ATHLETE – RHYTHMIC GYMNASTICS – INDUCTED IN 2019
Emily Boycott is one of Canada’s most decorated Special Olympic athletes.
Boycott began her athletic career as a swimmer at 13, but it was two years later when her mom Debbie started the Oakville Butterflies rhythmic gymnastics team, that she really made her mark. Boycott competed in three Special Olympics World Summer Games, winning a remarkable 16 medals—eight gold, seven silver and one bronze.
Boycott was named Special Olympics Oakville’s female athlete of the year in 2001, later earning the award again in 2006 and 2007.
She won her first of four Canadian Special Olympics all-around championships to qualify for the 2007 World Summer Games in Shanghai, China. Competing in Level 4, the highest level, Boycott swept all four individual events—ball, hoop, ribbon and rope—and claimed a fifth gold for the all-around title.
That performance earned her first of two Special Olympics Ontario female athlete of the year awards.
At the 2011 World Summer Games in Athens, Greece, Boycott again won five medals, earning the all-around silver and claiming gold in hoop.
Boycott narrowly missed a sweep at Special Olympics Canada in 2014, winning three individual events and earning a silver in the other on her way to the all-around title.
Competing in her third World Summer Games, Boycott earned her second all-around gold medal. She won gold for her ball routine and earned a silver in the other three events. She also won a silver medal for Canada in the group ball event.
In 2018, Boycott was one of the 50 recipients of Special Olympics Ontario’s 50 Medallion Awards to mark the 50th anniversary of the first Special Olympics in Canada.
After retiring from competition, Boycott became a coach with the Georgetown Sunflowers rhythmic gymnastics team and did public speaking events to promote Special Olympics.