Canadian Olympic Foundation helping athletes reach their goals

We’re just over a week away from the start of the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

313 athletes will be representing Canada in everything from archery to wrestling. While the Olympics last just a few weeks every two years, athletes prepare for hundreds of hours over their careers to get a shot at the podium. To achieve that, they need adequate funding.

That’s where the Canadian Olympic Foundation steps in. They raise grants and funds for our country’s Olympians, the next generation of athletes and Canada’s sport system.

LISTEN: 660’s Sandra Prusina talks to Leanne Nicolle of the Canadian Olympic Foundation

“If an athlete has made the national team, they have the opportunity to get national carded money, money from the government,” explained Leanne Nicolle, executive director of the Canadian Olympic Foundation.

Expenses for any athlete are very high when you consider equipment, nutrition, travel, lodging and coaches.

“Competition, especially when you’re competing in the international level, all of your competition fees would be included in the expenses you absorb,” Nicolle said. “And, then there’s your training environment. Where do you train?”

For some programs, like the Canadian women’s soccer team, they have a national training centre in British Columbia, but for many sports, that’s not an option.

“The athlete would be responsible for attaching to a training facility depending on the sport,” she stated.

For example, here in Calgary, we have a Canadian Sport Institute, which helps with sport medicine, strength and conditioning, sport psychology and nutrition. However, not every Canadian city has one.

Established in 2007, the Canadian Olympic Foundation has granted over $43 million to high-performance sport partners across Canada.

If you’d like more information on the foundation or would like to donate, visit: http://olympic.ca/foundation/.

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