OLYMPIAN AND PARALYMPIAN FEATURED SPEAKERS | BENEFICIARIES | ABOUT CANADIAN OLYMPIC FOUNDATION | ABOUT VANOC | NATIONAL TEAM | NATIONAL WINE & FOOD ADVISORS
GMP OVERVIEW
Gold Medal Plates is the ultimate celebration of Canadian Excellence in food, wine, and athletic achievement. Celebrating in six cities across Canada in 2008, Gold Medal Plates will feature superb wines and the premier chefs in each city, paired with Canadian Olympic and Paralympic athletes, in a competition to crown a gold, silver and bronze medal culinary team in each city, and subsequently nation-wide.
Founded in 2003, the goal of Gold Medal Plates is to raise substantial funds for Canada's high performance athletes, while celebrating Canadian excellence. To date this event has received tremendous support and accolades all across Canada, and generated a combined total of $2.3 million for Canada's Olympic and Paralympic athletes!
- Raise funds for the Canadian Olympic Foundation to support Canadian Olympic and Paralympic athletes.
- Develop the finest Canadian culinary competition and feature the best chefs and wines in the country.
- Share the excitement of the Beijing 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games and the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games with the entire country.
- Demonstrate to our Canadian Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls that Canadians are committed to their development, passionate about their journey, and proud to have them represent us on the world stage.
| Ottawa, ON | Wednesday October 15 | Hilton Lac Leamy |
| Toronto, ON | Thursday October 16 | Fairmont Royal York |
| Montréal, QC | Thursday October 23 | Palais des congrès de Montréal |
| Vancouver, BC | Wednesday November 5 | The Westin Bayshore |
| Edmonton, AB | Thursday November 6 | Shaw Conference Centre |
| Calgary, AB | Thursday November 20 | The Round Up Centre |
Gold Medal Plates 2008 will be staged in six major Canadian cities. The top chefs from each city have been selected by a national and regional panel of judges and will compete in each city for the honour of being the Gold Medal Plates champion for 2008. These chefs will create their ultimate dish, which will be paired with a premier Canadian wine. Canadian Olympic and Paralympic athletes will be paired with each chef to assist in the creation or plating of their dish. A team of food and wine critics from each region will work with national critics and a local jury to determine the top three winning creations. Each city will crown a gold, silver and bronze medal winning chef. The gold medal chef will go on to compete at the Gold Medal Plates Finale - The Canadian Culinary Championship in late February 2009 in Banff, Alberta to be crowned the top chef in Canada.
At each event, Canadian Olympic and Paralympic athletes will share their remarkable stories as featured speakers. Keynote speakers in the previous years have included Olympians Catriona Le May Doan, Clara Hughes, Cassie Campbell, Mellisa Hollingsworth, Adam van Koeverden, Silken Laumann, Kyle Shewfelt, Simon Whitfield, Lori Ann Muenzer, Jennifer Heil, Alexander Desparte as well as Paralympian Paul Rosen. Keynote speakers for 2008 will be gold medalists from the Beijing Olympic Games. There will be a live auction where unique and one-of-a-kind experiences will be auctioned off to the lucky bidder. Auction items include a four-day cycling and rare wine tour of the Napa Valley hosted by Olympic gold medallist Simon Whitfield, a trip to Tuscany for gourmet cooking classes, or a rafting trip down the Grand Canyon with a great Canadian chef. Select cities will present rare wine auctions, with wines available for purchase.
BENEFICIARIES
Proceeds from Gold Medal Plates will be contributed to the Canadian Olympic Foundation to benefit Own the Podium 2010 and Road to Excellence, two sport initiatives aimed at helping Canada's winter and summer athletes reach the podium at upcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Click Here to find out more about Own the Podium 2010
Click Here to find out more about Road to Excellence
ABOUT CANADIAN OLYMPIC FOUNDATION
The Canadian Olympic Foundation is administered by the Canadian Olympic Committee, a national, private, not-for-profit organization committed to Olympic excellence. The Committee is responsible for all aspects of Canada's involvement in the Olympic movement, including Canada's participation in the Olympic and Pan American Games and a wide variety of programs that promote the Olympic Movement in Canada. For more information, visit the COC website at www.olympic.ca.
ABOUT VANOC
VANOC is responsible for the planning, organizing, financing and staging of the XXI Olympic Winter Games and the X Paralympic Winter Games in 2010. The 2010 Olympic Winter Games will be staged in Vancouver and Whistler from February 12 to 28, 2010. Vancouver and Whistler will host the Paralympic Winter Games from March 12 to 21, 2010. www.vancouver2010.com.
Stephen Leckie - CEO and Founder
Stephen Leckie is the founder and creative director of Gold Medal Plates. His passion for the Olympic movement, his enthusiasm for the finest food and wine, and his love of our great country has allowed Gold Medal Plates to take shape and grow into Canada's ultimate celebration of excellence! The superb national management team, volunteer chairs and advisors and event partners have been carefully selected to showcase Canada at its very best!
Karen Blair - Co-Founder and Senior Vice President
Michael Brown - VP Business and Finance
Peter Moscone - Director of Production
Lisa Pasin - National Auction Coordinator
Matt Ray - Operations Assistant
David Lawrason - National Wine AdvisorDavid Lawrason is one of Canada's leading, independent wine writers and educators. He is the founder of Wine Access magazine, Canada's premier wine journal. David has also been a wine columnist for the Globe and Mail and Toronto Life for many years.
James Chatto - National Culinary Advisory
James Chatto is Canada's premiere food and wine critic and author. He is the winner of the prestigious Cuisine Canada's gold award and the Drummer General's award. His award-winning writing on food and wine appear frequently in leading magazines and newspapers in Canada, the U.S. and England.