October 21, 2019
Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame’s Class of 2019 to receive Canada’s Highest Sporting Honour and Inaugural Order of Sport Award
Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame – TORONTO – On Wednesday, October 23, 2019, Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame’s Class of 2019 Inductees – six Athletes and two sport Builders– will be formally inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame during the 64th annual Induction Festival evening gala and ceremony. Media are invited to attend the Induction Festival media conference taking place at 9:00AM that day. The Inductees, the very first Order of Sport recipients, will be presented with the Order of Sport Award in the form of an Order of Sport scarf and a Canadian Silver lapel pin or pendant. Only Order of Sport recipients are entitled to wear the Order of Sport emblem highlighting Hall of Famers’ contributions to the community and representing sports galvanizing effect on all Canadians.
The media conference will be emceed by Hall of Famer and twenty-one-time Paralympic Medallist, Senator Chantal Petitclerc. The Order of Sport regalia will be presented to each Inductee by Chair of the Board of Governors of Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, Robert Rooney and Hall of Famer, Damon Allen. Each Inductee will speak and be available for photos and media interviews following the morning’s media conference.
The Class of 2019 Inductees:
- Alexandre Bilodeau (Athlete, Freestyle Skiing) – the first Canadian athlete ever to win an Olympic Gold Medal on home soil at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver and the first freestyle skier to win two consecutive Olympic Gold Medals with his repeat performance in 2014. After retiring from competition, he continues to support organizations dedicated to empowering people living with neurological disorders.
- Colette Bourgonje (Athlete, Para Nordic Skiing and Wheelchair Racing) – ten-time Paralympian, she is the only Canadian female athlete to compete in both the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games, and the first to medal in dual events. After retiring from competition, she continues to help others transform adversity into opportunity, raising awareness for the Para sport movement, coaching disabled youth and promoting active living through Saskatchewan’s In Motion program.
- Martin Brodeur (Athlete, Ice Hockey) – transformed goaltending with his unique hybrid style of play, winning three Stanley Cup Championships and claiming the Vezina Trophy four times as the League’s best goaltender. Committed to inspiring the next generation, Martin fulfilled a childhood dream in 1995 by bringing the Stanley Cup home to the neighbourhood where he grew up playing street hockey.
- Jayna Hefford (Athlete, Ice Hockey) – twelve-time World Women’s Championship Medallist and five-time Olympic Medallist, she raised the bar for women’s hockey in Canada at a time when women’s hockey was breaking new ground. After retiring from competition, she mentored the next generation as Assistant Coach of the women’s hockey team at the University of Toronto for six years, and continues to run her own hockey school for young girls.
- Waneek Horn-Miller (Athlete, Water Polo) – after winning a Gold Medal at the Pan American Games and co-captaining the first Canadian women’s Water Polo team in the Olympic Games, she remains an ambassador to empower Indigenous communities and youth through sport.
- Vicki Keith (Athlete, Swimming) – crossing some of the most daunting bodies of water in the world, Vicki Keith set 16 world records and received over 41 awards and honours as a marathon swimmer. After retiring from competition, she dedicated herself to creating exciting new opportunities for young athletes with disabilities, founding the YMCA Penguins in Kingston, Ontario.
- Guylaine Bernier (Builder, Rowing) – Guylaine Bernier helped make history as part of the ground-breaking Canadian women’s rowing team at the 1976 Olympic Games and has been making waves as an athlete, official, coach, organizer and volunteer for over 45 years promoting gender equity, opportunities for young athletes and elite sport development.
- Doug Mitchell (Builder, Multisport) – founded the BLG Awards (now the Lieutenant Governor Athletic Awards), served as Commissioner of the Canadian Football League introducing a salary cap policy that stabilized the League’s economic difficulties, has been inducted into numerous Sport Halls of Fame and in 2004, he was made a member of the Order of Canada, honouring the exceptional generosity and visionary leadership that have shaped his outstanding contributions to Canadian sport.
MEDIA CONFERENCE
DATE/TIME: Wednesday, October 23, 2019 at 9:00 AM (ET)
LOCATION:
CBC Building
Barbara Frum Atrium
250 Front Street W, Toronto, ON
WHAT: Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame 2019 Induction Festival Media Conference
WHO:
- Class of 2019 Inductees:
- Alexandre Bilodeau
- Colette Bourgonje
- Martin Brodeur
- Jayna Hefford
- Waneek Horn-Miller
- Vicki Keith
- Guylaine Bernier
- Doug Mitchell
- Senator Chantal Petitclerc, Hall of Famer inducted in 2010 for Para Athletics and Emcee
- Damon Allen, Hall of Famer and Youth Sports Advocate
- Bob Rooney, Chair of the Board of Governors, Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame
- Mary DePaoli, EVP and Chief Marketing Officer of RBC
- Christopher Doyle, Country Manager of Nextdoor
- Christine Magee, Chair and Co-founder of Sleep Country Canada
- Cheryl Bernard, President and CEO, Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, and Olympic Silver Medallist in Curling
About Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame: Canada’s Sport + Spirit ChampionsTM
Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame was established in 1955 as a recognition program and a historical archive of sport in Canada. Until 2019, Induction into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame did not have a named award nor a way of formally recognizing sports’ role in community building. The Order of Sport Award was established to flag our champions, together with Induction, as Canada’s highest sporting honour.
Individuals inducted annually into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame (Hall of Famers) receive the Order of Sport in recognition of their continuing role in building Canada through sport and the value they return and the impact they have on their communities. The Order of Sport, established in 2019, is a formal acknowledgement that Canada’s shared values are sports shared values; respect, equality, fairness and openness and that sport is a strong backbone for building diversity, inclusion and accessibility in Canadian communities.
Our aim is to build Canada through sport. Visit www.sportshall.ca to learn more about corporate and private facility rentals, education programs and upcoming events.
MEDIA CONTACT
Marnie Krell
Director, Communications
Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame
C: 403.437.0939 | mkrell@cshof.ca
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