Six Summer Olympians Elected to Canadian Olympic Committee Athletes’ Council
Following the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, six accomplished athletes – including four medallists from the Beijing Games – have been elected by their peers to the Canadian Olympic Committee’s Athletes’ Council, an internal advisory body designed to give athletes a voice on the COC Executive Committee and Board of Directors.
The successful candidates, elected by fellow Canadian athletes, are rower Iain Brambell (2008 bronze medallist), rower David Calder (silver), rower Adam Kreek (gold), kayaker Adam van Koeverden (silver), swimmer Rick Say and hurdler Perdita Felicien.
“I’m honoured to be re-elected to the Athletes’ Council,” said Iain Brambell who was, before his re-election, chair of the Athletes’ Council. “The 2008 Canadian Olympic Team has elected an excellent group of summer athletes to work and speak on their behalf within the Canadian Olympic Committee.
“These athletes have already shown tremendous leadership on behalf of sport in Canada, and this leadership and experience will truly strengthen the Council, the COC and the voice of all Canadian athletes.”
Athletes’ Council elections take place during each Olympic Games. Once they accept their role, the six members will officially begin serving their four-year terms when the Council next meets this fall. There they will join current winter athlete members Cassie Campbell (hockey), Deidra Dionne (freestyle ski), Alexa Loo (snowboard) and Jeff Pain (skeleton), ex-officio members Beckie Scott and Charmaine Crooks as well as Pan American sports representative Jaret Llewellyn (water ski) and Victoria Winter (equestrian).
The Council, in representing the views of high-performance athletes, is tasked with reviewing and providing recommendations to the COC on a range of issues that directly impact Olympic and Pan American Games hopefuls. It meets to discuss such issues as team selection and planning, funding allocation and how to best support Canadian athletes to help them achieve podium success.
The six summer athletes elected this year come from a pool of 11 candidates. Summer athletes from Canada were encouraged to run as candidates for the Athletes’ Council. To be eligible, candidates must have competed at either the 2008 or 2004 Olympic Games, or have competed at the 2007 Pan American Games.
The elections took place between July 23 and August 24, 2008, through online voting at www.olympic.ca where candidates’ short profiles were posted. Eligible voters counted more than 350 athletes, comprising all 2008 Olympians and those competing in non-Olympic sports at the 2007 Pan American Games.
