Six Summer Olympians Elected to Canadian Olympic Committee Athlete Council
Six high-profile Canadian Olympians, most of whom have competed in Athens, have been elected to the Canadian Olympic Committee’s Athlete Council, an internal advisory body to the COC.
The six successful candidates are wrestler Daniel Igali, judoka Nicolas Gill, rower Iain Brambell, diver Anne Montminy, paddler David Ford and fencer Sherraine MacKay.
“Having such high-calibre athletes on the Athlete Council will increase the voice of athletes within the Canadian Olympic movement,” said Christian Farstad, COC Director of Athlete Relations. “Athletes will become more involved in all aspects of the COC to help make the organization more athlete focused.”
The six athletes elected in Athens will begin serving on the Athlete Council at the council’s first meeting after the Games on October 1 and will serve a four-year term until the next summer Olympic Games in Beijing. The Council will review and provide recommendations to the COC on such issues as team selection, funding allocation and how to better support Canadian athletes to help them achieve podium success.
Within the last year, the Athlete Council has undergone a number of changes to make it more democratic, streamlined and effective. Changes include reducing the number of athletes on the council to 14 from 52 and allowing all Canadian team summer athletes to vote. The 313 eligible voters included the 267 athletes competing at the Olympic Games in Athens, 42 athletes from Pan Am-only sports who competed at the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo and four athlete representatives from summer Olympic sports not competing in Athens.
Summer athletes from Canada were encouraged to run as candidates for the Athlete Council. To be eligible, candidates must have either competed in the Olympic Games in Sydney and/or Athens to run for the six available positions. If they had not competed at an Olympic Games, they could run for one spot available for non-Olympians or Pan Am only athletes.
Voting took place from August 14 to 26 in the Canadian athlete lounge in the Olympic Village and by electronic ballot.
