TORONTO, ON, May17, 2012 – Special Olympics Canada announced today the names of the

141 athletes, coaches and mission staff who will represent Canada at the 2013 Special Olympics

World Winter Games. Billed as the world’s largest sporting event in 2013, these winter games

will be held in PyeongChang, South Korea, also host of the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, from

January 29 to February 5, 2013.

The eight-day competition will bring together nearly 3,300 athletes from as many as 120

countries to this mountain resort with world-class competition venues.

“It doesn’t get any bigger than this within the Special Olympics community, and the 2013 Special

Olympics World Winter Games are an incredible opportunity for our Canadian athletes,” said

Sharon Bollenbach, vice-president of sport with Special Olympics Canada. “These world games

are also important because they bring attention to the talents and capabilities of people with an

intellectual disability, helping to change attitudes and to break down barriers that can exclude

them from full participation in their communities.”

Athletes on the national team are a mix of veterans and others who will compete at the

international level for the very first time. Each has moved through successive levels of

competition to qualify; first provincials, and then nationals. Final qualification for the 2013

national team was based on performance at the 2012 Special Olympics Canada Winter Games,

held earlier this year in St. Albert and Jasper, Alberta.

Those selected to the national team will compete in six of the seven sports, including alpine

skiing, cross-country skiing, figure skating, snowshoeing, speed skating and floor hockey.

Canadians have contested in this latter sport since the very first Special Olympics international

competition was held in 1968 in Chicago, Illinois.

“These athletes are among the top of their field, and we know that they will make our country

very proud,” said Jennifer Campbell, chef de mission. Campbell, from Winnipeg, Manitoba,

returns as the team’s chef de mission for a second time.

With their selection, Team Canada athletes will be supported by a strong national training

program. Launched in 1998, the training program gives athletes a formalized approach to

training and preparing for world games. It is a model for Special Olympics programs across

North and South America.

Athletes commit to an enhanced weekly training regimen and take part in all aspects of the

conditioning and training program: physical and mental training; committing to a healthy

lifestyle; attending all team functions, including multi-day sport-specific training camps and

staging; and being role models for other Special Olympics athletes, both on and off the field of

play.

They are also supported by a tremendous network of resources leading up to and during the

competition, including mission and coaching staff, a team physician, mental trainer, fitness

instructors, nutritionists, and motivational speakers.

The Canadian delegation also enjoys considerable year-round support from its 21 national

sponsors and partners, including the Government of Canada.