HIGH ACHIEVERS: 4 Ottawa athletes facing challenging times in their different sports

By Martin Cleary

Four successful Ottawa athletes are experiencing the transition phase in their careers and it’s playing out at various levels for them.

Luca Nicoletti is in his fourth year as a member of the McGill University track and field team (sprints/relays), but it appears there will be no 2026-27 season for him in his graduation year. McGill has announced it will be supporting only 19 teams in 13 varsity sports and cutting 25 teams in 15 varsity and club sports for 2026-27. The cuts include the track and field program.

Valour FC has suspended operations in the Canadian Premier League after seven unsuccessful soccer seasons and 28-year-old midfielder/striker Kris Twardek has become a free agent and is looking for a new team.

Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe recently ended their women’s doubles tennis partnership. Dabrowski, who is Canada’s greatest women’s doubles player, is in the process of finding a new playing partner with the 2026 professional tennis season on the horizon.

Cyclist Derek Gee departed Israel-Premier Tech in August, after three seasons of international success for personal reasons and has been sued by the team for 30 million Euros. But Israel-Premier Tech recently rebranded itself as NSN (Never Say Never) Cycling Team. It will be registered as a Swiss team operating out of Barcelona and Girona under new management. Questions about Gee’s 2026 season are unresolved.

Here are more details about their transition situations.

LUCA NICOLETTI

On Nov. 20, the McGill Athletics and Recreation Sports Program Review revealed the sports it would support and not support for the 2026-27 academic year.

Men’s and women’s basketball, cross-country running, hockey, rowing, soccer and swimming, women’s flag football, men’s football, men’s lacrosse, men’s rugby, women’s volleyball and co-ed artistic swimming and cheerleading made the cut.

But McGill has axed the men’s and women’s badminton, fencing, figure skating, golf, logger sports, nordic skiing, sailing, squash, tennis and track and field programs as well as men’s baseball, women’s field hockey, women’s lacrosse, women’s rugby, and men’s volleyball.

After a 2024 internal audit and a 2025 independent external review, McGill determined “our current structure was no longer sustainable.”

The university is faced with ongoing challenges related to venue space, budget constraints and human resources capacity.

“Our unit can no longer effectively manage or support the same number of activities, while maintaining the standards of excellence expected at McGill,” the report said.

As a fourth-year member of the Redbirds’ track and field team, Nicoletti was one of the victims of the program cut for next season along with seven other second- and third-year Ottawa student-athletes – Emmett Pindar, jumps; William Sanders, distance racing; Jay Yetman, distance/relays; Lara Collins, distance; Ella Durno, hurdles; Morgane Mckay, middle-distance; and Katie Purves, throws.

“As someone who has trained, competed and developed within this program, the decision is disheartening,” Nicoletti posted on his LinkedIn account. “Track and field has always been one of the most inclusive and accessible sports on campus, bringing together athletes across backgrounds, events and experience levels.

“The removal of funding and competitive eligibility, delivered with minimal explanation by McGill University Athletics and Recreation, has come as a shock to the entire varsity community.”

Nicoletti, a graduate of Paul-Desmarais high school in Stittsville, won the RSEQ conference men’s 300-metre title in 2025 in a near-record 34.89 seconds and also was a 4×200-metre and 4×400-metre relay silver-medallist.

“If this decision goes through, I will be barred from competing at the university level,” added Nicoletti, who was named McGill’s track and field rookie of the year in 2024. “These meets are critical in the development of Canadian Olympic athletes and eliminating them undermines opportunities for current teammates and future students.”

The track and field team has received significant support from its community to save the program, including Athletics Canada head coach Glenroy Gilbert of Ottawa and Olympic medallist Andre De Grasse. A petition has been signed by almost 9,800 supporters.

KRIS TWARDEK

After playing the 2024 Canadian Premier League season with Atlético Ottawa and scoring his only goal in his debut game, Kris Twardek signed with Valour FC 10 months ago.

Twardek was a starter as a midfielder for Valour and played 27 games, including the full 90 minutes 13 times and 88 or 89 minutes in another five. He scored a career-high four goals for Valour and added two assists in his 2,266 minutes of CPL action.

But in its seven years in the CPL, Valour never had a winning season and could only manage a combined 35 wins, 34 draws and 78 losses. The Winnipeg-based team posted a 7-5-16 record this season.

Last week, the community-owned team through the Winnipeg Football Club ceased operations. The team cited poor attendance and there were suggestions the team was hurt by limited investment, staffing and community engagement.

But Twardek is familiar with switching teams. Between 2015 and 2023, he played overseas for Millwall, Braintree Town, Carlisle United, Sligo Rovers, Bohemians (twice), Jagielonia Bialystok and FK Senica clubs as well as the national teams of Czech Republic 2013-16 (age group) and Canada (U20 in 2017, U23 in 2018 and men in 2017).

GABRIELA DABROWSKI

For the past two-and-a-half years, Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe formed one of the most dominant teams in women’s doubles on the WTA circuit.

But earlier this month, they announced a mutual sport-related decision to split, after winning the 2023 and 2025 U.S. Open titles as well as the 2024 WTA Finals championship. This season, they also won doubles titles in Stuttgart and Cincinnati.

“Titles, tears and triumphs. A rollercoaster of emotion no one could have predicted,” posted Dabrowski, who confronted and dealt with breast cancer during their time, in an Instagram posting.

“A business partnership comes to its end and a friendship remains.”

They recently started playing apart, but reunited for the 2025 WTA Finals, where they were eliminated after the preliminary pool round.

Dabrowski has yet to announce her new doubles partner, while there is speculation Routliffe may partner with American Asia Muhammad for her final season on the WTA Tour.

DEREK GEE

In 2022, Derek Gee of Osgoode, ON, joined the Israel Cycling Academy, had a few strong international results and won the Canadian men’s time-trial gold medal.

His debut earned him a quick promotion to the main Israel-Premier Tech team, where he quickly developed into one of the top riders in the world – four second-place results at the 2023 Giro d’Italia, a fourth-place overall finish at the 2024 Giro, a ninth-place overall result at the 2024 Tour de France and overall victories at the 2024 Criterium du Dauphine and 2025 O Gran Camino.

But Gee left the team in August because the world’s political climate, particularly the strife between Israel and Palestine, and the Israel-Premier Tech name on his jersey, were causing him great stress.

He was concerned for his safety on the course. Gee was scheduled to race the 2025 Vuelta a España, the third and final Grand Tour, for his team, but was scratched when he left the team. During the Vuelta, there were a number of disruptions aimed at the Israel-Premier Tech riders because of the team name.

“I terminated my contract with just cause as is every person’s right, when they are unable to continue performing their work under the existing circumstances,” Gee said in a statement on his X (formerly Twitter) account.

“This decision was not taken lightly – it followed an irreparable relationship with the team principal as well as serious concerns related to racing for the team, both from a safety and personal-belief standpoint that weighed heavily on my conscience.”

Gee added money was not an issue for leaving the team in August.

Israel-Premier Tech responded with a 30-million Euros lawsuit against Gee for leaving the team. Gee hasn’t raced since winning the men’s road race and placing second in the individual time trial at this year’s Canadian road cycling championships at the end of June.

But Israel-Premier Tech recently transformed into the NSN (Never Say Never) Cycling Team. The previous co-owner Sylvain Adams, an Israeli-Canadian businessman, withdrew his sponsorship and stepped away from the situation.

NSN, a sports entertainment company, has partnered with Stoneweg, a Swiss investment platform based in Geneva, to operate their WorldTour and development teams. In its seven years, NSN has focused on soccer and music in its audiovisual, marketing, brand and talent management company.

“I am now facing what I understand to be a damages claim said to exceed approximately 30 million Euros for doing nothing more than exercising my fundamental rights as a professional and a person,” wrote Gee, whose case is being reviewed by cycling’s international arbitral board.

“These are not the kind of numbers, or the kind of situation, any athlete expects when they dream of becoming a professional cyclist, and I believe it flies in the face of the very values that sport seeks to uphold. These actions are also a reflection of the very issues that led to the breakdown of the relationship to begin with.”