Ont. helps its athletes on their Quest for Gold at the 2010 Winter Games
Posted February 13, 2010 10:54 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Thirty three of the 203 athletes representing Canada at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver are from Ontario.
And many of them received financial backing from the McGuinty government.
The province committed $10-million to the Quest for Gold program in 2009-2010 for training and coaching.
More than half of the funding goes directly to the athletes themselves so they can worry less
about getting a part-time job and focus primarily on training.
The Minister of Health Promotion, Margaret Best, told 680News recipients are grateful for the support.
“I get letters from various different Quest for Gold athletes and they are very very appreciative of the Quest for Gold funding,” said Best.
Hockey veteran Jennifer Boterrill said thanks to the program she is able to participate in the Winter Games for a fourth time.
“Talk about having a huge impact on an athlete that allows the athlete to have access to those resources so that – you know what – [we] can get better.”
Approximately 85 per cent of Ontario athletes competing in the Vancouver Olympics are Quest for Gold recipients.
Since 2006, the Quest for Gold program has provided over $42-million to support more than 8,000 athletes and coaches.
