I’m taking a week or two off from the Tip of the Week in order to blog about an exciting event in Toronto – the 2015 Pan Am Games.
Twice in last 25 years Toronto has bid to host the Summer Olympic Games. Toronto lost out to Atlanta to host 1996 and to Beijing to host 2008. I got involved with the 2008 bid and can tell you it would have been a spectacular Olympics if we’d been successful with all the events clustered along Toronto’s downtown waterfront. As former athletes involved with the bid we were excited that Canadian athletes might have the opportunity to compete at home, enjoying the support of everyone in Canada’s largest city. We were also aware that hosting the games would leave a legacy of world-class sports facilities that would provide training and competition venues for future generations. Alas, it wasn’t to be, but then along came the Pan Am Games.
Nobody is under the illusion that the Pan Ams are the Olympics. The Olympic Games involve the entire world while at the Pan Ams only the 40 or so countries from the Western Hemisphere are invited to the party. Powerhouse European nations and sports superpowers like China will be missing, but for Canadian athletes having the opportunity to compete at home in a major games is still a big deal. And just as hosting the Olympics would have left a legacy, the Pan Ams will leave a legacy or world-class sports facilities across southern Ontario. It will make a difference to future generations of Canadian athletes.
There’s been the typical pre-Games predictions of disaster from the cynics (you should have heard the doom and gloom forecast for the Olympics in London and they turned out to be fantastic) and there has been a good deal of grumbling from those inconvenienced by the increased traffic caused largely by the dedicated lanes for Pan Ams traffic that have sprung up on local highways. What those people might forget is that you can’t be a world-class city without hosting mega events like this from time to time. You’ve also got to remember that all of the infrastructure improvements that the city has recently seen have been completed as a direct result of the Pan Am Games. You can’t have it both ways. I’ve always believed the lasting benefits for everyone far outweigh a few weeks of inconvenience. My advice to those complainers would be to watch “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” in hopes that their hearts might also grow a couple of sizes, then sit back and enjoy the party. Go to some events, take your kids, cheer on Canadian athletes and take your turn to play the gracious hosts that people around the world always are to traveling Canadians.
From a coach’s perspective, one of the great things about these games is that they are drawing some media attention and thrusting the spotlight on our athletes a year ahead of the traditional Olympic year burst of interest. It’s like a dress rehearsal for the craziness of the Olympic year, and for younger athletes and those older athletes that haven’t really had the spotlight directed at them before it is a valuable opportunity to gain experience that will help them next year.
| It’s not like the canoe-kayak events are going to be easy either. There are some very good crews coming out of countries in the Americas,and crews that win next week are going to be, for the most part, legitimate contenders to medal at the World Championships in Milan in August. With the Worlds this year being a qualifier for next year’s Olympics in Rio, you can see the importance of these Pan Am Games as a lead into the Worlds and ultimately Rio. Over the last week or so the excitement has finally caught up with the group that I’m involved with. On Canada Day, Mark Oldershaw was named Canada’s flag bearer for the Pan Ams opening ceremonies on July 9. This is a huge honor. Canadian flag bearers are generally recognized for not only their athletic success, but also for epitomizing the ideals of what it means to be Canadian – hard work, integrity, honesty and fair play. They’ve generally contributed to their community and made it a better place for everyone while they’ve been training to be the best in the world. They’re role models for our youth and ambassadors for our country and their communities as they travel around the world. Mark Oldershaw is all of those things. I could write an entire post about the ups and downs of his career, his perseverance in the face of adversity, his tremendous performance in the 2012 Olympics in London and his success in this year’s World Cup races but I’d rather wait till next year and include in that story a great performance in the 2016 Games in Rio.
It’s enough to say that members and friends of the Burloak Canoe Club were pretty excited when Mark was selected to carry the flag, and the turnout at a Pan Ams send off party last Sunday for Mark and fellow Burloak members Adam Vankoeverden (a four-time Olympic medallist and twice Olympic flag bearer), Brady Reardon and coach Scott Oldershaw (Mark’s dad) was fantastic. That excitement has continued this week with camera crews down at the club doing interviews and lots of attention from the Toronto media.
The canoe-kayak events will be held down the road in Welland, Ontario and the group training at Burloak, which also includes Phil Duscheneau of Sherbrooke, Que., Pierre-Luc Poulin of Lac-Beauport, Que. and Andrew Jessop of Halifax N.S. who will be joining Brady in K4, will be moving into the village at Brock University on Thursday. They’ll train there on Friday morning, and then head to the Opening Ceremonies Friday afternoon. Racing begins on Saturday morning and runs through till Tuesday.
I’ll try and post something every day during the canoe-kayak competition and then continue with a few posts over the rest of the games. It’s going to be fun!
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Pan Ams send off party and Torch Relay
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