18% funding boost ‘a game-changer’

OLYMPICS SUPPORT

the direct support that the Government of Canada has provided to our athletes over the last 40 years, including today’s new investment. This increase in funding will continue to allow athletes to strive for the podium.

“These funds will lighten some of the financial pressures associated with preparing for and participating in international sport for about 1,900 of our top athletes.”

Those pressures include paying for training, tuition, rent and supplementary help. The announcement was greeted, predictably, with smiles all around.

For Haley Daniels, who competes in canoe slalom — which has just being added to the Olympic schedule — this will be the first time she’s been carded, thus the first time she’ll receive government funding. As someone who is a student at Calgary’s Mount Royal University and works and trains — all full-time endeavours — the news was supremely welcome. She may actually be able to quit her job.

“It’s a game-changer,” she said of the additional funding. “As much as our job isn’t sitting in an office, it’s still a job, and we need to be recognized for it. I think we bring spirit to the country, we bring work ethic, we bring medals ... and we need to be recognized for that. To not be constantly broke makes it worth it, and knowing that your government has your back is a big thing.”

Tammy Cunnington, a Rio 2016 Paralympian in swimming and three-time 2015 Parapan Am Games medallist, echoed that sentiment.

“It’s great news for me and for the rest of the athletes in Canada,” Cunnington said. “It’ll give me the chance to focus more fully on training with less worries on the side.”