Although there are many diverse components required to stage an international multi-sport games, the heart of any games is its sporting competitions. It was the all-volunteer Sport Committee that was responsible for the competitions of the 1994 Victoria Commonwealth Games. The Sport Committee was led by Chair Jim Carter, a member of the Board of Directors and Vice Chairs Gary Taylor and Sandra Stevenson. The remaining members were the 20 Sport Chairs who were endorsed by their national sport bodies and assisted by their provincial sport organizations and Dr. Norgrove Penny, Chair, Medical Services and Doping Control
Several members of the Sport Committee were involved from the earliest stages of the Victoria bid in 1987 when Victoria started on its road to becoming the host of the 1994 Games. They remained totally dedicated for a further seven years to guide their sports during the planning, pre-game test event and operational phases right through until the end of the Games. Others stepped up at a later date to take on responsibility for steering their sport during the latter stages.
The members of the Sport Committee planned for and executed all aspects of the "field of play" during the Games. They ensured that requirements for officials, equipment and technology were met, hosted international sport representatives, established medical and doping control protocols, recruited and trained volunteers from within their fields, and managed each pre-games event.
The knowledge and experience of the Sport Committee members were crucial to the success of the 1994 Commonwealth Games. As a team, they committed countless volunteer hours and not only succeeded, but excelled in delivering the biggest international sporting and television event in Victoria's history.
SPORT COMMITTEE MEMBERS
| Jim Carter Chair |
|
|
Gary Taylor |
Sandra Stevenson |
|
Ken Porter Sr. |
Robert Fergus |
|
Don Smyth |
Hassan Sunderani |
|
Dr. Peter Vizsolyi |
Austin Smith |
|
John Edwards |
Bruce Tonkin |
|
Ron Friesen |
Barb Wood |
|
Judy Davis |
Andrew Reid |
|
Darlene Irvine |
Fran McAdoo |
|
Hardy Fink |
Alexander (Sandy) Peden |
|
Bernice Beres |
Dr. Steve James |
|
Barbara Bishop |
Kjeld Brodsgaard |
Dr. Norgrove Penny,Chair, Medical Services and Doping Control
Sponsored by Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence
Alison Sydor |
Alison in action! |
Alison on the cover of MTB. |
Alison in action! |
Born in 1966 in Edmonton, Alison Sydor demonstrated a natural ability to ride a bike as a child, and her dad recalls that from her first try in the saddle she never used training wheels. Clearly, an early portend of the greatness to come. After growing up in Calgary, Alison left the snow and cold winters behind to attend UVIC. As a dabbler in the sport of triathlon, Alison met members of the Victoria Wheelers bike club who invited her to join a club ride. She quickly realized her great love was cycling. Her first race was the BCGEU Criterium in 1987, and after some success locally, she made the BC team for the Western Canadian Games and won gold in all three cycling disciplines. She finished her debut season with a silver in the road race at the National Championships and made the Canadian national road racing team. In 1991 she finished third in the World Championships to make history and become the first Canadian woman to win a medal in the individual road race competition.
But it wasn't all a steady trajectory to the glories ahead. In 1990, at the World Road Championships in Japan, she came in dead last! Alison can state with great pride that she never dropped out of a race, even when there was no hope of winning. By 1992 she was ranked third in the world and she competed at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, finishing 12th in the road race.
At this same time, Alison began testing her abilities in the emerging sport of mountain biking. In 1991, in her debut on the World Cup scene she placed 4th in Mt. Ste. Anne, and at her second World Cup race, she won the round in Switzerland. After the Barcelona Olympic road race she traded her skinny tires for knobby ones, and her first medal at the World Championship level came in 1992 in Bromont, Quebec.
Alison's last big road goal was to race in the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, where only road disciplines were included. After a silver medal in the team time trial and a bronze in the road race, she put all her energies into the sport of mountain biking. It paid off as Alison finished the 1994 season with a win in the World Cup finals and a gold medal at the World Championships in Vail.
In a 1999 feature article in theMountain Bike Guide,the writer commented that "the gutsy riding of a champion, the fierce look of a winner, the passion of a championship ride are nowhere better exemplified than in Alison Sydor." Alison relished being at the top of her sport, and her role as a pioneer and ambassador. She won a silver medal in the 1996 inaugural mountain biking Summer Olympics along with 3 straight World Championship titles from 1994 to 1996. Incredibly, for 13 consecutive years, Alison never finished outside the top 5 at the World Championships and she won the Overall World Cup competition three times.
Alison was awarded the Velma Springstead Trophy as Canada's top female athlete in 1995 and 1996. In September 2007 she was inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame and the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame. Most recently she was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame and now it is Victoria's turn to honour her.
SPONSORED BY ROBERT W. CAMERON LAW CORPORATION
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