Canadian Olympians Celebrate Olympic Day 2016 in Montreal
MONTREAL — On Friday, Canadian Olympians, in conjunction with INS Québec, Jouez gagnant!, Olympic Park and Canadian Tire Corporation, celebrated Olympic Day in Montreal with sports and activities that engage students in the Olympic Movement.
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 participants the opportunity to engage with their Olympic heroes and sport role models.
The students from Académie les Estacades enjoyed many sports and activations including athletics, synchronized swimming, fencing, judo, swimming, water polo, diving and gymnastics.
Olympians in attendance included two-time Olympian, Philippe Beaudry (fencing); London 2012 Olympian, Jo-Annie Fortin (synchronized swimming); London 2012 Olympian, Barbara Jardin (swimming); London 2012 Olympian, Étienne Lalonde-Turbide (fencing); Sydney 2000 Olympian, Sandra Lizé (water polo); two-time Olympian, Nicolas Macrozonaris (athletics); Sydney 2000 Olympian, Julie Mahoney (fencing); Beijing 2008 Olympian, Marie-Ève Marleau (diving); London 2012 Olympian, Joliane Melançon (judo); Beijing 2008 Olympian, Olya Ovtchinnikova (fencing); two-time Pan Am Games athlete, Joseph Polossifakis (fencing); two-time Olympian, Sandra Sassine (fencing); Beijing 2008 Olympian, Geneviève Saumur (swimming); and two-time Olympian Achraf Tadili, (athletics).
The COC would like to recognize the following event partners for their Olympic Day support: INS Québec, Jouez gagnant!, Commission scolaire du Chemin-du-Roy, Olympic Park, and Canadian Tire Corporation. A special thank you to the eight provincial sport organizations for all of their help in making this day possible.
International Olympic Day is celebrated worldwide annually on or around June 23rd in honour of the founding of the modern Olympic Games and as 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
“Montreal is the home of Canada’s first Olympic Games, so it is a great place to celebrate Olympic Day. I hope the students here today are inspired and enjoy an active day with our Olympians.”
Tricia Smith, President, Canadian Olympic Committee
“It’s always such a pleasure to spend time with the youth in Montreal while celebrating the Olympic Movement. Olympic Day is important, because it is an amazing opportunity to share the values of Olympism, while connecting with the youth and encouraging healthy, active lifestyles.”
Joseph Polossifakis, four-time Pan Am Games medallist, Fencing
“It is with great enthusiasm that the Institut national du sport du Québec is hosting the students from the l’Académie les Estacades to celebrate Olympic Day. We hope that access to our facilities and the opportunity to meet high performance athletes will inspire them to get involved in sports and maybe help fuel their Olympic dreams.”
Gaëtan Robitaille, President and CEO, Institut national du sport du Québec