(Submitted photo/Paige Crozon)

By Ben Tompkins

Olympic Dreams

Humboldt native qualifies for 2024 Paris Olympics

May 29, 2024 | 3:27 PM

A woman’s basketball player from Humboldt recently achieved one of her lifelong dreams… qualifying for the Olympic Games.

Paige Crozon, a two-time defending gold medalist on the FIBA 3×3 women’s circuit, alongside her teammates Kacie Bosch, and Michelle and Katherine Plouffe, took it down to the wire to earn their ticket to Paris.

“This is a huge milestone for our group, we started playing 3X3 five years ago, with the hopes and the goal of playing in the Olympics. To have that delayed gratification and to achieve that goal five years later, was so sweet and so exciting, and I’m really proud to share it with kind of the group that we came in with. We’re really looking forward to the games and representing our families our communities and Canada, in July at the Olympics,” Crozon told northeastNOW.

Their first opportunity came at an event in Japan, where they fell to the Australian team by just three points in the final.

They then entered an event just a week later in Debrecen, Hungary, where the top 16 teams based on Federation Rankings competed for just three remaining spots.

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The Canadians went undefeated in the round-robin, won their quarter-finals, and then faced Spain in the semis. Unfortunately, a buzzer-beating ‘behind the back, over the head’ heave pushed the Spanish to the finals, giving Canada a do-or-die bronze medal game for the last spot in the Olympic Games.

Thankfully, for Crozon and her squad, the finals were a little less stressful.

“We had to play against Hungary for the last opportunity to qualify for the Olympics. It was just such a surreal atmosphere and an unbelievable experience. Fortunately, we didn’t keep it as close as the Spanish game was, we ended up getting up early and keeping the lead, which helped my nerves, so that’s how we ended up securing our Olympic spot. It was a wild journey and we made it the hardest possible path,” she joked.

(submitted photo/Paige Crozon)

Now, with the 2024 Paris Olympics still just over two months away, it’s all about preparation and rest, to be perfectly ramped up for the games, hopefully, ‘peaking’ at the right time.

They will be using the annual women’s 3×3 circuit to their advantage for the next couple of months, consistently battling in competitive events.

“We are going to have to ramp up our conditioning and our strength, with the goal of peaking in Paris. That might mean that we aren’t at our best at each of these competitions and we might have to play through some fatigue and some soreness from our strength and conditioning, because we have the goal in mind of winning a medal at the Olympic Games,” added Crozon.

“I think we had really great preparation, going into this Olympic qualifier, we were at peak condition in May and now we just have to refine things that we need to improve upon. The fact that we’ve had so many strong competitions and tournaments already, with plenty more on the way, I think that will be the best preparation that we can get leading into Paris.”

Another thing that helps Crozon, who is a first-time Olympian, is that two of her teammates aren’t.

Michelle Plouffe has participated in two Olympics already, while sister Katherine has competed once at the five-on-five level.

A tremendous upcoming experience without a doubt, as one of the best cities in the world will host Crozon for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“I’m unbelievably excited,” Crozon concluded. “My family has booked tickets to come and watch, so to be able to have them there and share that experience with them will just be amazing. There’s so much to look forward to and I just can’t wait.”

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On X @BenTompkins_8