MEIER Olivia

Rank	Event	Year	Location
World Championships
9	Singles SL4	2019	Basel, SUI
9	Doubles SL3-SU5	2019	Basel, SUI

Business - University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, CAN

English

Winnipeg Winter Club [Canada]

Elliott Beals [club], CAN; Frank Gaudet [national], CAN

She began playing badminton at age eight at Winnipeg Winter Club in Manitoba, Canada. She entered her first tournament two years later. After competing against able-bodied players at junior provincial level while she was growing up, she switched to Para badminton at age 16. "In 2016 there was an open call for potential Paralympic athletes. I went to the call and got my classification [SL4] and have been competing ever since. We all have different strengths and weaknesses so I was trying to get used to that with the different [Para] players I was playing [in 2016]. I had to think about that because it's not like playing against an able-bodied player." (paralympic.ca, 01 Jul 2021; Winnipeg SportsLife, 01 Mar 2020; winnipegfreepress.com, 06 Jun 2016; sirc.ca, 25 May 2016)

She played tennis, squash, and badminton as a child. "I started playing badminton because my grandpa was a badminton player, and then my mom played badminton. It was really natural for us to play some type of racquet sport, and badminton was the one. I think it was kind inevitable that I would eventually concentrate on badminton." (Winnipeg SportsLife, 01 Mar 2020; Badminton Canada Facebook page, 30 Aug 2019; winnipegfreepress.com, 06 Jun 2016)

She trains with able-bodied players in Winnipeg, MB, Canada. "I'm kind of fortunate in a way because there aren't any Para badminton players other than me in Winnipeg to compete against, so I do all my training with able-bodied athletes. It's something that really helps me with my movements. In other countries, the Para teams are together, but here in Canada, I get to train with some very able-bodied players and I think that really helps." (Winnipeg SportsLife, 01 Mar 2020)

Canadian badminton player Michelle Li. (Badminton Pan Am Facebook page, 04 Oct 2020)

"I have a lucky coin that a family friend gave me that I always carry with [while travelling to tournaments]. I think it's like an Olympic coin." (Badminton Pan Am Facebook page, 04 Oct 2020)