Here’s how you can cheer on Centennial graduate Nigara Shaheen at the Paris Summer Olympics
Watching the Paris Olympics this summer? Be sure to look for a fellow member of the Centennial College community, Nigara Shaheen, as she takes part in the Women’s Judo competition.
Nigara is a Centennial alumnus who graduated from our International Development post-graduate program just last month. And at the end of July, she’ll be competing in the Paris Summer Olympics as one of 36 athletes from 11 countries named to the Refugee Olympic Team. The Women’s Judo competition begins on July 27 and runs until August 3, when the winners will receive their medals. Here’s the full schedule.
Born in Afghanistan, Nigara Shaheen and her family moved to Peshawar, Pakistan, where she took up judo as a means to defend herself, as harassment is an ongoing issue for children growing up as refugees. While Nigara has been living, studying and training in Toronto for the past year and a half, she has been a part of the International Olympic Committee’s refugee team for years.
Nigara participated in the Düsseldorf Grand Slam in 2020, and the Kazan Grand Slam in 2021. She was selected to join as a member of the International Olympic Committee Refugee Olympic Team at the Tokyo 2020 Games in the individual and mixed team events.
Where to Watch
If you’re interested in watching the Olympics, here’s how you can tune in to cheer Nigara on. If you want to stream the games, you can do so for free on CBC Gem. All you need to do is sign up for an account. You can also download the CBC Olympics app for your phone, which will offer live streams. And, of course, you can watch coverage through CBC Television, the official Olympics broadcaster in Canada.
The Centennial community is sending Nigara all the good luck and cheers that we can!