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PREMIER UNVEILS TRIBUTE TO B.C. WOMEN ATHLETES
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PREMIER UNVEILS TRIBUTE TO B.C. WOMEN ATHLETES
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VANCOUVER – An exhibit that showcases the achievement of B.C. women in sport was unveiled today by Premier Gordon Campbell at the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame.
“Our province has some of the world’s greatest female athletes, and they are role models not only for young women but for all British Columbians,” said Campbell. “The 2010 Olympics will showcase the best of B.C. to the world, and this exhibit is a testimony to the incredible talent and accomplishments of these athletes.”
The exhibit, Celebrating B.C. Women in Sport – Leaders and Legends, pays tribute to 31 of British Columbia’s most accomplished athletes and teams.
“We made a New Era commitment to promote physical fitness and participation in sport while encouraging the pursuit of excellence through healthy, active lifestyles,” said Lynn Stephens, Minister of State for Women’s Equality. “This new exhibit is part of our support for programs that create equity in sports for girls and women. It also celebrates this year’s Women’s History Month theme of ‘Women and Sport – Champions Forever.’ ”
The 31 athletes and teams were chosen by a committee of sports leaders including representatives from the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame and Pacific Sport. Selection was based on outstanding achievement and contribution to sport and the community.
The Premier also announced three projects totalling over $44,000 that will go toward sport development for women in B.C. The funds are from2010 LegaciesNow, a provincewide sport development program introduced by the province as a public-private partnership with the Vancouver 2010 Bid Corp. and its supporters:
Over the next few months a total of $230,000 in 24 separate grants from the 2010 LegaciesNow grant fund will go to support various sport development organizations.
Note: This release has been updated to clarify the description of the B.C. Amateur Hockey Association program receiving $22,487.
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BACKGROUNDERS
October is Women’s History Month. Established in 1992 by the Government of Canada, and proclaimed in British Columbia to recognize and celebrate exceptional women of the past, present and future, this month provides an opportunity to learn more about women’s accomplishments and their contributions to Canadian society. This year the national theme for Women’s History Month is Women in Sport – Champions Forever.
As part of a month-long salute to British Columbia’s women champions, 31 women and teams will be recognized at an exhibit at the B.C. Sport Hall of Fame. For more information on each of the athletes, visit http://www.gov.bc.ca/mcaws
B.C. Wheelchair Sport named Marni Abbott the Athlete of the
Century. She is a gold medallist in
both swimming and wheelchair basketball, and was the Canadian flag-bearer at
the Paralympics in Atlanta. Abbott is head coach for the 2003 Team BC
wheelchair basketball team.
Ten weeks before the Barcelona Olympics, Silken Laumann’s leg was shattered when a boat collided with her during a warmup. Her comeback won her a bronze medal at the Games. She is a four-time Olympian and capped her Olympic career with a silver medal in Atlanta in 1996.
Lynne Beecroft, who grew up in Port Alberni, is a field hockey Olympian and coach. At the University of Victoria she has coached a record nine teams to national university championship titles. She was named Coach of the Year in Victoria in 2002 and Field Hockey Canada Coach of the Year in 2000.
Alison Sydor is the world’s best mountain biker. She has been a three-time consecutive World Champion, a three-time overall World Cup champion and an Olympic silver medallist. She has piled up 17 World Cup victories in her career.
Lori Bowden has won 11 Ironman titles, including five in Canada, and is one of only five women to break the nine-hour mark in the event (four kilometres of swimming, 180 kilometres of biking and a 42-kilometre run).
Kerrin Lee Gartner overcame five knee operations, including two reconstructions, to capture the women’s downhill gold at the 1992 Albertville Olympics. She was inducted into the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.
Debbie Brill revolutionized high-jumping with her reverse jumping style known as the Brill Bend. She has won more than 65 national and international championships and has received many awards including B.C.’s Athlete of the Decade in 1980. She was made an officer of the Order of Canada in 1983.
Isabell Cavallin dedicated her life to training and coaching athletes with mental disabilities. Her dedication was instrumental in establishing the Special Olympics movement in British Columbia. She was a founding member of the B.C. Special Olympics in 1980. She died in 1994.
Norma Foster, the first woman judge for the World Karate Federation, paved the way for women in the sport of karate throughout her 30-year career. She’s a fifth-degree black belt and three-time National Karate Association champion.
Angela Chalmers is one of Canada’s greatest track and field athletes. She won a bronze medal at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona and was Canada’s flag-bearer at Victoria’s Commonwealth Games. Chalmers also received the National Aboriginal Achievement Award in Sports, and was recently inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame.
Lori Fung won the first gold medal ever awarded in rhythmic gymnastics at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. She retired in 1988 and began coaching and judging rhythmic gymnastics. She is a member of the Order of Canada, and was inducted into the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame in 1985.
Nancy Greene Raine –
skiing
Nancy Green Raine, who grew up in Rossland, captured gold in the giant slalom
at the Grenoble Olympics in 1968 and won the first women’s World Cup title in
1967. She was instrumental in
developing Whistler as one of the top ski resorts in North America and
developed Sun Peaks Resort near Kamloops into one of B.C.’s most popular
resorts.
Kathleen Heddle competed at the 1996 Atlanta Games and the 1992 Barcelona Games, pairing up with Marnie McBean to bring home four Olympic medals – three golds and a bronze. She won rowing’s highest honour in 1999 – the Thomas Keller Award – and was made a member of the Order of British Columbia in 1997, the same year she was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame.
Kelley Law, Diane Dezura, Julie Skinner, Georgina Wheatcroft and alternate Cheryl Noble won Canada’s bronze medal at the Salt Lake City Games in 2002. They are Scott Tournament of Heart Champions and World Champions and were named Canadian Sports Awards Team of the Year in 2000.
Majorie Leeming – tennis
Majorie Leeming was one of the most decorated female tennis players in Canadian history. She dominated junior women’s tennis at the tender age of 12, when she won her first of four consecutive B.C. girls’ under-16 singles titles. She was voted B.C.’s outstanding tennis player six times between 1923 and 1931 and was Canada’s singles, doubles and mixed champion in 1925. She died in 1987.
Lilo Ljubisic is a five-time Paralympian and six-time medallist, including gold in discus at Barcelona in 1992. She is a member of the International Paralympic Committee Athlete’s Commission.
Irene MacDonald dominated women’s diving in the 1950s with Canada’s first Olympic medal in diving – a bronze at the 1956 Melbourne Games. She was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1981 and the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame in 1972. She died in June of this year.
Karen Magnussen captured a World Championship in 1973 in Czechoslovakia, a feat that remains unmatched by any Canadian woman skater. She was a silver medallist at the 1972 Sapporo Olympics. She is a member of the Order of Canada and was inducted into the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame in 1972 and the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1973.
Ann Mundigel Meraw set seven world marathon swimming records including the world record for the 55-mile swim. At the age of 10, she swam across Howe Sound. In 1958, in her third attempt to swim Lake Okanagan, she swam the 88-kilometre distance in a record-setting 32 hours and 12 minutes.
Owner of the Vancouver Griffins female hockey team, Diane Nelson has attracted some of the finest women hockey talent in the world to British Columbia. A former figure-skater and field hockey player, she is a school principal in West Vancouver.
Claire Sharpe won six Commonwealth Game medals in badminton and was the first Canadian female athlete to compete in five Commonwealth Games. She was inducted into the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame in 1997, is a Level 3 coach and developed the badminton centre at PacificSport National Training Centre in Victoria.
Bev Smith, from Salmon Arm, is arguably the finest female basketball player Canada has ever produced. She is a two-time Olympian, competing at the 1984 and 1996 Summer Olympics. She coaches women’s basketball.
Donalda Smith’s name has become synonymous with the sport of synchronized swimming, not only in Canada but internationally. She was a judge and official for more than 33 years. She was an officer of the Order of Canada and was inducted into the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame in 1992. She died in 1998.
Erminia Russo is one of volleyball’s toughest athletes and competed for Team Canada in two world championships, three World Cups and two Pan American Games. She is an Olympian, competing in beach volleyball in 1996. She was a CIAUCoach of the Year in 1997-1998.
Violet Pooley Sweeney was born in 1886 in Victoria and died in 1965. She was a true golf pioneer in an era when women were regarded as inferior to men in the sport. She was inducted into the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame in 1974 and the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 1998.
1930 University of B.C. Women’s Basketball Team
The 1930 UBC Women’s Basketball Team was considered by many to be the second-best team in North America. The team captured the 1930 International Women’s Games championship in Czechoslovakia, spending 10 days travelling on a ship across the ocean. The team was inducted into the UBC Sports Hall of Fame in 1993 and the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame in 1981.
Tracy Wilson and Rob McCall formed a dance team that exhibited incredible flair while doing technically demanding programs, which paid off in Olympic and World Championship medals. Wilson won a bronze medal at the 1988 Olympics in Calgary and was made a member of the Order of Canada in 1988.
Ruth Wilson was considered B.C.’s best all-around female athlete throughout the 1940s and ’50s, and excelled at basketball, softball, golf, tennis and most other sports she attempted. She was inducted into the UBC Sports Hall of Fame in 1993 and into the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame twice, in 1966 and 1989. She died in Vancouver in 2001 at the age of 82.
Nicknamed Mighty Mouse partly because of her small stature, Elaine Tanner was the first woman to win four golds at a Commonwealth Games. She was named Canada’s best female athlete in 1966 — the youngest person to ever receive the award — and was also named Canada’s top athlete overall.
Charmaine Crooks was 17 years old when she made the 1980 Canadian Olympic team, starting a track and field career that spanned 17 years. Her accomplishments include medals at the Olympic, Commonwealth and Pan American Games, the World Cup and the Canadian national championships, as well as participation on five Canadian Olympic teams.
As members of the 2002 silver medallist team at the Under 19 FIFA World Cup, Britanny Timko, Christine Sinclair, Katie Thorlakson, Heather Smith and Clare Rustad made history as the first Canadian team to compete in the World Cup finals. The team, coached by B.C.’s Ian Bridge, lost in a heartbreaker overtime game against the United States team, which had earlier beat them 11 to 0.
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2010 LEGACIESNOW
2010 LegaciesNow is the sport development arm of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games bid. Its funding provides athletes with tools and services they need to excel in the years leading up to an Olympic Games. It also results in healthier, more active young people.
Among the programs funded by 2010 LegaciesNow is the Telus Whistler Sport Centre, providing athlete and coaching services. Another is KidSport, which, through Sport B.C., helps children throughout the province discover the joy of sport. 2010 Legacies Now also funds the PacificSport Group and Canadian Sport Centre Vancouver, both dedicated to providing programs and services to provincial and elite athletes and coaches.
2010 LegaciesNow is a public-private partnership funded by the government of British Columbia, the 2010 Bid Corp. and private donors.
Oct. 21 grants:
· This athlete mentorship and athlete employment program is designed to help high- performance athletes through the transition from their sport career to a new career.
· Current and retiring high-performance athletes will have access to the program through the PacificSport Canadian Sport Centre in Vancouver.
· The mentors, who will be past Olympians and Paralympians, will have regular meetings with the athletes to help with academic, career and personal development.
· The employment services aspect of the program will provide current athletes with employment readiness skills and training to ensure that they are viable prospective employees.
· The program is an enhancement of the female high-performance program of the B.C. Amateur Hockey Association. It will increase training opportunities for the 2003 Canada Winter Games under-18 team, and it will establish an ongoing program for female athletes 18 and over.
· $18,000 is being provided through the 2010 LegaciesNow funds that go to Canadian Sport Centre Vancouver for winter sport development.
· $4,487 is being provided through the partnership agreement between 2010 LegaciesNow and the Calgary Olympic Development Association.
B.C. Wheelchair Sports Association – $12,000
· The B.C. Wheelchair Sports wheelchair loan program lets new participants rent sport-specific wheelchairs for up to one year so they can try out a new sport without having to buy a special wheelchair.
· The funding will provide four new chairs – one each for wheelchair basketball, rugby, tennis and athletics.
· The specialized chairs are used throughout B.C. To date, Victoria, Prince George, Invermere, North Vancouver, Maple Ridge, Kelowna, Surrey and Vancouver have benefited from the program.
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Visit the province's Web site at http://www.gov.bc.ca/ for online information and services. |
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Communications Director Community, Aboriginal and Women's Services 250 387-4049 |
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