Olympic.ca is New Home for Canadian Olympic Team

Where Canadians Connect with Athletes

The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) today announced the launch of a vastly redeveloped website that is firmly focused on Canada’s high performance athletes and the sports in which they compete at Olympic and Pan American Games.

The new virtual home for the Canadian Olympic community, including the Canadian Olympic Team, its fans, and the Olympic Movement in Canada is http://www.olympic.ca.

“We have a proud history of sport in Canada and a bright future. Olympic.ca provides every Canadian the chance to connect with some of our nation’s greatest ambassadors,” said Chris Rudge, CEO and Secretary General of the COC. “I hope that Canadians coast to coast will join the team and enjoy the ride to 2010 and beyond.”

Designed by the Toronto firm Trapeze, Olympic.ca will progressively build profiles of Canadian Olympic and Pan American athletes, past and present, as well as offer historical information of Canada’s participation at Games. The site will include a deep archive of images from the COC and The Canadian Press, The Host National News Agency of the 2010 Winter Games, which will accumulate in the months ahead. In all, the site database will manage a rising swell of more than 4,000 athlete profiles and 10,000 photos.

Olympic.ca will also build a video features library of great moments in Canadian sport from both past and present while providing behind the scenes looks of the Canadian Olympic Team in 2010 as they paint the town red at Vancouver, Whistler and Richmond.

In addition, Olympic.ca will allow Canadians to show their support for, and have their say on the Canadian Olympic Team through the use of social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter and other applications to come in the near future. Fans from coast to coast can connect with the team in the lead up to and at the Games, receive up-to-the-minute updates on Canadian performances and medals while also providing their own words of encouragement to Canada’s athletes as they aim to own the podium in 2010.

“Our new website, and our newly created Facebook and Twitter pages, will allow all Canadians the chance to interact with the athletes of the Canadian Olympic Team. The beauty of sport is in the shared experiences of being a fan, and we hope that our new platforms will provide the opportunity for fans of Canada’s Olympic Team to tangibly demonstrate their support for the team as we ‘Paint the Town Red’ at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games”, said David Bedford, Executive Director, Marketing and Communications for the COC.

Canadians can also stay connected with all things Olympic through the site’s extensive amateur sports calendar, weekly polls and RSS feeds, which distributes web content instantaneously to subscribers. The fully bilingual site will also feature a wealth of original stories of Canada’s athletes, coaches, sport programs and Olympic and Pan American-related events across the country.

The red-and-white-themed site brings a vibrant, fresh feel to the Canadian Olympic Movement. It looks ahead to future successes while simultaneously taking a historic view of Canada’s participation in over 45 Olympic and Pan American Games.

About the Canadian Olympic Committee

The Canadian Olympic Committee is a national, private, not-for-profit organization committed to sport excellence. It is responsible for all aspects of Canada’s involvement in the Olympic Movement, including Canada’s participation in the Olympic and Pan American Games and a wide variety of programs that promote the Olympic Movement in Canada through cultural and educational means.

About Trapeze

Founded in 1999, Trapeze is an award-winning, full service interactive marketing agency based in Toronto, Canada. Leaders in the design and execution of extraordinary online marketing experiences, Trapeze grows a client’s business by connecting consumers with their brand across all manner of interactive devices.