Meet Hamilton and Burlington's 2015 Pan Am medalists
Mark Oldershaw, Burlington
Silver, Men C1 1000m
Sport: Canoeing Flat
Age: 32
Oldershaw served as a Canadian flag bearer at the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games opening ceremony. He won bronze in the C1 1000 m at London 2012 Olympic Games. His father Scott and grandfather Bert are also Olympic canoeists. Read about Oldershaw's training at CBC Hamilton.
Oldershaw told the media after the race that he was disappointed with his second-place finish in Welland behind Isaqulas Queiroz Dos Santos of Brazil. He stayed close to him in the first half, and even as the wind picked up, Oldershaw began to catch up with him at 200 metres. But "with 100 metres left he just held me off and I didn't have enough."
Mike Green, Hamilton
Bronze, Men's team
Sport: Racquetball
Age: 41
Green also competed in men's singles, a category in which he won silver at the 2003 Pan Am Games.
Green, a veteran on the court, has won more Canadian men's titles than any other player. But this year, he had challenges. He had to take a cortisone shot and wait until his knee felt better to know if he could compete in the Pan Am Games. He came up short in a close tiebreaker loss to Colombian Alejandro Herrera, saying he just hadn't had enough practice time on court.
"For me, I think it's the lack of repetitions, lack of play coming out this week," said Green. "I am not relaxed, because I am not prepared — it's just the way it is."
Eleanor Harvey, Hamilton
Gold, Women's foil team
Sport: Fencing
Age: 20
She's only 20, but already Harvey has wracked up experience at world fencing competitions. She competed at the 2014 and 2015 Pan American fencing championships, as well as the 2013 and 2014 world fencing championships. Harvey attends Ohio State University where she majors in film studies.
Brady Heslip, Burlington
Silver, Men's team
Sport: Basketball
Age: 25
Heslip has played professionally in Bosnia and Herzegovina. His uncle, Jay Triano, is the Canadian head coach and former coach of the Toronto Raptors.
This medal was historic — the first men's basketball medal for the Pan Am Games — but it was a bittersweet one. The Canadians were contenders, but came up short in a late charge and lost 86-71 to Brazil.
Kevin Lytwyn, Stoney Creek
Silver, Men's horizontal bar
Sport: Gymnastics artistic
Age: 24
Lytwyn also competed in the men's team, men's floor and men's rings. He began practicing gymnastics at age 9. Lytwyn added a silver to Canada's gymnastics medal haul when he came in second behind Colombia's Jossimar Calvo Moreno.
Sean MacKinnon
Bronze, Men's individual time trial
Sport: Cycling
Age: 19
MacKinnon, a McMaster University student, competed at the 2013 and 2014 world cycling championships. He was named to the national team in 2014.
Autumn Mills, Burlington
Silver, Women's team
Sport: Baseball
Age: 27
Mills is a police officer who goes by the nickname "Millsy" amongst her teammates. With her team, she came third at the 2006 and 2012 women's baseball world cup and second at 2008. She also competed in 2010 and 2014. The team got silver at the Pan Am Games with a final score of 11-3 against the U.S.
Kia Nurse, Hamilton
Gold, Women's team
Sport: Basketball
Age: 19
A native of Hamilton and graduate of St. Thomas More, Nurse's Hamilton sports roots go deep. Her father, Richard, played wide receiver for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Her uncle, Donovan McNabb, is a former starting quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles. Nurse plays for the University of Conneticut.
Nurse has been chosen as the flag bearer for the closing ceremonies.
Katherine Psota, Burlington
Silver, Women's
Sport: Baseball
Age: 29
Psota came third with her team at the women's baseball world cup in 2004, 2006 and 2012, second in 2008 and competed in 2010 and 2014. Her nickname is Sodey.
Shona Thorburn, Hamilton
Gold, Women's team
Sport: Basketball
Age: 32
Thorborn competed at the London Olympic Games in 2012, the first time the Canadian women had competed in Olympic basketball in more than a decade. She's also played with the Minnesota Lynx and Seattle Storm in the WNBA. The Westdale Secondary and University of Utah graduate has a big summer ahead. After the games, she and teammate Kia Nurse will head to Edmonton for the the FIBA Americas Olympic qualifying tournament.