With less than a month left to go before the Summer Olympic Games kick off in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, local athletes are making their final preparations.
Today, 29 current and former University of British Columbia student athletes, who are part of Team Canada’s roster, received a special sendoff from UBC’s newly-appointed president Santa Ono.
Another 17 members of the UBC community will be in Brazil as coaches, management, support staff, and medical and paramedical personnel for Team Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee.
UBC claims their Rio 2016 contingent is the largest of any Canadian university.
“It’s an honour to wish the athletes, who are able to be here today in the midst of their pre-Olympic training regiment, our very best,” said Ono, sporting his signature bow tie under a Thunderbirds jacket. “Just getting a chance to compete on the world stage is a tremendous achievement. When you consider the training and the academic work our current or former students are putting in, they are already winners. They essentially have two full-time jobs: being a student and also competing at the highest level.”
UBC Olympians have won 66 medals throughout history, 19 of them gold. UBC Paralympians have won a total 56 medals.
UBC athletes are heading to Brazil at a time when the host nation is still facing a number of challenges.
Between the Zika virus fears, water quality concerns and rampant crime, organizers are struggling to keep athletes and officials assured that coming to Rio will be safe.
But Canadian Olympic Committee president and UBC alum Tricia Smith says there are always issues heading into the Olympics and they are confident they are doing everything possible to manage the risks.
“We’ve had a number of test events in Rio,” said Smith. “I was at the World Rowing Championships in August of last year, and there were no problems at all. In fact, the water was swimmable at that point. It depends on weather conditions, and it is something that we monitor on a daily basis.”
Smith says they are proactively educating their athletes about the importance of proper clothing and mosquito repellent to avoid a possible Zika virus infection.
“It is also winter in Rio, which people forget,” says Smith. “I know people who live in Rio who say mosquitoes are not really an issue at this time of year. But if it is a risk, we want to make sure that we are managing it.”
READ MORE: Athletes starting to pull out of Rio Olympics over Zika fears
UBC athletes going to Rio include:
Byron Green – Wheelchair Rugby
Travis Murao – Wheelchair Rugby
Yuri Kisil – Swimming
Martha McCabe – Swimming
Emily Overholt – Swimming
Erika Seltenreich-Hodgson – Swimming
Markus Thormeyer – Swimming
David Carter – Men’s Field Hockey
Taylor Curran – Men’s Field Hockey
Gordon Johnston – Men’s Field Hockey
Ben Martin – Men’s Field Hockey
Mark Pearson – Men’s Field Hockey
Keegan Pereira – Men’s Field Hockey
Matt Sarmento – Men’s Field Hockey
Scott Tupper – Men’s Field Hockey
Hillary Janssens – Rowing
Max Lattimer – Rowing
Lauren Wilkinson – Rowing
*Maria Bernard – Track and Field
*Lucas Bruchet – Track and Field
Evan Dunfee – Track and Field
*Elizabeth Gleadle – Track and Field
Iñaki Gomez – Track and Field
*Mike Mason – Track and Field
Ben Thorne – Track and Field
Jamie Broder – Women’s Beach Volleyball
Blair Bann – Men’s Volleyball
Nikola Girke – Sailing
Luke Ramsey – Sailing
*Met Olympic qualification, but team selection is pending.
The university won its first medal in 1932 in Los Angeles, and its athletes have participated in the Olympics since the 1928 Games in Amsterdam.
UBC’s most decorated Olympian is Kathleen Heddle with three gold and one bronze in rowing. UBC’s most decorated Paralympian is Walter Wu, whose 16 medals in swimming include eight gold medals.
Rowing has the highest all-time UBC representation of all sports: 73 UBC athletes have brought home 45 medals in rowing.
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