Team Canada’s Tokyo 2020 Olympians encourages students to embrace what it means to #BeAChampion

Live chats hosted by Olympians Donovan Bailey, Brittany MacLean and Paralympian Benoît Huot

TORONTO (August 11, 2021) – Tuesday evening, Team Canada Champion Chats held an Olympic Live Chat in partnership with the Canadian Olympic Committee, the Canadian Paralympic Committee and Classroom Champions.

Team Canada Champion Chats is a national education program designed to empower Canadian children and youth to embrace challenges, achieve goals, and ultimately become champions in their community. Participants not only get to hear the athletes’ stories, they also get to ask questions and interact with the champions, which creates a richer learning environment.

For this special Tokyo 2020 edition Champion Chat, Team Canada athletes spoke about their journey to, and experiences at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games with the goal of empowering children to embrace what it means to #BeAChampion.

Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion Maude Charron was excited to share her story and celebrate the Games with parents, teachers, and kids who joined the chat.

“I was incredibly proud to use my experience representing Canada to talk to kids about what it really means to be a champion,” said Charron. “Role models are powerful, and when you get to have a personal and intimate experience like Team Canada Champion Chats, they can be even more impactful. It’s an honour to connect with those representing Canada now to empower our future Olympians and Paralympians!” 

During the chat the athletes shared their stories of resilience, perseverance, creativity and simply doing their best in the face of tremendous odds. It is these stories, with their important lessons about believing in yourself and focusing on goals, that the kids attending the chat left with.

The English chat was co-hosted by two-time Olympic champion Donovan Bailey and Olympic bronze medallist Brittany MacLean. The French chat was hosted by nine-time Paralympic champion, Benoît Huot.

“I’m proud to have returned for another year of Team Canada Champion Chats,” said Huot. “I can see what an impact this experience has on kids. It allows them to connect with Team Canada unlike anything else out there!”

Team Canada Tokyo 2020 athletes who joined Charron  include Annie Guglia (skateboarding), Madison Mailey (rowing), Tammara Thibeault (boxing), Markus Thormeyer (swimming) and Andrea Proske (rowing).

The English chat can be watched here and the French chat here. Teachers, parents, and students can register for the Paralympic live chat on September 1, 2021 at championchats.olympic.ca.

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MEDIA CONTACTS:

Classroom Champions
Joey Hettler
Marketing Coordinator
E: joey@classroomchampions.org