Olympic glory, five to eight years away

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/10/2018 (2577 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When I reflect on the heroes of my youth, the people who inspired and moved me to strive for more include Canadian Olympians, from Mark Tewksbury to Elvis Stojko and Donovan Bailey to Catriona Le May Doan.

Each of these people remains etched in my mind because of the feelings they evoked with their stories of grit, passion and effort. I remember watching their achievements with my mom and running around the house screaming that Canada had won a gold medal. I didn’t really know the sport or the individual before then, but the excitement of the moment, and of the Games, captured my imagination like nothing else.

We need more heroes like this — people who set a goal and strive to achieve it; people who dedicate years of effort and make endless sacrifices to achieve the goals they set for themselves. This is what builds us up as a society, especially in these uncertain times. Quick wins are shallow, and substance appears to be lacking in so many places. When we look at Olympians through a lens of hope, we see people putting their full selves into a project that they are so passionate about.

So we said, “Let’s build more of these Olympic legends for Canadians.” The Asper family heard us. The government of Canada heard us. And thus began our 5to8 program.

The Canadian government will double each donation made by Canadians to our Next Generation Program. These donations will go toward athletes five to eight years away from the podium; five to eight years away from inspiring a nation and becoming legends. Five to eight years away from exciting your kids, your grandkids and you so that you can run around your house screaming with excitement.

When these passionate athletes compete with the Maple Leaf on their uniform, they carry all of us with them — our hopes, our aspirations, our fears. And in the key moments of competition, we are inspired through their efforts and the joy they feel in achieving their dreams. The Maple Leaf they wear represents this country that we are collectively building. We may disagree on many issues as we build our society, but one thing we can agree on is the effort and passion that these athletes represent, and how they can help bring a divided society together.

The memorable moments we see in Olympic footage are reflections of the human desire to do more, to live a life of meaning, an aspiration. The vision of 5to8 and the Asper family is to enable more youth to strive for this and, in doing so, to enable all of us to dream more, hope more and believe in all that Canada represents.

We hope you will consider joining us and the Asper family in building the next Canadian Olympic legacy with a double-matched gift to the 5to8 campaign.

Learn more about this exciting initiative at 5to8.ca.

Paul McIntyre Royston is the chief executive officer of the Canadian Olympic Foundation.