Canadian Sport Institute Ontario – TORONTO (August 3, 2016) – Canadian Sport Institute Ontario (CSIO) would like to congratulate all of the athletes and coaches named to Team Canada. CSIO would also like to congratulate the 131 Ontario athletes, 28 Ontario coaches and countless support staff representing Canada at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. Ontario athletes comprise 42% of the Canadian Olympic Team, the most of any province or territory!

Ontario athletes join a team of 183 other athletes from across the country in representing Canada at the Games – a remarkable 314 athletes strong!

Among the Canadian athletes competing at the Games, 29% of the athletes named to the Team have received support from CSIO along their athletic career development pathway. CSIO works or worked with these targeted high performance athletes and their coaches to optimize their performance and enhance their ability to succeed on the international stage.

CSIO provides support to athletes in a number of ways including:

Integrated Support Teams (ISTs)
Athlete focused and coach led, ISTs provide sport science and sport medicine services to targeted group of sports’ National Team programs. Through ISTs, athletes and their coaches receive support and services including strength and conditioning, nutrition, mental performance, biomechanics and performance analysis, physiology, sport medicine and athletic therapy, delivered by CSIO’s in-house team of expert practitioners.

Ontario High Performance Sport Initiative, or OHPSI (NEXTGEN Ontario)
OHPSI (NEXTGEN Ontario) is a program designed by CSIO and funded by the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport (MTCS), to provide sport science and sport medicine services to athletes who are best capable of achieving future international success on senior national teams in targeted winter and summer sports. The OHPSI (NEXTGEN Ontario) investment also contributes to funding athlete participation in training camps, international events, coach and technical leadership support and enhancing sports’ daily training environments.

Individual Athlete Services
All Sport Canada carded athletes are eligible to receive individual services from CSIO. The services available to each athlete is dependent on their sport and carding level and can include nutrition consultations, sport medicine and therapy appointments, life services, and access to Game Plan. As well, all Sport Canada carded athletes have access to use CSIO’s state-of-the-art strength and conditioning gym during open training hours.

Canada has strong medal potential in many sports in Rio including athletes from Rowing, Athletics, Swimming, and Cycling – all programs which CSIO delivers support and service to in the daily training environment.   Furthermore, past 2012 Olympic medalists in the sports of Canoe/Kayak and Trampoline are poised for the podium in Rio, all of whom have close ties with CSIO as well. There is also the potential for exciting, breakthrough results in sports like Boxing and Beach Volleyball, which feature many emerging talents who are supported and serviced by CSIO throughout the quadrennial.

CSIO is also a proud member of the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Sport Institute Network (COPSINetwork), comprised of the 7 sport institutes and sport centres across Canada. Together, the COPSINetwork has supported 81% of Team Canada athletes competing in Rio.

“We are immensely proud of all of the Canadian athletes named to Team Canada, and especially those that we see train hard each and every day in their daily training environments at CSIO – at our main facility in Scarborough, the velodrome in Milton and on the water in London. A big congratulation also goes out to all of the coaches, practitioners and support staff working with athletes, preparing them to be at their best in Rio. This is one of Canada’s strongest and most talented teams with a mix of veteran Olympic medallists and young, determined first-timers who have proved they are a force to be reckoned with on the international stage. We know you will all represent our nation well and make Canada proud!” said Debbie Low, CEO of Canadian Sport Institute Ontario.

CSIO wishes Ontario athletes, coaches, and support staff representing Canada, the best of luck at the Games!
We will be cheering for you – Go Canada Go!

A Complete List of Ontario Athletes & A Complete List of Athletes Affiliated with CSIO Representing Canada at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games Enclosed.

About Canadian Sport Institute Ontario

Canadian Sport Institute Ontario (CSIO) is a non-profit organization committed to the pursuit of excellence by providing world-class programs, services, and leadership to high performance athletes and coaches to enhance their ability to achieve international podium performances. CSIO offers athletes a range of sport science and sport medicine services including nutrition, physiology, biomechanics, strength & conditioning, mental performance, sport therapy and life services. CSIO also delivers programming and services to National and Provincial Sport Organizations and coaches to work towards building a stronger sport system in Ontario and Canada.

CSIO services approximately 700 high performance athletes and 250 coaches, at its main facility at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, its satellite location at the Mattamy National Cycling Centre in Milton, and in daily training environments across Ontario. CSIO is part of a larger network of 4 institutes and 3 multi-sport centres across the country known as the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Sport Institute Network, working in partnership with the Canadian Olympic Committee and Canadian Paralympic Committee. CSIO is further supported by the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport, Sport Canada, Own the Podium, and the Coaching Association of Canada, along with the National and Provincial Sport Organizations within the sector.  www.csiontario.ca

-30-

Media Contact:
Laura Albright, Senior Communications Coordinator
Canadian Sport Institute Ontario
Tel: 416.596.1240 Ext. 238
Email: lalbright@csiontario.ca
www.csiontario.ca