Canadian Olympians Celebrate Olympic Day 2016 in St. John’s
ST. JOHN’S — On Thursday, Canadian Olympians celebrated Olympic Day in St. John’s with sports and activities while engaging youth from numerous schools with the Olympic Movement. The Olympic Day celebrations will continue over the next two days with more schools tomorrow, followed by the general public on Saturday.
Olympic Day is a great opportunity for children, youth and their families to discover and try a new sport, while inspiring them to adopt and maintain healthy active lifestyles. With Olympians in attendance, it also provides Canadians with the opportunity to engage with their Olympic heroes and sport role models.
The public enjoyed many sports and activations including football, soccer, goalball, basketball, shooting, cross-country skiing, para-Nordic skiing, synchronized swimming, ball hockey, bowling and KidSport.
Olympians in attendance included two-time Olympian, Martine Dugrenier (wrestling); Turin 2006 gold medallist, Jamie Korab (curling); Vancouver 2010 Olympian, Eric Mitchell (ski jumping); and two-time Olympian, Sandra Sassine (fencing). The Canadian Olympic Team mascot, Komak, also made an appearance.
The COC would like to thank the following event partners for their Olympic Day support: Sport Newfoundland and Labrador, McDonald’s and KidSport.
International Olympic Day is celebrated worldwide annually on or around June 23rd in honour of the founding of the modern Olympic Games and is a way to create awareness of the Olympic Movement and the Olympic values. In celebration of Olympic Day, the Canadian Olympic School Program has developed special resources to bring the Olympic Movement to communities across Canada. Free resources are available at Olympic.ca/education.
QUOTES
“I encourage the great people of St. John’s to come out and get involved in Olympic Day. There will be Olympians onsite to meet and share stories and lots of fun activities for the whole family. This is a day for us all to be inspired by the Olympic spirit and get out and be active.”
Tricia Smith, President, Canadian Olympic Committee
“Olympic Day is an incredible opportunity for communities across Canada to come together and engage with the Olympic Movement, physical activity and their Olympic heroes. It is an honour to be here today to celebrate this occasion with the people of beautiful St. John’s.”
Sandra Sassine, two-time Olympian, Fencing