December 11, 2007 (Montreal, QC) – Alex Baumann, Executive Director of the Road to Excellence program and double Olympic gold medallist in swimming, made a strong presentation before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance today to advocate for funding for the Road to Excellence summer sport program to benefit Canadian Olympic and Paralympic athletes.

“Road to Excellence is a program that will give Canada’s most talented athletes leading edge support services, technology, equipment, science and coaching in both daily and competitive environments to do this country proud and continue to inspire Canadians to achieve excellence, pride and health in sport,” said Baumann, who won gold medals in the 200- and 400-metre individual medley races in world record times at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games.

Baumann, who appeared on behalf of the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC), one of the partners in the Road to Excellence program, urged the Standing Committee on Finance to recommend in its report ongoing funding of $30 million annually – approximately $1 per Canadian – to support the program, which is the summer equivalent of the successful Own the Podium 2010 winter sport program. A copy of the COC’s written submission to the Standing Committee on Finance is available here.

As part of his presentation, Baumann told the Committee that in recent years, every other G8 country, except for Canada, has recognized the social and health benefits of sport and significantly increased its investment in sport and physical activity. He informed them that Canada lags far behind other G8 countries in terms of investment in sport and is continuing to fall further behind.

Baumann also made the case for a strong return on investment for sport funding by pointing out that community enrolment in sport increases significantly following a Canadian Olympic medal win, citing that enrolment in girls’ hockey increased by 12% the year after Canada’s women’s hockey team won the gold medal at the Salt Lake City 2002 Olympic Winter Games.

Those in attendance to support Baumann’s appearance at the meeting included International Olympic Committee and COC Executive Committee member Richard Pound, COC President Michael Chambers and CEO Chris Rudge as well as COC Executive Committee member Walter Sieber.

The Canadian Olympic Committee is a national, private, not-for-profit organization committed to sport excellence. It is responsible for all aspects of Canada’s involvement in the Olympic movement, including Canada’s participation in the Olympic and Pan American Games and a wide variety of programs that promote the Olympic Movement in Canada through cultural and educational means. For more information see the COC website: www.olympic.ca.

Canadian athletes competing in Beijing in 2008 will be the first eligible to receive the Athlete Excellence Fund awards for winning Olympic medals. The 2008 Olympic Games, scheduled from August 8-24, will feature a total of 28 sport disciplines, 302 events, more than 200 participating countries, and an estimated 10,700 athletes.

The goal for the Canadian team, as set by the COC, the Road to Excellence program and the summer National Sport Federations, is for Canada to finish amongst the top 16 nations in the overall medal count.