Larisssa Franklin will play for Canada at the Tokyo Olympics.
On Wednesday, May 12, Softball Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee confirmed the final roster for the Canadian women’s softball team.
The Maple Ridge outfielder was among 15 athletes selected by Softball Canada’s coaching staff in accordance with the Women’s National Team Olympic Team Selection Process.
Franklin, who has been in Florida for the Team Canada training camp, said she had “too many emotions to summarize how I am feeling today.”
“I love this team, this country, this journey, and every person who has helped get us to this point,” Franklin added in an online message.
“What an honour.”
Franklin has been amusing herself and her online followers by posting tongue-in-cheek “fake training” videos that, among other things show how to catch a ball from a skateboard.
Getting your nose behind the ball. #FakeTrainingFriday pic.twitter.com/DLJyNcZ3r6
— Larissa Franklin (@lfranklin19) April 23, 2021
Franklin’s first tour with the national team was at the WBSC Junior Women’s World Championship in 2011 where the team finished fifth.
She joined the senior team in 2013, competing in the World Cup of Softball and the WBSC Americas Qualifier where Canada won a silver medal.
Since then, she has been a mainstay in the outfield for Canada, competing in multiple international events including the 2014, 2016 and 2018 WBSC Women’s Softball World Championships, helping to bring home bronze at the latter two events.
READ ALSO: Maple Ridge outfielder back with Canada for Pan Am Games
Franklin was also part of the gold medal winning team at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto.
At the Lima 2019 Pan Am Games, Franklin led the team with eight hits and a .444 batting average as they won the silver medal. A few weeks later she contributed two triples as the team booked its ticket to Tokyo at the WBSC Americas Olympic qualifier in Surrey.
During her junior year at Indiana-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW), Franklin led the team in batting average (.459), hits (84, school record), total bases (106), stolen bases (19) and on-base percentage (.515).
Franklin set IPFW school records in stolen bases (71) and hits (207) before transferring to Western Kentucky University in 2015. In her single season at WKU she tied the school’s longest hit streak at 15 games.
READ ALSO: Franklin wins Pan-Am gold
Softball returns to the Olympic Games after being left off at London 2012 and Rio 2016. Canada narrowly missed the podium with a fourth-place finish the last time the sport appeared at Beijing 2008.
Softball will take place July 22 to July 27 (Day -2 to 4) at the Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium and the Yokohama Baseball Stadium.
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