“We will always be Olympians for life. That’s like the best thing ever.”
– Carline Muir, 400m

While they’re unable to join other Olympians for the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics 2008, 60 Canadian athletes gathered at the Paradiz Centre in Singapore at 8pm on Aug 8 to watch the “live” telecast.

Organised by the Canadian High Commission and the Canadian Olympic Committee, the event opened with a dramatic fanfare welcome for the athletes, which was quickly succeeded by a roaring lion dance performance. Selected students from the Singapore Sports School were among those who gladly spent time interacting with these world-class competitors.

“Up till now, we’ve just been in the hotel a lot, relaxing…, so when we walked in tonight and we got a round of applause – it was really nice,” says Taylor Milne, 1,500 metres runner.

Canada’s top athletes had stayed in Singapore for their training because of the limitations they might face in Beijing. Canadian coach Les Gramanti told Associated Press, “There’s only one track that you train at (in Beijing), it’s a relatively long distance and the traffic is always crazy. It’s just more peaceful in Singapore.”

Whatever the reasons, one thing is certain: the athletes were blown away by their experience.

Long jumper Tabia Charles says to UrbanWire, “It’s a big dream come true. I can’t believe that I’m here to see all these people here… I’m so amazed with everything that’s going on.”

Hank Palmer, who will be competing in the 4 x 100 relay, agrees. He exclaims, “It’s amazing! We can’t wait to get out there.”

To aspiring Olympians and to the youths who will compete in the world’s inaugural Youth Olympics to be held in Singapore in 2010, Priscilla Lopes-Schliep, who will be competing in the 100m hurdles, has this advice: “Just dream big. Don’t let anybody tell you anything different. Be the best that you can and go out there and don’t hold anything back ’cause anything’s possible.

“Dream big.”

 

Producer: Lee Xian Jie
Co-producer, Presenter: Jeremy Boo 

Video correction: “Taylor Milne” not “Tyler Milne”