October 15/15 21:56 pm - Fuelling Athletes and Coaching Excellence Recipients announced

Posted by Editoress on 10/15/15
 

Petro-Canada has announced the 2015 Fuelling Athletes and Coaching Excellence (FACE) program recipients. The 2015 FACE recipients from across Canada represent both summer and winter sports, and athletes competing in individual or team events. Each athlete and coach pairing receives $10,000. Petro-Canada's annual financial commitment to the program is $500,000.

Three cycling athlete-coach pairings are among the recipients - Kinley Gibson and her coach Cameron Jennings, Marine Lewis and her coach Ian Hughes, plus para-cyclist Alex Hyndman and coach Sebastien Travers.

"From coast to coast, Canada has many outstanding athletes and coaches and we're honoured to support tomorrow's Team Canada," said Marc Goodman, director, loyalty and strategic partnerships, Suncor. "Each year we're inspired by the dedication of our FACE program recipients. Congratulations to the Class of 2015."

Developed by Petro-Canada, the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) and Canadian Paralympic Committee (CPC), and facilitated by their National Sport partners, the FACE program provides developing, pre-carded Canadian athlete and coach pairings with funding to help fuel their dreams.  Coaches are selected along with the athletes they directly coach as they often incur additional costs on the road to developing the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic stars of tomorrow.

"Petro-Canada has supported Canadian athletes for more than 25 years and we are excited for this year's funds to reach new athletes in need," said Chris Overholt, CEO, Canadian Olympic Committee. "The funding Petro-Canada's FACE program provides is crucial in ensuring the next generations of athletes receive the resources they need to succeed. Thank you, Petro-Canada."

The FACE program, formerly the Petro-Canada Torch Scholarship Fund, was launched in 1988 and has provided more than 2,700 Canadian athletes and coaching pairs with almost $9.4 million in direct financial support.

"On behalf of the Canadian Paralympic Committee, I'd like to thank Petro-Canada for investing in Canada's dedicated, up-and-coming athletes and their hard-working coaches," said Gaétan Tardif, President, Canadian Paralympic Committee.  "These grants will provide valuable funding for athletes looking to make their mark internationally and go on to pursue their dreams of representing Canada on the world stage. I have no doubt we will be seeing some of these names again in the future, on the podium at Rio, PyeongChang or beyond"

In the past, the FACE program has provided financial grants to Canada's top athletes. In the Sochi 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, there were more than thirty FACE recipients competing and contributing to Canada's overall medal count, including; Patrick Chan, Mélodie Daoust, Kaitlyn Lawes, Marielle Thompson, Hayley Wickenheiser, Jim Armstrong, Mark Arendz, Mac Marcoux and Dennis Thiessen.  Some notables from London 2012 Games included, Jasmin Glaesser, Rosie MacLennan, Robbi Weldon, and Mark Tewksbury, Canada's Chef de Mission at the London 2012 Games and Barcelona 1992 Olympic gold medalist.

Press release