bea, emigrated to Canada from Northern Ireland when she was young. Dean studied dentistry at the University of Manitoba, and Bea studied nursing there. Olivia’s younger sister, Claire, is currently a student in the Faculty of Medicine at the U of M.

Olivia attended Balmoral Hall for thirteen years and then also went on to the University of Manitoba for her undergraduate degree. She is now a second-year student in the Faculty of Law at the University of Ottawa.

She is also a member of the University of Ottawa badminton team.

Olivia’s mother introduced Olivia to badminton when she was just eight years-old. Her mom had played competitively herself as a teenager, as did her mom’s father, Olivia’s grandfather.

“It was a very natural introduction to the sport as it was something we did together as a family,” says Olivia.

Olivia played and practised at the Winnipeg Winter Club, and began playing competitively when she was ten, just two years after taking up the sport.

“For many years I played junior provincial tournaments and I also had the opportunity to represent Manitoba at national tournaments,” she says.

In 2016 she competed in the first Canadian Para-Nationals in Moncton, New Brunswick, and in 2018 she was a gold and silver medalist in the Para PanAm Championships in Lima, Peru—which was her first international competition.

She then followed those achievements with several more victories on the court.

These included becoming a gold and silver medal winner at the 2019 Pan Am Games, which were also held in Lima, Peru, and being the first Canadian to compete in badminton at the Paralympics, which took place in Tokyo, Japan in the summer of 2021.

In 2019, and again in 2020, Olivia was one of a group of Canadian athletes who received a grant from Petro Canada’s FACE program (Fuelling Athlete and Coaching Excellence)—a program that offers financial support to competitive amateur athletes in order to help them pursue the Olympic and Paralympic Games in their given sport.

Then, in the 2022 Parapan Am games, also held in Lima, Olivia won gold in badminton mixed doubles and silver in women’s singles. Following that, in 2022 in the Para-Badminton Brazil International, she won a silver in women’s singles. With that result, which came just prior to her entering law school, she reached a career high of seventh in the world for women’s singles.

At the time of writing, Olivia was looking forward to enjoying similar successes in Santiago, where she would be one of nine Canadian members of the badminton team.

“My hopes would be to make the podium for both events I will be playing in,” Olivia said candidly, about a month before the tournament began. “I hope I can have similar results to the 2019 Games in Lima.”

When Olivia is not playing badminton, travelling to tournaments, competing internationally, or going to class or studying law texts back in Ottawa, she manages to find time for a couple of other favourite pursuits. She is an avid reader, and enjoys running, going for walks, and spending time with her friends. She also enjoys, and finds rewarding, the time she spends throughout the academic year volunteering with Pro Bono Students Canada, an organization that provides free legal services to low-income and marginalized Canadians.

Once she graduates from law school, Olivia may regularly find herself in court, but until then, and after then, she will definitely find herself on the court—excelling in the game that she loves.

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