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Jacqueline Madogo draped in the Canadian flag after winning the 200m Senior Final at the 2023 Bell Canadian Track & Field Championships. Photo by Murielle Aglot via jacqueline.madogo/Instagram.

613 in Paris: Jacqueline Madogo, a varsity soccer defender-turned-sprinter finds footing on Olympic track

By Kiefer Uuksulainen on August 1, 2024

“613 in Paris” is our nine-part series profiling Olympic athletes representing Ottawa-Gatineau at Paris 2024. These written interviews, conducted before the competition, delve into each athlete’s experience with pandemic-era training, inspiration and community support, competition-day routines and rituals, and key elements to watch for in their respective sports.

Five years ago, Jacqueline Madogo was on the starting lineup for a varsity soccer squad. Today, she’s lined up at the starting blocks in her Olympic track debut. The fullback-turned-sprinter found her footing on the track and is preparing for a packed schedule in Paris 2024.

Jacqueline Madogo draped in the Canadian flag after winning the 200m Senior Final at the 2023 Bell Canadian Track & Field Championships. Photo by Murielle Aglot via jacqueline.madogo/Instagram.

Apt613 connected with the Ottawa-raised 24-year-old sprinter, now residing in Guelph, for a written interview proceeding the 2024 Summer Olympics. In the interview, Madogo discusses her athletic origin on the soccer pitch, how her parents have inspired her, and why she’s always…“right.”

Responses have been edited for clarity and length.

Jacqueline Madogo beams on the track ahead of her Olympics debut in Paris 2024. Photo credit to INS: Johnwithlenses (used with permission).

As a child, Madogo was entrenched in sports. She expended youthful energy in track and field, volleyball, and touch football—but soccer was her first love. She had Olympic aspirations, but envisioned her debut on the turf, not the track.

“I was known as a soccer player for most of my time in Ottawa,” says Madogo, who played competitively with the West Ottawa Soccer Club. “The soccer community I grew up with has always been supportive!”

While she primarily focused on soccer, Madogo remained a multi-sport athlete while attending Franco-Ouest Catholic College. As a high schooler, she showcased her raw talent on the track with a bronze medal in the Girl’s 100m Senior event at the 2017 OFSAA Track & Field Championships.

Madogo was recruited to join the University of Guelph’s varsity soccer team the following year. She played for two seasons before a fateful conversation about her OFSAA success perked the ears of soccer coach Shayne Campbell, who introduced her to head track and field coach, Jason Kerr. It wasn’t long before Madogo switched from soccer boots to track spikes.

Madogo in action on the soccer pitch while competing with the University of Guelph’s varsity soccer team. Photo provided.

The swap proved fruitful for Madogo, as she went on to a gold-plated career with the university’s track and field program—winning five individual sprint titles in the Ontario University Athletics Championships over three seasons. She further solidified her running resume with a 200m national title at the 2023 Bell Canadian Track & Field Championships.

The sprinter credits her parents for modelling a strong work ethic and hardworking attitude. “I’m a very driven person,” says Madogo. “I think it stems from the way I grew up. I’ve been privileged to watch my parents work very hard to provide for me and my siblings. They moved to Canada with no family and started a new life to give us better opportunities—that’s really what inspires me every day!”

Madogo also followed her parents’ lead in bettering the lives of others. Off the track, she works as a Philanthropy Coordinator for the CHEO Foundation, helping facilitate incoming donations that fund equipment, programs, and research that support child patients and their families.

Madogo (center) credits her parents for inspiring her to work hard, on and off the track. Photo provided.

Entering Paris 2024, Madogo emphatically tells readers to “watch out for Team Canada!” Her enthusiasm for sport and her compatriots is palpable and infectious. “The Olympics is the pinnacle for Athletics [athletes], it’s what every track and field runner aims for. There will be a lot to watch for in terms of [individual athletes’] season’s bests, world lead[ing times], and even new world records. This year, I think Canada has its strongest team to date, and we’re ready to show the world what we’re about.”

Madogo will have plenty of opportunities to show the world what she can do in Paris. The sprinter competes in three events—100m, 200m, and 4 x 100m Relay—which could total up to ten races, should she advance from preliminaries to each event’s final.

While it takes much more than luck to become an Olympian, Madogo tries to keep good fortune on her side. “I am a big ‘knock on wood’ girl,” says Madogo. “I also always do my right side first. Whether it’s putting on socks, shoes, or [track] spikes, the right side has to be first.”

Jacqueline Madogo celebrates with fellow Paris-bound sprinter, Zoe Sharar. Photos by Scott Peel / https://www.perspectivebypeel.com (used with permission). Compiled by Kiefer Uuksulainen/Apt613.

Jacqueline Madogo makes her multi-event Olympic debut in the Women’s 100m, 200m, and 4 x 100m Relay—potentially racing seven of eight days in a row. Her first race, the Women’s 100m preliminaries, is on August 2. Readers can follow Madogo’s Olympic journey on Instagram.

Keep an eye out for all athletes representing Ottawa-Gatineau in Paris—those marked with an asterisk (*) have been covered as part of our local Olympian series: