Celebrating ‘magnificent seven’
Hard work. Determination. Strength. Courage. Will power. Driven. Sacrifice. Focused. Goal oriented. Resilient. Devoted. Competitive. Inspired. Successful. Role models.
I could go on, but you get the picture. These are the qualities that best describe those individuals who make it onto the world stage in sports competition either as athletes, coaches or officials. They are in the upper echelon of their chosen sport; they are the elites.
And the Region of Queens is home (or was home) to seven such outstanding individuals who recently received some well-deserved honours from their community as the inaugural inductees into the Queens County Olympic Wall.
On Aug. 24, the lobby at Queens
Place Emera Centre in Liverpool was filled with more than 100 well-wishers, friends, family and neighbours of the honourees. The Olympic Wall is a space created to recognize the accomplishments of high-performance athletes, coaches and officials from the community who have participated in World Olympic and World Special Olympic Games.
Seven people were inducted at the unveiling ceremony: Jamie Belong, Betty Ann Daury, Owen Hamlin, Jenna Martin, Sarah Mitton, Alexander Shankel and Ben Theriau. Their recognition was well deserved and it was definitely earned, representing years of hard work and devotion to various sports. Here’s a very brief description of these individuals.
• Jamie Belong, Liverpool, participated in the 1995 World Special Olympic Games in New Haven, Connecticut, as a Team Canada soccer player and won a Silver Medal.
• Betty Ann Daury, Milton, proudly represented Lunenburg-queens Special Olympics as an assistant snowshoe coach during the 2005 Special Olympic World Games in Nagano, Japan.
• Owen Hamlin, Liverpool, was part of the delegation that trained officials for the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games. He went on to participate as a basketball bench official in the ’76 Games.
• Jenna Martin, Caledonia, was the 2012 Canadian National Champion in the 400M. She went on to participate in the 400M at the 2012 London Olympic Games.
• Sarah Mitton, a Shot Putter from Brooklyn, qualified for her first Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan in 2020. She is the Canadian record holder and the only Canadian woman to break the 20 metre barrier. She placed fourth at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon in July 2022. In August 2022, Sarah won the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham, England.
• Alexander Shankel, Liverpool, is an accomplished snowshoer. Fresh off a successful 2008 National Winter Games in Quebec, he was chosen the 2008 Special Olympics Nova Scotia Male Athlete of the Year and went on to represent Canada at the 2009 World Special Olympic Games in Boise, Idaho, where he won a Silver Medal.
• Ben Theriau, Hunts Point, is a track and field athlete. He competed at the 2019 World Special Olympic Games in Abu Dhabi, UAE in the 100M, 200M and team relay events. Ben was chosen the 2020 Athletics Nova Scotia Special Olympics Male Athlete of the Year.
As Region of Queens Mayor Darlene Norman said, “Our seven Olympic Wall inductees inspire others with their achievement, their hard work, devotion to being the best and their love of their sport.”
The Olympic Wall at Queens Place has two important purposes, she explained.
“It will showcase the outstanding, world-class achievements of the inductees in attending the World Olympic and World Special Olympic Games. As equally important is the inspiration it will give others who take part in sports as an athlete, official, coach or volunteer to give it their all, to push their personal limits, and to know that even though they are from a small community, they too can work hard and compete with the top athletes from across the world. It is possible!”
At this point, I want to make three important points. First, kudos to the employees and council at the Region of Queens who envisioned this wall of honour and then made their vision a reality. Secondly, the wall not only honours athletes but also the coaches and officials who also work hard and sacrifice a great deal to support these athletic endeavours because the athletes could not achieve their goals without the support of a long list of people.
Thirdly, and most importantly, this wall is the epitome of inclusion as it does not distinguish between Special Olympians and Olympians. Indeed, it recognizes people who had dreams and who have worked their butts off to reach the top. Speaking as a parent of a Special Olympian, I can tell you that means the word to us, to our son and to all parents and athletes.
President & CEO of the Nova Scotia Sports Hall of Fame, Bruce Rainnie, speaking at the induction ceremony, commended the community of Queens for punching above their weight in terms of producing top-level athletes. Based upon population size, the number of world class athletes that come from Queens is disproportionate to other communities, he pointed out.
“People ask me how it’s possible and I often say I don’t know but coming here today and seeing this many people here it makes sense. It takes a community to support people getting to the top level and obviously the community here in Queens is strong,” said Rainnie.
Jenna Martin, one of the inductees, echoed Rainnie’s sentiments about it being a collective effort.
“We often hear it takes a village to help athletes achieve their dreams and seeing the turnout here today it’s obvious to me that Queens is one of the strongest villages I ever could have asked for.”
Sarah Mitton, the most recent Olympian having competed in Tokyo 2020, said she is hopeful the new exhibit will inspire the next generation of Queens’ athletes.
“Having something like this shows that Olympians can come from anywhere, so I hope this can be the start of something bigger and shows kids, especially young girls, that with the support of your community you can achieve your dreams.”
The Olympic Wall is on display in the lobby of Queens Place Emera Centre, 50 Queens Place Drive, Liverpool and is available to visit during business hours, Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. There is also information about Queens County’s Olympic Wall online at: https://www.queensplace.ca/facilities/lobby.
Do these world-class athletes work hard just to receive such recognition?
No, they don’t. They do it because they’ve set a personal goal to be the best they can be. Do they deserve such recognition? Yes they do, without question, and that’s the view from here.