Kicking off the first in-person AthletesCAN Forum weekend since 2019, veteran CBC Sports host Scott Russell will helm this year’s celebration of trailblazers, athlete-centred accomplishments and initiatives – as the Canadian Sport Awards take place on the evening of Friday, Sept. 8, with five notable winners recognized at the Vancouver Airport Marriott Hotel in Richmond, B.C and live on AthletesCAN’s digital channels. The event is made possible in part by the generous contribution of Richmond Sport Hosting.
Following Forum, a national digital campaign in partnership with CBC Sports along with the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Committees for the People’s Choice Award for Most Trending Moment of the Year will take place in December, after the conclusion of the 2023 Pan American and Parapan American Games in Santiago, Chile.
Bruce Kidd Leadership Award
The Bruce Kidd Leadership Award is presented annually to a retired national team athlete, sport leader, or organization, who has provided meaningful contributions to the betterment of sport as a leader, advocate, change agent, or builder. This award highlights the groundbreaking work that contributed to the betterment of sport through inspirational leadership, innovative practices, and/or positive influence on the Canadian sport sector.
The award is named in honour of 1968 Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame Inductee Dr. Bruce Kidd, who has made enormous contributions to Canada’s sporting community as an athlete, advocate, author, historian, and academic
Dr. Sandra Kirby, Rowing
Sandra Kirby represented Canada in rowing at the Montreal 1976 Olympic Games. After competing at the Olympics, she went on to become one of the leading voices in fighting sexual harassment and abuse, homophobia, and violence against children in sport. Her accomplishments include being one of the founding members of Safe Sport International, lobbying the IOC to drop their requirement of chromosomal gender verification for female athletes and being one of the lead authors of the IOC Consensus Statement on Sexual Harassment and Abuse.
Rick Hansen, Para Athletics
Most famous for his “Man In Motion” journey around the world, Rick Hansen is also a six-time Paralympic medalist. Today, he operates the Rick Hansen Foundation for People with Disabilities, which works to make the world more accessible for all. Their school program educates students Grades 1-12 about inclusiveness, disability awareness and leadership while their foundation provides quality of life grants for individuals with disabilities. Rick also aided in the creation of the International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries, the worlds foremost research program on spinal cord injury repair.
Jane Roos, Canadian Athletes Now Fund
Jane Roos was a promising track athlete, but a car injury ended her career at the age of 19. Roos turned her attention to helping other athletes fulfil their Olympic dreams and started CAN Fund, a non-profit dedicated to helping Canadian athletes pay for coaching, training, nutrition and living expenses. Over the last 20 years, CAN Fund has raised over $50 Million for Canadian athletes, and helped support 80 per cent of the Canadian athletes who have competed at the Olympics since the Athens 2004 Games.