Created in 2020, the Most Trending Moment Award honours a current or retired national team athlete who has captured the virtual world by storm. Presented by Respect Group, a headversity company, the 10 moments nominated are about more than just success on the field of play, this award highlights the magic that lives within sport to inspire and motivate all Canadians through innovative use of a digital platform, captivating athletic performance, or who’s digital actions have been a force for good.
Previous winners of the Most Trending Moment Award include Paralympian swimmer Danielle Kisser, with the creation of her do-it-yourself swimming pool that she used to train for the Tokyo 2020 Games; the Canadian women’s soccer team’s Olympic gold medal, and the medal performances of the 3×3 men’s and women’s basketball and wheelchair basketball teams at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
All AthletesCAN members can assess Respect Group’s Respect in Sport for Activity Leaders training course for free as a part of their membership. To learn more about Respect Group training, visit respectgroupinc.com
2023 Most Trending Moment Nominees
Fay De Fazio Ebert - Skateboard
The youngest member of Team Canada’s Pan Am Games delegation at just 13 years old, Fay De Fazio Ebert won gold in the women’s park skateboard competition. And in skateboarding’s debut at the Pan Am Games, Ebert became the first Canadian to win a skateboard medal at a major multisport games.
Zak Madell - Wheelchair Rugby
Three-time Paralympian Zak Madell highlighted the toughness of wheelchair rugby athletes, and their equipment, by smashing into stuff. In the entertaining series of Instagram videos, Madell demonstrated just how fast, heavy, and well-built wheelchair rugby chairs are by running over everyday items. Some of his victims included a watermelon, a clay pot, a pumpkin, and a cabbage.
Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier - Figure Skating
When Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier won ice dance bronze at the World Figure Skating Championships, it capped off what seemed to be a dream 2022-23 season, where the pair also won gold at Skate Canada International, Grand Prix Espoo, and the Grand Prix Final. Several months later, Gilles revealed how nightmarish the season had been. During Skate Canada, she began experiencing fatigue and abdominal pain and was diagnosed with an ovarian tumour that turned out to be cancerous. Following the Grand Prix Final, in January she had surgery to remove the tumour and recovered to compete at Worlds just two months later, where she and Poirier captured their second career world championship medal.
Laurence St-Germain - Alpine Skiing
Laurence St-Germain went to the FIS Alpine World Championships ranked 16th in the world in women’s slalom, behind a group of skiers who had dominated the discipline all season. Those rankings didn’t matter on the day of the competition, where St-Germain kept her calm and composure and shocked the world, bringing home Canada’s first gold medal in slalom since 1960.
Ethan Katzberg & Camryn Rogers - Athletics
Ethan Katzberg and Camryn Rogers rewrote the history book at the 2023 World Athletics Championships. With both winning gold in the hammer throw, they became the first Canadians ever to win gold medals in throwing events at the championships and the first Canadians ever to win the men’s and women’s competitions in the same discipline at the same edition of the championships. Rogers was also the second Canadian woman ever to win a gold medal at the World Athletics Championships, joining Perdita Felicien’s 2003 triumph in 100m hurdles.
Nathan Clement - Para Cycling
After winning gold in the men’s T1 (tricycle) 10.8 km time trial by a huge 7.05-second margin, Nathan Clement was at a loss for words. Clement, a former swimmer who made the switch to cycling following a 1000 km bike journey in 2020, gave emotional thanks to his coach, his support staff, and his family, with a special thought for his late grandfather.
Philip “B-Boy Phil Wizard” Kim - Breaking
Philip Kim, aka B-Boy Phil Wizard, dominated the competition in the first-ever Pan Am Games breaking competition. En route to winning gold, and securing qualification at Paris 2024, Kim didn’t drop a round to any opponent in the head-to-head competition format.
Alison Levine - Boccia
Alison Levine won her long-awaited individual Parapan Am medal, a gold in the BC4 category, and added another gold in the BC4 pairs alongside Iulian Ciobanu, accounting for two of Canada’s six medals in the boccia competition. Following her historic success, Levine was named Canada’s closing ceremony flag-bearer.
Women’s Goalball
In their last chance to qualify for the Paris 2024 Paralympics, the same group of six players who finished a disappointing ninth at the Tokyo Paralympics completed their comeback journey, defeating their rivals Team USA 4-3 in a tense gold medal match. The win earned Team Canada their first-ever gold in goalball at the Parapan Am Games, after three consecutive bronze medals.
Charles Philibert-Thiboutot - Athletics
Charles Philibert-Thiboutot went all-out to capture gold in the 1500m in Santiago. Trailing Canadian teammate Rob Heppenstall coming down the home stretch, Philibert-Thiboutot dove for the finish and timed it perfectly. His swan dive across the line placed him 0.02 seconds ahead of Heppenstall, securing a 1-2 finish for Team Canada, and Canada’s athletics first gold medal at the Pan Am Games.