After Canada’s men’s Olympic hockey team celebrated its victory over the Americans on Sunday, executives at Ivanhoe Cambridge conducted a final tally of the times that a Canadian athlete stood at the top of the podium.
The property company previously pledged that for every gold medal Canada won during the Vancouver Olympics, it would donate $1,000 to Athletics Alberta, a non-profit sports association that supports training, development and coaching for young track and field, cross-country and road running athletes. As it turned out, Canada’s Olympians won a record-setting total of 14 gold.
Yesterday morning, representatives from the company handed over a cheque for $14,000 to Tim Berrett, the president of the sports organization. It was the culmination of a collaborative campaign called “Go Canada Go” that saw the mall (along with its sisters Millwoods Town Centre and Southgate Mall) host sports fan contests and video game challenges to boost morale and show public support during the Winter Olympics. The money adds to the funds already collected at the shopping malls when their Maple Leaf Monument toured before being sent to the Canadian athletes’ residence in Vancouver.
“We are certain that you’re going to put it good use,” Olympia Trencevski, general manager of St. Albert Centre, said to Berrett during the presentation. “We are proud to support young athletes and possibly future Olympians of tomorrow.”
Berrett indicated the money would be put to good use.
“This will mean a lot for us in developing athletes across the province. A lot of our athletes go on to compete in other sports. The last Olympics in Beijing … I think we had seven or eight of our athletes competing. It’s something that we want to build on in the future.”
A five-time Olympian race walker himself, he thinks this money will provide the kind of help that he never had during his early years.
“I just wish that we had the support that there was going into these games during my five Olympics. It’s a little bit bittersweet,” he joked, adding that at least progress is being made. “We’ve laid the groundwork. What happened here showed that Canada can compete at that level and be winning at this level.”
Athletics Alberta offers programs to its approximately 4,000 members and 30,000 non-affiliated members.
