Olympic Celebration Race Meet

MARKHAM SPEED SKATING CLUB

Olympic Celebration Race Meet

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The Markham Speed Skating Club hosted our first OSSA-sanctioned
race meet on Saturday December 05 2009
at the Angus Glen Community Centre in Markham
to celebrate the XXI Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver
in February 2010.

Events began with Laurelle Augustyn singing O Canada.
The Opening Ceremonies began with Roger Buxton thanking
the Town of Markham, after which Mayor Frank Scarpitti
addressed the spectators.

A slide & video presentation showed

the history of Canadian speed skating at the Olympics
how Olympic dreams become Olympic goals
the amount of training necessary to become an Olympic athlete
the need to believe in yourself.

Valerie Cavar Ing described her Olympic experience at Nagano in 1998.

A torch parade of skaters began with the youngest (Graeme Mitchell
and Claire Liew) leading up to Olympian Valerie Cavar Ing, and
followed by masters skaters, culminating in Don & Bea Ego.

Two representatives took the athletes' and officials' oaths.
Mayor Scarpitti then opened the race meet.

Skaters raced a heat and a final in two distances, and a final in the third
and longest distance.

Valerie Ing described the relay procedure as skaters demonstrated it.
Club teams then competed in two 1500m relay races.

The day concluded with medal award ceremonies.

Results and photographs are shown on this year's race results page.

Very many thanks to all those Club members and officials from other clubs
who made this race meet so successful.

RogersTV broadcast a news story two days later.
Click on the 'Play' button below to see it.

OLYMPIC TORCH RELAY

A small band of intrepid Club members overcame the -12C temperature to participate in this memorable event. Claire DesRosiers (far left in the photo below), Jonathan Nishio (c), and Breanna Chapman (far r) accompanied by their parents and Roger Buxton, carried the Club's banner in the parade of several thousand people which made its way from the assembly point to the Markham Civic Centre in the brisk but sunny morning air. Cameron Mitchell, Heidi Beck, Nima & Rasa Rahnema, and possibly others were also in the parade but in school groups.

The crowd was entertained by Justin Hines, gymnasts, and dancers performing on a stage leading up to Suzie McNeil singing 'Believe' just before the torch arrived. They were rewarded by a brief glimpse of the lighted Torch held aloft by a runner as he passed through the cheering throngs towards the stage and the lighting of a cauldron.

In preparation for this event, the Olympic Torch Relay flag was raised at the Markham Civic Centre on Wednesday November 18 in a ceremony presided over by Mayor Frank Scarpitti.