Panama City, Panama - 11 April 2015
On April 11, 2015, Prime Minister Stephen Harper attended a reception in Panama City, Panama, to highlight the 2015 Pan American and Parapan American Games, taking place this summer in Toronto and surrounding communities.
The reception, which followed the conclusion of the seventh Summit of the Americas in Panama City, brought together representatives from countries and territories participating in the Games, as well as Saäd Rafi, Chief Executive Officer of the TORONTO 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games Organizing Committee, and four outstanding Canadian athletes: Élise Marcotte, Tera Van Beilen, Priscilla Gagné, and Marco Dispaltro.
The Prime Minister took the opportunity to promote the Games as a shining example of positive hemispheric engagement and congratulate the remarkable participating Canadian athletes on their hard work and dedication.
Held every four years, the Pan Am Games and Parapan Am Games are the world’s third-largest international multi-sport competition and a true celebration of sport and culture. With more than 10,000 athletes, coaches and team officials from 41 countries and territories who are members of the Pan American Sports Organization competing in 51 sports, and with more than 23,000 volunteers, this year’s Games will be the largest of their kind in history.
Biographical Notes on Participants
Saäd Rafi
Saäd Rafi joined the TORONTO 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games Organizing Committee as Chief Executive Officer in January 2014. He brings a wealth of experience in delivering large scale transformation, change management and project management to Ontario’s public and private sectors.
Mr. Rafi served most recently as Deputy Minister of Ontario’s Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. Between 2010 and 2014, he administered an annual budget of $49 billion – the largest health budget in Canada – and oversaw one of the most significant system transformations in Ontario’s health care sector.
During his 25-year career, he served in three other different Deputy Minister roles and built a successful advisory practice in infrastructure and project finance as a partner with Deloitte and Touche, LLP.
Élise Marcotte
Élise Marcotte, one of Canada’s two Assistant Chefs de Mission at the TORONTO 2015 Pan Am Games, is a two-time Olympian in synchronized swimming who made her debut at the Beijing 2008 Olympics with a fourth place finish in the team event. Ms. Marcotte was also a double gold medallist at the 2011 Pan Am Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, in team and in duet with Marie-Pier Boudreau-Gagnon, qualifying for Olympic spots in both events for Canada at the 2012 London Olympics. Previously, she was a silver medallist in the team event at the 2007 Pan Am Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Ms. Marcotte holds an undergraduate degree in marketing from the Université du Québec à Montréal and a Master’s in Marketing from HEC Montréal. Upon retirement from the National Team in 2012, she became Vice-President of Marketing at a start-up company, Mission Graduation, and launched L’Académie Synchro.
Tera Van Beilen
Tera Van Beilen, a swimmer who will be taking part in the TORONTO 2015 Pan Am Games, admits she used to have dreams about making the Olympic team. Those dreams became reality in 2012 when she got as close as she could get to advancing to the 100 metre breaststroke final in London, losing a swim-off for the eighth spot in the final to Jamaica’s Alia Atkinson.
Ms. Van Beilen also competed in the 200 metre breaststroke after winning the event at the Canadian trials, knocking world record holder Annamay Pierse off the Canadian Olympic team in the process. She competed at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in 2010, winning three medals including gold in the 100 metre breaststroke. Her multi-sport competition experience includes the 2011 and 2013 Universiades, where she won a pair of silver medals in her first appearance. Ms. Van Beilen made her FINA World Championship debut in 2013. She has been part of four straight CIS championship teams with the UBC Thunderbirds.
Priscilla Gagne
Priscilla Gagne, a Canadian para-Judo athlete hoping to participate in the TORONTO 2015 Parapan Am Games, received several diagnoses for her vision before specialists discovered she had retinitis pigmentosa, which causes loss of night vision and a narrowing of the peripheral visual field. The condition never stopped Ms. Gagne´ from doing sports.
The 28-year old athlete had done wrestling for a long time before she decided to try judo in 2010. She took an interest in the sport because of its growing international presence at the Paralympic level, but she also loves the culture of judo, whose teachings can be applied both in sport and in life. In 2011, she suffered a major injury when she broke both her feet in the same bout at a tournament in Whitby. This kept her off the mat for eight months, but she eventually came back better than ever. Recently the winner of her first world cup medal (a bronze in Hungary), she is seeking to qualify for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.
Marco Dispaltro
Born with muscular dystrophy, Marco Dispaltro, a Canadian Boccia athlete hoping to participate in the TORONTO 2015 Parapan Am Games, started in wheelchair sports in 1993 as a rugby player and played until 2004. From 2001 until 2008, he acted as the High Performance Coordinator of the Canadian National Rugby Team and held this title until 2008. Later that year, he became the Head Coach for Sweden, leading them to unprecedented highs.
He started to play boccia in May 2010 and success followed quickly. His achievements in the sport include silver at the Parapan Am Games in 2011 and bronze at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
Mr. Dispaltro looks forward to competing on home soil at the Toronto 2015 Parapan American Games and aims to again play at the Paralympic Games in Rio 2016, this time for gold. In March 2015, he won gold at Canadian Boccia Championship held at the Abilities Centre in Whitby, Ont., the venue for the Toronto 2015 Parapan Am Games. He is currently the world No. 1 ranking in his classification.
Mr. Dispaltro is inspired by the motto “We are not born champions, we become champions.”
