Canadian Olympic House in Montreal gets permanent rings
With fanfare and fireworks, the Olympic rings are officially on 500 René-Lévesque Boulevard West in Montreal.
The building at that address is the Canadian Olympic House, which serves as a resource for sport federations striving to build Olympians and World Champions, offers ample workspace, and is scheduled to host a sport science and technology centre. It is also the Montreal office for the Canadian Olympic Committee.
On Thursday night, Team Canada hosted a street celebration attended by a large crowd and several prominent guests, including International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach. All were on hand for a full day of activities that concluded with the official presentation of the Olympic rings.
Along with Bach, generations of Canadian Olympians ranging from Montreal 1976 bronze medallist Greg Joy to current Lou Marsh Trophy winner Kaillie Humphries, attended Thursday’s events. Many of the retired legends and active athletes will be in Toronto on Friday to witness the Opening Ceremony of the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games.
Earlier in the day, the event – Canada Olympic Excellence Day – featured sport demonstrations that included boxing, fencing and beach volleyball to list a few.
The evening also included live musicians and wall projections of Olympic legends prior, to a dramatic lighting of the rings accompanied by fireworks atop the Team Canada building.
The permanent rings will remain at the centre of the country’s first Olympic city on the roof of Team Canada’s home in Montreal.