Hosted by veteran broadcasters Scott Russell and Andi Petrillo, Road to the Olympic Games chronicles athletes' journeys on and off the field of play. Here's what to look for on this weekend's show on CBC Television and CBCSports.ca.
The New Year is special for Canada because it's a major anniversary any way you look at it.
Our 150th birthday as a nation is coming up and it's a chance to not only look forward to the bright prospects of a richly diverse country, but also an opportunity to savour those who have contributed to a remarkable history.
That's why the Class of 2017, which will soon be selected for induction to Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, bears some consideration.
Our sporting stars over the years have created so much of the country's folklore and they have, each in their own way, played a pivotal role in nurturing the pride and passion that we feel for the potential that exists within our borders.
Since it was inaugurated in 1955 Canada's Sports Hall of Fame has inducted 612 honoured members as athletes and builders while representing every province and territory. An amazing total of 66 different sports have placed at least one representative in the Hall. From hockey to dog sled racing and gymnastics to cricket, those who populate the place speak to the vast narrative of a multi-talented sporting nation.
There are professional team sport athletes and individuals who made their name as amateurs. There are men and women, partnerships and people who mirror the complex, cultural, mosaic that is Canada.
This year, great Canadian teams are eligible to be nominated to the Hall of Fame.
The Edmonton Grads women's basketball team springs to mind. They won four consecutive Olympic gold medals from 1924 to 1936 and posted the greatest winning percentage in the history of North American team sport. The Grads won 502 matches and lost only 20 between the years 1915 and 1940.
The 1986 men's national soccer team also merits consideration. They remain the only Canadian men's team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup, which was held in Mexico that year. They got there by posting a thrilling victory over Honduras in the unlikely setting of St. John's.
Bevy of Canadian superstars
Individually the provision is that athletes need to be retired from major international competition for a period of four years in order to be considered for induction. That means a bevy of Canadian superstars are ready to ascend to their place in the shrine.
Think about the man who put triathlon on the map in this country, Olympic gold and silver medallist Simon Whitfield. Also in the mix is the woman who won more medals at a single Olympic Games than any Canadian in history. Speed skater Cindy Klassen won five medals, including gold at the Torino 2006 Games.
There is also three–time Paralympic champion Patrick Anderson to consider. He may be the best wheelchair basketball player of all-time. Wrestler Carol Huynh won Olympic gold and helped save her sport at future editions of the Games. Hockey superstar Vicky Sunohara now coaches at the University of Toronto but was a key player in two Canadian Olympic gold medals and seven world championship titles.
Aquatic sport boasts the most successful male diver in the country's history in Alex Despatie, and one of the fastest swimmers in world champion and Olympic medalist Brent Hayden of B.C.
There is also marathon runner, Ed Whitlock of Milton, Ont., who holds 36 world age-group records and who just ran a sub four-hour marathon at age 85. Whitlock proves that high-performance sport is a lifetime proposition.
And there is also high jumper Greg Joy, who created one of the more famous moments in Canadian sports history when he won Olympic silver at the home Games in Montreal in 1976. His "Jump for Joy" was recalled in the closing montage as CBC television signed off the air every night for decades.
Greg Joy won a silver medal at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. (Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press)
And figure skater Joannie Rochette, who won bronze under the most difficult circumstances at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
There are many more builders and achievers who will rightly become a part of the conversation when the Class of 2017 is discussed in a matter of a few weeks.
The truth is Canadians regularly gather in rinks, arenas, stadiums, fields, gymnasiums, tracks and swimming pools in huge numbers.
We popularized hockey, curling, Canadian football, and figure skating in this country. The stars of these sports have, for many, become folk heroes over the years. For legions of Canadians they constitute some of the most remembered contributors to our society.
There is an acknowledged truth that for many arriving Canadians the first point of contact with their new communities is on the soccer pitch or the local field of play.
Sports universal language
Sport is the universal language which can connect cultures. While it is not perfect by any means, sport affords the country a chance to tackle sensitive cultural and societal issues which other institutions shy away from. These are issues of racial and gender equality in addition to the acceptance of people with different faiths and sexual orientations.
This is not to mention the cohesive power of sport and the pride that communities feel when local heroes excel on the national and international stages.
Who can deny the importance of the national champion Laval University football team to the people of Quebec City? The accomplishments of swimmer Penny Oleksiak have become incredibly important to folks in not only east-end Toronto, but throughout the country.
Swimming phenom Penny Oleksiak has become a sporting hero in Canada. (Ryan Remiorz/Canadian Press)
The same can be said of the Canadian women's rugby sevens and the national women's soccer team, who have inspired a generation of aspiring female athletes through their exploits at the recent Olympic Games.
The fact remains sport, as much as anything else, brings this country together. It embodies the celebrants. The Grey Cup, the Stanley Cup, the Brier, the World Junior Hockey Championships, and the Olympics are all testament to that.
In this landmark year it behooves us to recall the often-taken-for-granted cultural pillar of sport and what it undeniably contributes to the Canadian plot.
Road to the Olympic Games: Call to the Hall
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