Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame Inductees Announced
TORONTO — Olympic heroes Jean-Luc Brassard, Daniel Igali, Beckie Scott, the 2006 women’s hockey team and 2010 men’s hockey team, as well as coach Julie Sauvé and builder Sarah Burke will be inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame, the Canadian Olympic Committee announced today. In addition, past Canadian Olympic Committee President Michael Chambers will receive the Canadian Olympic Order.
“The Canadian Olympic Committee is very proud of this exceptional class of inductees,” said Canadian Olympic Committee President Marcel Aubut. “We look forward to celebrating their achievements and the success of the 2012 Canadian Olympic Team from September 19 in Ottawa to September 21 in Toronto for a parade with our Olympic heroes and the 2012 Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame Gala Dinner and Induction Ceremony.”
“I couldn’t be happier with this induction,” said Scott. “To have competed for Canada at the Olympic Games and now to be inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame is truly an honour. I’m deeply appreciative of the career I had in sport and also for this amazing recognition.”
“It’s a real honour to be joining so many incredible athletes as one of this year’s inductees into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame,” said Brassard. “I already felt very privileged to be part of the Canadian Olympic family, and this honour is more than I ever dreamed of.”
“The 2006 Olympic team was probably the most talented Team Canada I ever played on,” said team captain Cassie Campbell-Pascall. “We had a great group of veterans and there was an influx of great young talent. To win gold in a convincing fashion was the product of so much passion and commitment from every single player and staff member. It’s hard to believe 6 years have passed already, but this is an honor for our team to be singled out like this as inductees to the 2012 Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame.”
“The 2006 women’s team and the 2010 men’s team were both very special, taking on the world and winning,” said Bob Nicholson, Hockey Canada President and Chief Executive Officer. “Those two teams belong enshrined with the very best in Canadian Olympians and I applaud their induction into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame.”
“Sarah was one of those extraordinary women who believed that anything was possible,” said Burke’s mother Jan Phelan. “I think that her belief not only helped her succeed, but inspired others to be the best that they could be. I know that Sarah would be happy that all she worked for and sought to achieve is being honoured with her induction into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame.
“Coaching the national team for 30 years, through so many amazing athletes, routines, and competitions has been as fulfilling a career as one could dream of,” said Sauvé. “Today, I am truly honoured that I will join so many others whose career has been shaped by a continued search for excellence, both in others and in themselves.”
“It has been my good fortune to personally experience and see the incredible power for good that is brought to this world by the Olympic Rings,” said Chambers. “It has been my privilege, through those Rings, to help bring about positive change for Canadian athletes and coaches from all regions and corners of our country. It has been an honour to serve these many years, just as it is now an honour to be named to the Canadian Olympic Order.”
The 2012 Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame Gala Dinner and Induction Ceremony will take place September 21 at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre, capping off a week of activities from Ottawa to Toronto.
Backgrounder
Daniel Igali
Freestyle Wrestling
Two-time Olympian (2000, 2004)
2000 Olympic Gold medallist
Daniel Igali is a two-time Olympian and 2000 gold medallist in the sport of freestyle wrestling.
Igali grew up in one of the poorest villages in Nigeria and was one 21 children in his family. He developed a fondness for wrestling in his teens and by 1994 he was the African national Champion. He came to Canada as a refugee at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, B.C.
Igali would compete collegiately and compiling a 116-0 record, eventually placing 4th at the 1998 World Championships. Igali became the first Canadian male to win the Wrestling World Freestyle Championship the next year.
A year later, Igali would compete in his first Olympic Games and won gold in the 66kg freestyle competition to become the first Canadian wrestler to stand atop the podium in Wrestling. He would also be awarded the 2000 Lou Marsh award as Canadian athlete of the year.
In 2002, Igali would move up to the 74kg division and win gold at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England.
Igali was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.
Beckie Scott
Cross-Country Skiiing
Three-time Olympian (1998, 2002, 2006)
Olympic gold and silver medallist
Scott is a three-time Olympian, a double medallist and one of Canada’s best cross-country skiers ever. She made history at the Salt Lake City 2002 Olympic Winter Games by winning a gold medal in the pursuit. In so doing, she became the first North American woman to win an Olympic medal of any kind in Cross-Country Skiing.
Four years later, Scott took to the podium again. At the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin, she teamed with Sara Renner and recovered from a broken ski pole to win the silver medal in the team sprint. Of four Olympic medals ever won by a Canadian cross-country skier, Scott owns two.
After nearly two decades of competitive skiing, Scott retired following the 2005-2006 winter season. Apart from her terrific Olympic success, she won 10 World Cup medals in that final season, four of them gold, and ranked second overall in the standings. She retired with 15 career World Cup medals and two fourth-place finishes at the 2003 and 2005 World Championships.
She was recently named Chef de Mission for Canadian Youth Olympic Team for the 2012 Innsbruck Winter Youth Olympic Games.
Jean-Luc Brassard
Freestyle Skiing
Four-time Olympian in 1992, 1994, 1998, 2002
Olympic gold medallist
Jean-Luc Brassard joined the Canadian National Freestyle Ski team at the age of 17 and enjoyed a brilliant 12-year career. During that time he became a four-time Olympian and 1994 gold medallist in the sport of freestyle skiing.
He competed at five FIS World Ski Championships (1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999) and won gold in 1993 in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, Austria and in 1997 in Iizuna Kogen, Japan. He added a silver medal in 1995 in Clusaz, France.
In FIS World Cup competition, excluding Dual Moguls, he
competed in 116 events worldwide winning an astonishing 20-World Cups, and another 27 Silver or Bronze medals.
He competed at the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville, France, the 1994 Games in Lillehammer, Norway, the 1998 Games in Nagano, Japan, and the 2002 Games, Salt Lake City, USA.
Additionally, Brassard won the Canadian Championships in 1994, 1995 and 1996.
2010 Men’s Hockey Team
Led by Executive Director Steve Yzerman and Head Coach Mike Babcock, the men’s hockey team was faced with the ultimate challenge: winning gold on home ice.
The team opened the tournament with a 8-0 victory of Norway which was followed by a 3-2 shoutout victory over the Swiss. Although they would close round robin play with a 5-3 loss to the Americans, Canada would storm through the first round of the playoffs with a 8-2 win against Germany.
The Canadians squared off against a talented squad from Russia and defeated them 7-3. Slovakia was waiting in the semis and Canada came out with the 3-2 win.
In the finals, they would get to avenge their only loss of the tournament as they faced the Americans once more. This time Canada won 3-2 in dramatic fashion, with Sidney Crosby scoring the game-winner in overtime.
The members of the 2010 men’s hockey team inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame are Sidney Crosby, Rich Nash, Ryan Getzlaf, Patrice Bergeron, Corey Perry, Eric Staal, Joe Thornton, Michael Richards, Jonathan Toews, Dany Heatley, Jarome Iginla, Patrick Marleau, Brendan Morrow, Scott Niedermayer, Dan Boyle, Chris Pronger, Drew Doughty, Brent Seabrook, Shea Weber, Duncan Keith, Roberto Luongo, Marc-André Fleury and Martin Brodeur
2006 Women’s Hockey Team
Led by coach Melody Davidson, the Canadian women were looking to repeat their impressive gold medal performance from 2002 in Salt Lake City.
The women’s hockey team was dominant from the very start, outscoring their opponents by a combined score of 36-1 in the round robin, earning wins over Italy (16-0), Russia (12-0) and Sweden (8-1).
The team shut out Finland 6-0 to advance to the gold medal game. For the first time in Olympic competition, their gold-medal opponent was not the United States, who fell to Sweden in the semi-final. Team Canada completed their dominance with a 4-1 win, earning gold for the second straight Games.
The members of the 2006 women’s hockey team inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame are Hayley Wickenheiser, Katie Weatherston, Sarah Vaillancourt, Vicky Sunohara, Cherie Piper, Gina Kingsbury, Jayna Hefford, Danielle Goyette, Cassie Campbell, Jennifer Botterill, Gillian Apps, Meghan Agosta, Delaney Collins, Colleen Sostorics, Cheryl Pounder, Caroline Ouellette, Carla MacLeod, Becky Kellar, Gillian Ferrari, Sami Jo Small, Kim St-Pierre and Charline Labonté.
Sarah Burke
Builder
Sarah Burke was raised in Midland and got her start skiing with her family when she was five years old. She first competed in moguls and was a member of Team Ontario before switching to freeskiing and winning the halfpipe competition at the 2001 U.S. Open of Freeskiing.
Burke was a four-time X Games gold medallist in the superpipe, winning the event in 2007-2009 and 2011 and adding a silver medal in 2005.
Burke was also a world champion in 2005 when she won the completion in the halfpipe in Ruka, Finland. She was an influential voice to have superpipe added to the 2014 Olympic program in Sochi.
Among her legendary accomplishments, Burke was the first woman to land a 1080-degree spin (three full rotations) in competition and won the 2007 ESPY award as Best Female Action Sports Athlete.
A freestyle skier and pioneer in the halfpipe event, Sarah Burke died this past winter after a training accident.
Julie Sauvé
Coach
Julie Sauvé is the most renowned synchronize swimming coach in Canada who has been coaching since 1982 for the national team.
Sauvé coached Sylvie Fréchette to prominence helping her win a gold medal at the 1986 and 1990 Commonwealth Games. This lead to Fréchette becoming world champion at the 1991 FINA World Acquatics Championships. The pair made their mark on the Olympic stage in Barcelona when Sauvé’s choreography led Fréchette to her gold-medal performance in 1992.
She helped lead the Olympic silver medal performances for the duo of Vicky and Penny Vilagos. Under Sauvé’s guidance, the sisters won a total of seven Canadian Championships and were the first to receive a score of a perfect 10 in competition.
She also led the1996 Synchronized Swimming team that won silver in Atlanta. Sauvé was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.
Michael Chambers
Canadian Olympic Order
Michael Chambers, in April 2010, completed his second and final term as President of the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC), having served in the position since 2001. He is currently the Immediate Past President. He has been involved with the organization in various executive and committee capacities since 1984, initially representing the sport of canoe/kayak.
Mr. Chambers has served on the executive committee of the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO) since 2004, first as a member (2004-08), then as a Vice President (elected for the 2008-12 term), the first Canadian ever to hold that position. He tendered his resignation as a Vice President in 2010 in order to assume the presidency of the PASO Legislative Commission. As such he continues to be a member of the PASO executive committee in an ex officio role. He is a member of the PASO Inclusive Commission to coordinate the work between the NOCs and governments of the Americas. He is President of the Sports Venues Commission of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC), and President of the ANOC Juridical Commission. In that capacity he is an ex officio member of the ANOC Executive Council. He is a member of the IOC Working Group on the Fight against Irregular and Illegal Betting in Sport. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Organizing Committee for the Toronto 2015 Pan/Parapan American Games.
Mr Chambers was Chef de Mission of the Canadian Team to the Centennial Olympic Games Atlanta 1996. He served as a board member of the 1999 Winnipeg Pan American Games Organizing Committee. He was a member of the PASO Evaluation Commission for the 2007 Pan American Games, and of the PASO Coordination Commission for the 2011 Pan American and Parapan Games. He was a member of the Toronto 2015 Pan American Bid Corporation. He was Vice-Chair of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Bid Committee. He served on the Board of Directors of VANOC, was a member of the VANOC Audit Committee, and Chair of the VANOC Governance and Ethics Committee. He was a member of the IOC 2014 Olympic Winter Games Working Group and a member of the IOC 2018 Olympic Winter Games Working Group.
He was awarded the (IOC) Olympic Order in 2010 for outstanding services to the Olympic Movement.
