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Records Fall; Athletes Celebrate Pride
Montréal, 31 July
2006 – On the first day
of competitions, Sunday, 30 July, a Canadian
record fell as Mark Tewksbury,
Outgames Co-President and an Olympic gold medal
swimmer, and his 4 x 100 relay team broke a Canadian
Master’s category record when they took
to the water in Montréal’s Olympic
pool. Tewksbury, returning to the pool after
14 years absence since the Barcelona games, was
extremely pleased with the result. Twenty-eight
of the Outgames sports are sanctioned by their
respective sporting federations, ensuring that
all records are official.
Athletes and Officials celebrate Pride
That evening, the world joined Montreal in
celebrating gay pride as Outgames athletes
participated and watched the Montreal LGBT
pride parade. Outgames CEO Louise
Roy,
joined the city’s mayor, Gérald
Tremblay, and other dignitaries to lead
the parade through Montreal’s downtown
along René-Lévesque Boulevard
ending up in The Village, Montreal’s
gay neighbourhood.
Over 300 accredited media from
throughout the world have come to Montréal to
cover the Outgames. Before the parade, Tremblay
hosted a reception for international journalists
on the terrace of City Hall. Joining Tremblay
in welcoming the media were Benoit Labonté,
Ville-Marie Municipality President and Francine
Sénécal, Vice-President
of the Montreal executive council and sports
and leisure representative, as well as representatives
from Tourisme Montréal.
Today’s Sports
Among the sports competitions
today, Monday, 31 July, are:
- Cross-country, where Gilles
Duceppe, the Member of Parliament
for Laurier Sainte-Marie and leader of the
Bloc Québécois will be
handing out medals.
- Swimming, which will feature LGBT International Human Rights Conference co-president Robert Wintemute as a competitor and Darren Storsley, the first-openly gay Mr. Canada (2004), will hand out medals.
- The rowing finals will take place at the Olympic Basin at Jean-Drapeau Park on Notre-Dame Island.
Tonight’s Festivities
Tonight at Square Viger, the nightly gathering
spot for the Outgames athletes and Montrealers
alike, Jim Watson, Minister
of Health for the province of Ontario will host
a reception for the 800 athletes from his province
who have come to compete. Watson is coming to
Montréal to highlight the relationship between
sports and health.
Québec’s musical
heritage will be spotlighted on the Square Viger
stage tonight as local-legends Bottine
Souriante and Makinaw take
the stage. They will entertain the crowd with
Quebec’s traditional musical heritage.
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