Olympians celebrate Canada Day in Ottawa [PHOTOS]
OTTAWA, ON – Canadian Olympians enjoyed a spectacular Canada Day on Parliament Hill to celebrate the nation’s 147th birthday with hundreds of thousands of visitors.
It is estimated about 350,000 people annually descend upon downtown Ottawa on July 1. A good number of the visitors make their way up to the grounds of Parliament Hill to take in the Canada Day celebrations.
Olympians Anastasia Bucsis, Gilmore Junio, Charline Labonte, Genevieve Lacasse, Denny Morrison, Dylan Moscovitch and Cody Sorensen made the trip to represent the Canadian Olympic Team. The achievements of Team Canada at Sochi 2014 were recognized during the festivities, with Prime Minister Stephen Harper singling them out for praise and later the program hosts introducing each Olympian to the audience.
The athletes were also keeping an eye on another Olympian some 5,350 kilometres away in London, England, where Milos Raonic won his fourth round match at Wimbledon and advanced to the quarterfinals.
Also appearing in Ottawa was one of Canada’s most decorated Olympians. Clara Hughes had made the journey after a 110-day bicycle tour of the country that saw her cover 12,000 kilometres. Hughes’ mission, partnered with Bell Canada, is to end the stigma surrounding mental health, which she talked about on the Hill at the conclusion of her tour titled Clara’s Big Ride.
Here are some photos from Canada Day festivities in Ottawa.
Photos via Greg Kolz in Ottawa
