Five Team Canada athletes named as 2019 Canada Sports Hall of Fame inductees
An impressive class of five team Canada athletes were announced on Thursday as part of the 2019 inductee class at Canada Sports Hall of Fame.
This year’s inductees are: Guylaine Bernier, Alex Bilodeau, Colette Bourgonie, Martin Brodeur, Jayna Hefford, Vicki Keith, Waneek Horn-Miller, and Doug Mitchell.
Let’s take a look at the five Team Canada members that will be inducted into the Hall later this year:
Alex Bilodeau
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Alexandre Bilodeau celebrates his gold medal win at the men’s mogul at Cypress Mountain in Vancouver, B.C., Sunday February 14, 2010, at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Two-time Olympic champion Bilodeau was the first Team Canada athlete to win a gold medal on home soil at Vancouver 2010, when he defeated defending Olympic Champion Dale Begg-Smith for the title. He returned to the top of the podium in Sochi, when he won back-to-back gold medals.
His first Olympic appearance was during Turin 2006, where he finished 11th as an 18-year-old.
During the 2008-09 ski season, he won the Crystal Globe as the overall FIS World Cup Champion for freestyle skiing.
Martin Brodeur
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Canada’s Martin Brodeur reaches to make a save off Team USA shot during first period men’s Olympic ice hockey action Sunday, Feb. 21, 2010 at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
Brodeur is a four-time Olympian and two-time Olympic gold medallist as a member of the victorious Team Canada at Salt Lake City 2002 and Vancouver 2010.
Aside from the Olympic Games, he also represented Canada twice at the IIHF World Championship, winning silver in 1996 and 2005. He backstopped Canada to gold at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey after finishing second in 1996.
If that’s not enough, Brodeur is also a three-time Stanley Cup champion (1995, 2000, 2003) with the New Jersey Devils.
When he retired from the NHL in late January 2015, he had a league-record of 691 wins and 125 shutouts.
Jayna Hefford
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Jayna Hefford of Canada, left, reacts to her goal with teammate Rebecca Johnston as Saija Tarkki of Finland looks on during the third period of the 2014 Winter Olympics women’s ice hockey game at Shayba Arena, Monday, Feb. 10, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Hefford is one of Canada’s most decorated Olympians. She made five Olympic appearances, winning a medal each time and becoming Olympic Champion for four consecutive Olympic Games.
After making her world championship debut in 1997, she became one of the longest serving members of Canada’s National Women’s Team. Hefford made 12 world championship appearances, winning seven gold medals and five silver medals.
When she announced her retirement in September 2015, Hefford ranked second all-time in Team Canada history with 267 games played, 157 goals scored and 291 points.
In 2012, she was inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 2012 with her teammates form the Turin 2006 Olympic hockey team. She was also inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018 and named to the Order of Hockey in Canada in 2019.
Waneek Horn-Miller
Canada’s Waneek Horn-Miller (white) of Kahnawake, Que. prevents Kazakhstan’s Natalya Galkina (blue) from controlling the ball during their women’s preliminary water polo match at the Olympic Games in Sydney Monday, Sept. 18, 2000. Canada won 10-3. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
Horn-Miller is one of Canada’s most influential Native Olympic athletes and an inspiring Native role model.
As a member of the women’s national water polo team, she won a gold medal at the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg.
She then served as co-captain of the first Canadian women’s Olympic water polo team that finished fifth at Sydney 2000. During the lead-up to those Games, Horn-Miller appeared on the cover of TIME magazine.
She went on to help Canada win a bronze medal at the 2001 FINA World Championships.
Guylaine Bernier
Canada’s Barb Boettcher, Guylaine Bernier and Elaine Bourbeau compete in the women’s 4+ rowing event at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games. (CP Photo/COC)
Bernier is being inducted in the Hall as a builder. She was a trailblazer in her sport, paving the way in several ways.
She competed at Montreal 1976, finishing ninth in the four-man event.
In 1987, Bernier became an international rowing judge. She became a member of the International Rowing Federation (FISA) Arbitration Commission in 1995. She oversaw competitions at international matches including several Olympic Games (1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008), along with the 2008 Paralympic Games and 2010 Youth Olympic Games.
