Doing uOttawa proud at the Vancouver 2010 Games
The University of Ottawa will be well represented at the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver as five members of the School of Human Kinetics (Faculty of Health Sciences) put their expertise to work for Canadian athletes and the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC).
Professor Penny Werthner and assistant researcher Margaret Dupee will accompany the Canadian freestyle ski team as sports psychology consultants, using their cutting-edge bio-neurofeedback program to help the athletes focus and effectively manage their stress–and, as Penny Werthner puts it, "be well prepared to perform at their very best."
A leading international authority on the psychology of excellence, Professor Terry Orlick knows what frees athletes to perform splendidly in high-stakes conditions. In Vancouver, he'll harness that knowledge to motivate Canadian Olympic coaches and the country's speed skating, cross-country skiing and women's alpine skiing teams "to bring their best focus into the 2010 home Olympic Games."
Professor Milena Parent, a specialist in the organization and strategic management of large-scale sporting events, is on secondment to VANOC to oversee its multi-faceted International Client Services for UBC Thunderbird Arena, which includes key functions like volunteer coordination, interpretation services and protocol.
Finally, sports marketing expert Professor Benoît Séguin is off to the Games to observe the phenomenon the IOC funded him to research for his PhD: ambush marketing (when a non-sponsoring business associates itself with an event) and its impact on the Olympic brand; specifically, Séguin will analyze how fans react to it and how VANOC identifies and stops it.
How fitting that Canada's university would have such a hands-on presence at Canada's Games.
By Ray Martel
Published: February 2010