Speed Skating Canada unveils annual award winners and Hall of Fame inductee for 2023-24 season
Speed Skating Canada
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Triple Olympic medalist Marianne St-Gelais to be inducted into Hall of Fame; Maddison Pearman selected as Community Champion of the Year
OTTAWA, ONTARIO – As Canadians from coast-to-coast prepare to lace up their long blades once again, Speed Skating Canada is proud to unveil the list of deserving individuals from across the Canadian speed skating community that were selected as recipients for the organization’s annual award program for their accomplishments during the 2023-24 season.
“On behalf of Speed Skating Canada, I want to congratulate all the award winners from this past season and thank them for their incredible contributions to our sport. I also would like to recognize the five National Program athletes receiving awards for representing our organization so well on the national and international stage. We received dozens of impressive nominations for this year’s awards program, which helped highlight the important role that coaches, officials and volunteers play in ensuring the success of our sport in communities across the country. I look forward to meeting and honouring a number of these deserving award winners in person during the 2024-25 season.” – Joe Morissette , Chief Executive Officer, Speed Skating Canada
Quebec skaters swept all four Athlete of the Year awards, with William Dandjinou (Montreal, Que.), Danaé Blais (Chateauguay, Que.), Laurent Dubreuil (Lévis, Que.) and Valérie Maltais (La Baie, Que.) each brining home the honour in their respective category. Joining them was fellow national program athlete Maddison Pearman (Ponoka, Alta.), who became the third long track skater to win the award for Community Champion of the Year since its inception in 2022.
Several deserving candidates were also recognized for their hard work and dedication off the ice. Marc Gagnon (Chicoutimi, Que.), newly minted head coach of the short track National Program, was selected as Coach of the Year, Saskatchewan’s Jason Coutu was named Official of the Year, and Denis Lemay of Sherbrooke brings home Volunteer of the Year. The Bastiaansen-North Family from Fort St. John will receive the Gagné Family Award for their lifelong impact on the sport, while the Halifax Regional Municipality were chosen as Partner of the Year, in recognition for their longstanding support of long track speed skating in the community.
Meanwhile, five local speed skating clubs will receive funding courtesy of the Intact Insurance Club Excellence Award, which supports grassroots development initiatives that help the sport grow and thrive within their community. As grand prize winner, the Southwest Nova Speed Skating Club (NS) will receive a $10,000 grant to support its project, as well as a visit from two National Program athletes during the 2024-25 season. The four other finalists – Lethbridge Speed Skating Association (AB), Brampton Speed Skating Club (ON), Kiwanis Speed Skating Club of Moose Jaw (SK) and CPV Chateauguay (QC) – will each bring home a $2,5000 prize for their projects.
This year’s lone inductee into Speed Skating Canada’s Hall of Fame is non other than short track skater Marianne St-Gelais. A winner of three Olympic silver medals during her distinguished career, St-Gelais was a fan favourite throughout her 11 years on the international stage, where she collected a total of 114 medals, including 93 on the World Cup circuit and 15 at the World Championships. She was named Speed Skating Canada’s Female Short Track Athlete of the Year six times (2010, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017) and was also chosen as Short Track Rising Star of the Year in 2009.
The native of St-Félicien, Que., retired from skating following the 2018 ISU World Short Track Championships on home ice in Montreal. She dabbled in coaching following her retirement and remains involved with the sport as a commentator for international competitions with Radio-Canada Sports, which included the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing and 2022 World Short Track Championships in Montreal.?
Plans are underway to honour several award recipients at national and international events during the 2024-25 season, including the ISU Short Track World Tour in Montreal this October and the ISU World Cup Speed Skating in Calgary next January.
Hall of Fame
Athlete
Coaches
Officials
Community
Intact Insurance Club Excellence Award
Directeur général chez Corporation de gestion du Centre de glaces de Québec
2 个月Congrats to the winners! Especially to our colleague Pierre-Charles Blais (short track coach) who joined the Centre d’entra?nement Gaétan-Boucher (CEGB) 2? years ago.