2014 Olympians Get Together

(photo taken from CdnOlympicTeam twitter feed)

The 2014 Olympic Games are 9 months away but over 100 athletes gathered in Vancouver last week to prepare for the Games. The event included the Olympic Excellence Series that included workshops and inspiration as well as a Media Summit that gave the athletes a preview of the intense media attention the Olympics provides.

From the Olympic website:

"The primary goal of OES is to prepare athletes and staff for podium success by providing practical skills and strategies for the upcoming Olympic or Olympic Winter Games. The secondary objective is to inspire and motivate athletes, coaches, team leaders and media attachés, leaving everyone with greater sense of confidence and drive in their quest for the podium."

It was an opportunity for athletes to prepare for what to expect at an Olympic Games on and off the field. Past Olympic athletes shared stories about their challenges and triumphs to help each other be ready when the Games open on February 7, 2014.

Chef de Mission Steve Podborski and Assistant Chef de Mission Luc Brassard inspired the athletes as did COC President Marcel Aubut. There were multiple tweets expressing the inspiration felt after hearing Clara Hughes and Women's Soccer coach John Herdman.

During the Olympics, there are athlete profiles, interviews and photos that are shared by the media. This was an opportunity to record athlete interviews and take the athlete photos that will be seen on the Olympic websites and television programs.

Here are a couple of news reports from CBC, the official Canadian broadcaster for the 2014 Olympics:





I loved reading the media and athletes' tweets and getting a sneak peak at what was going on at the event. Click here to see an article that includes some of those tweets and photos from the Olympic.ca website and here for the CBC Olympics website.

How inspiring for these athletes to have spent a few days together. If this doesn't motivate them to give their everything in the months to come in preparation for the Games, I don't know what would. Alex Bilodeau has a great quote in the video: "Every athlete has a great story to tell". This may be a biased opinion, but I love that SportCafé is giving the platform for every athlete to continue to share their story.