GMP OVERVIEW | GOALS | 2010 CITIES |
TITLE SPONSORS | CULINARY COMPETITION |
OLYMPIAN AND PARALYMPIAN FEATURED SPEAKERS | ENTERTAINMENT | UNIQUE LIVE AUCTION OPPORTUNITIES | BENEFICIARY: THE CANADIAN OLYMPIC FOUNDATION
GMP OVERVIEW
Gold Medal Plates is the ultimate celebration of Canadian Excellence in cuisine, wine, the arts and athletic achievement. Celebrating in eight cities across Canada in 2010, Gold Medal Plates will feature superb wines and the premier chefs in each city, paired with Canadian Olympic and Paralympic athletes, in a competition to crown a gold, silver and bronze medal culinary team in each city, and subsequently nation-wide.
Founded in 2003, the goal of Gold Medal Plates is to raise substantial funds for Canada’s high performance athletes, while celebrating Canadian excellence. Since 2004, this event has received tremendous support and accolades all across Canada, and generated a combined net total of $4.1million for Canada’s Olympic and Paralympic athletes! For more information, visit the Gold Medal Plates website www.goldmedalplates.com.
- Celebrate Canadian Excellence in food, wine, sport, and the arts.
- Develop the finest Canadian culinary competition and feature the best chefs and wines in the country.
- Share the excitement of the incredible success of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games with the entire country and the thrill of our newly discovered patriotism and confidence.
- Demonstrate to our Canadian Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls that Canadians are committed to their development, passionate about their journey, and proud to have them represent us on the world stage.
- Raise funds for the Canadian Olympic Foundation to support Canadian Olympic and Paralympic athletes.
| Edmonton, AB | Wednesday October 27th | Shaw Conference Centre |
| Vancouver, BC | Friday October 29th | The Sheraton Wall Centre |
| Saskatoon, SK | Saturday October 30th | TCU Place |
| Toronto, ON | Thursday November 4th | Metro Toronto Convention Centre |
| Calgary, AB | Friday November 12th | The Hyatt Regency Calgary |
| Ottawa, ON | Tuesday November 16th | National Arts Centre |
| St. John's, NFLD | Thursday November 18th | St. John's Convention Centre |
| Montreal, QC | TBD | TBD |
| Kelowna, BC | February 18, 19, 2011 | Gold Medal Plates Finale Canadian Culinary Championships |
Gold Medal Plates 2010 will be staged in eight major Canadian cities. The top chefs from each city have been selected by a national and regional panel of judges and will compete in each city for the honour of being the Gold Medal Plates champion in 2010. These chefs will create their ultimate dish, which will be paired with a premier Canadian wine. Canadian Olympic and Paralympic athletes will be paired with each chef to assist in the creation or plating of their dish. A team of food and wine critics from each region will work with national critics and a local jury to determine the top three winning creations. Each city will crown a gold, silver and bronze medal winning chef. The gold medal chef will go on to compete at the Gold Medal Plates Finale – The Canadian Culinary Championship in February, 2011 in Kelowna, British Columbia to be crowned the top chef in Canada.
At each event, Canadian Olympic and Paralympic athletes share their remarkable stories as featured speakers. Keynote speakers for 2009 included Charles Hamelin, Double Gold and Silver Medallist in Short Track Speed Skating, Alexandre Bilodeau, Gold Medallist in Freestyle Skiing, Senator Nancy Greene Raine, Gold Medallist in Alpine Skiing, Heather Moyse, Gold Medallist in Bobsleigh, and Marnie McBean, Triple Gold and Bronze Medallist in Rowing. Keynote speakers in the previous years have included Olympians Catriona Le May Doan, Simon Whitfield, Adam van Koeverden, Clara Hughes, Cassie Campbell, Silken Laumann, Kyle Shewfelt, Lori Ann Muenzer, Jennifer Heil, Alexander Despatie and Adam Kreek.
Jim Cuddy, lead singer of Blue Rodeo is the Gold Medal Plates national entertainment advisor. He is committed to bringing top Canadian entertainment to each of the Gold Medal Plates events for a true Canadian Victory Celebration post 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
UNIQUE LIVE AUCTION OPPORTUNITIES
Gold Medal Plates incorporate some very unique live auction ideas. Auction items include a four-day rare wine tour of the Napa Valley hosted by Olympic medallist Catriona Le May Doan and Kristina Groves, a trip to Tuscany for gourmet cooking classes and cycling, hosted by Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo, and a wine and culinary extravaganza in Bordeaux with Olympic medallists Jen Heil and Chandra Crawford. As well, select cities will present rare wine auctions, with wines available for purchase.
ABOUT THE CANADIAN OLYMPIC FOUNDATION - THE BENEFICIARY OF THE EVENTS
The Canadian Olympic Foundation is a national charitable organization created by the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) supporting high performance athletes across all winter and summer sports. The Foundation’s Mission is to generate support to meet the technical, scientific, medical and coaching needs of Canada's high performance sport system and assist Canada's athletes in becoming ambassadors for sport, healthy living and the pursuit of excellence across the nation.
Net proceeds from Gold Medal Plates are given to the Canadian Olympic Foundation to support high performance programs such as Own the Podium. To learn more about the Foundation and the programs it funds, please visit www.olympicfoundation.ca.
Own the Podium
Bringing together all of Canada’s winter and summer sport organizations, Own the Podium is responsible for assessing the performance potential of Canadian high-performance sport (both individual and team), for determining Canadian podium targets for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and for making recommendations for the allocation of excellence dollars provided by the national funding parties.
Accordingly, OTP is in the business of recommending the list of sports/events/teams/athletes to be targeted, and the investment strategies to permit them to contribute to the medal targets endorsed by the national funding parties.
OTP’s priority is to provide additional resources and high-performance programming to Canadian athletes with medal potential, coaches and support personnel in their pursuit of the Olympic and Paralympic podium.
OTP works in partnership with Sport Canada, the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) and the Canadian Paralympic Committee (CPC) – the Funding Parties – the National Sport Organizations and the Canadian Sport Centres (CSCs) in order to execute its recommendations.
OTP also relies on the support from organizations like Gold Medal Plates and the Canadian Olympic Foundation to help raise the remaining needed funds to help Canadian athletes reach the podium.
How Money Helps Athletes
The funding OTP provides to Canada’s summer and winter sports is directed to high-performance programs only, and is an amount above and beyond the traditional sources received from Sport Canada or other funding programs. Through additional funding, OTP has made it possible for sports to hire world-class coaches, technical support staff, and has given our nation’s best athletes access to world-class sport science and sport medicine personnel. In addition, OTP’s Research and Innovation program ensures Canadian athletes take advantage of cutting-edge equipment while employing world-leading training techniques.
Athlete Testimonials
“I can honestly say that I would not have this [gold medal] in my hand without the Own the Podium program.”
Scott Moir, Olympic Gold Medalist, Figure Skating
“ Luckily we had OTP that kicked in for us.”
Jasey Jay Anderson, Gold Medalist, Snowboard PGS
“Well obviously Own the Podium worked. All the funding, giving the athletes a chance and having the Games in Canada-it’s all come around the way people were hoping it would. It’s been amazing.”
Kevin Martin, Olympic Gold Medalist, Curling
“The support that Own the Podium has provided me and Scott has been incredible. It's given us the chance to completely focus on our job as skaters and has made a huge impact on the financial status for our families. We are all so grateful!”
Tessa Virtue, Olympic and World Champion, Figure Skating
“Before the incredibly generous support of Own the Podium, along with its partners, who have graciously invested so much into me and my fellow athletes, our entire luge team could not afford to carry so much as a first-aid kit with us on the World Cup. Having access to the resources needed to win, Canadian luge athletes are edging their way up the international standings and hit the start handles ready to compete against the world’s best.”
Regan Lauscher, World Cup Silver Medallist, Luge
“Own the Podium helped provide access to an apartment in Richmond, B.C. for 17 months before Vancouver, which is crucial for me to have the best possible living environment while training in Richmond. Through Own the podium funding, we are also able to use video analysis much more now than in the past, and it is helped my coach a lot review training video and have us better prepared for competition.”
Clara Hughes, Olympic Summer and Winter Games Medallist, Cycling/Speed Skating
“I think Own the Podium for Olympians and the direction in which amateur sport in Canada is going is fantastic. We will now put our best foot forward and it is not a cliché. I could really feel the effect it was having on my final preparations both mentally and physically heading into the race. OTP provided so much of the funding for our final staging and deserves so much credit here. I don't think it would have been possible without that support.”
Simon Whitfield, Two-Time Olympic Medallist, Triathlon
“Olympic medals are won because of a number of factors: athlete physical gifts, mental ability, family support, and technology. Own the Podium has undertaken the role of technology partner and leader. This leadership has allowed the athletes to shift their energy into the other aspects. The improved technology and improved athlete preparation must create better results and more medals.”
Jeff Pain, Olympic Silver Medallist, Skeleton
"Coming home from Beijing with five gold medals, it is clear to me that the support from OTP has played a key role in making my preparation optimal. It has allowed me to provide myself with the best possible environment, sport experts, racing and training opportunities and reach new level of performances. With the international field getting more and more competitive, OTP’s support was crucial in helping me stay ahead of the pack, and on top of the Podium! "
Chantal Petitclerc, 21-Time Paralympic Medallist, Wheelchair Track