Pathway to Excellence Program chooses 26 high-performing young athletes

Edmonton... More than two dozen Alberta athletes will have the opportunity of a lifetime this month to see their own sports, live and up close at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver.

Provincial sport organizations nominated 26 high-performance emerging athletes through the Pathway to Excellence program. The program is sponsored by the Alberta Olympic and Paralympic Secretariat and coordinated by the Alberta Sport, Recreation, Parks and Wildlife Foundation.

“We are very proud of these athletes for working so hard to achieve success in their chosen sports,” said Cindy Ady, Minister of Tourism, Parks and Recreation. “I hope this trip to Vancouver will inspire and motivate them on the journey to future Olympics.”

There will be two athletes, one male and one female, from each of the Olympics sports who, along with their parent or legal guardian, will travel from Alberta to Vancouver to experience a day at the Olympics at an event of their sports discipline.

“We know this opportunity will have a positive and lasting impact on our emerging athletes,” said Bill Persley, Chair, Alberta Sport, Recreation, Parks and Wildlife Foundation. “These athletes are a great example of our province’s commitment to winter sports and sport excellence. The Foundation is pleased to play a role in providing this opportunity to enhance athletic excellence for Albertans.”

The Alberta athletes taking part in the program are competitors in alpine skiing, biathlon, bobsleigh, cross country skiing, curling, figure skating, freestyle skiing, hockey, luge, ski jumping/nordic combined, speed skating, skeleton, and snowboard.

Pathway to Excellence – Alberta Representatives

Alpine Skiing                                               Biathlon

Jeffrey Bell, Airdrie                                      Samuel Groeneveld, Canmore

Catharine Wood, Calgary                           Anna Eriksson, Camrose

Bobsleigh                                                     Cross Country Skiing

Alex Newcombe, Calgary                           Matthew Saurette, Edmonton

Rosalyn Nykolichuk, Calgary                    Maya MacIsaac-Jones, Athabasca

Curling                                                          Figure Skating

Derek Clark, Calgary                                   Andrew Wolfe, Calgary

Jessica Henricks, Grande Prairie             Natasha Purich, Sherwood Park

Freestyle Skiing                                          Hockey

Morgan Hunter, Calgary                             Joel Hamilton, Cochrane

Luke Ulsifer, Calgary                                  Taylor Sakundiak, Calgary

Luge                                                              Skeleton

Brian Marriott, Calgary                                Travis Brockway, Calgary

Jordyn Carss, Calgary                                Elisabeth Vathje, Calgary

Ski Jumping/Nordic Combined              Snowboarding

Sebastien Dandurand, Calgary                Kade Philps, Calgary

Taylor Henrich, Calgary                              Erin Lee, Banff

Speed Skating

Gilmore Junio, Calgary

Crystal Phillips, Calgary

For more information on Alberta at the Games, visit www.alberta.ca/vancouver2010.

Media inquiries may be directed to:

Dan Huang

Communications

Tourism, Parks and Recreation

780-427-1828

To call toll-free within Alberta dial 310-0000.