Athletes get funding to help realize Rio dreams
With Sochi 2014 just 50 days away certainly the Olympic Winter Games continues to be in sharp focus. However, when winter gives way to summer, Rio 2016 will quickly enter Canadian sport minds.
To this end the Canadian Olympic Committee last week announced a $320,000 injection to 64 summer athletes as part of the Athlete Excellence Fund.
London 2012 bronze medallist Jennifer Abel said the funding “will be tremendously helpful” as she trains toward her next chance at an Olympic podium.
Decathlete and 2013 World Championships bronze medallist Damian Warner said “it feels fantastic to receive this funding” after a year of hard work.
This announcement comes on the heels of a much publicized $37 million investment by the Canadian Olympic Committee in high-performance sport through Own The Podium for 2013-2016 – a 48% increase from the previous quadrennial (2009-2012).
The Canadian Olympic Committee’s growing partnerships within the private sector and its partners’ belief in Canadian sport is fuelling a national belief in Canadian athletes, who want nothing more than to excel in their discipline and make Canadians proud.
For fun – and in the spirit of the Christmas shopping season – we wanted to size up what $37 million means (aside from fuelling priceless Olympic dreams, of course).
A few examples:
