FRENCH MISS
Games medals marred
Something was lost in translation.
And the Ontario Winter Games organizing committee plans to do something about it — by replacing some or all of the awarded medals containing a flawed French translation of the athletes’ oath.
The oath, which appeared on the back of each medal, said in English: “For the glory of sport and the honour of our teams in the spirit of true sportsmanship.”
In French, the word teams (équipes) was missing, as was the letter ‘p’ in sport.
“It was an unfortunate mixup for sure, something we try to avoid, but it happens,” said Winter Games general manager Michael Ladouceur. “And we’re just trying to do everything we can to rectify it.”
That might include replacing all of the 1,600 awarded medals, which were designed and produced at a total cost of $10,000 to $15,000, Ladouceur said.
Games organizers plan to contact all of the athletes who won medals in the events (from March 1 to 4) and decide whether they should replace each medal, or just those for athletes who feel strongly about having proper French on the medal.
Adding to his personal embarrassment, Ladouceur has a French background.
“Yes, it’s tough,” he said. “I grew up in the French community, so it’s not something that’s going to go unnoticed ... it’s a bit of a black cloud on what was a really positive event.
“All the athletes walked away with a really great experience, so we’re disappointed that we weren’t able to catch this error beforehand.”
The wording of the oath is passed along by rights holders, Ladouceur said, and the printing mistake was made at the manufacturer, but Ladouceur did not walk away from the organizing committee’s responsibility to ensure the wording was correct. The oath is read at the opening ceremonies, mimicking the athletes’ oath at an Olympic Games.
The Ontario Winter Games are a mini- Olympics for youth athletes aged 12 to 18. Roughly 3,000 participants took part in 25 sports over four days of competition in Orillia.
There were more than 600 volunteers at the event that’s estimated to be worth $6 million in economic activity for the region.
The Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport issued a statement Thursday saying it has brought its concerns to the organizing committee in Orillia.
“We have been informed by the committee that they have developed a solution and will be reaching out to athletes shortly,” read the statement.
“This government takes matters of French-language services very seriously, and we’ll be monitoring the situation to ensure a solution satisfactory to the athletes is reached.”
It’s not very complicated to get someone to proof these types of things. This wasn’t just a single typo, so obviously it was quite sloppy in the manner that it was done.
François Baril, an Ottawa lawyer who is an advocate for bilingualism, said he’s happy to see that the medals were intended to be bilingual in the first place, but the mistakes were “obvious and gross.”
“It should have never happened,” Baril said.
“It’s very unfortunate that the text wasn’t proofed. It’s not very complicated to get someone to proof these types of things.
“This wasn’t just a single typo, so obviously it was quite sloppy in the manner that it was done.”
Independent of what individual athletes might feel, Baril said, the medals are defective.
“Like any other defective product, they should be recalled and new ones should be issued.”