Commonwealth Games Champions Tricia Smith & Mark Tewksbury Elected to Canadian Olympic Committee Board of Directors

TORONTO — Canada’s sport community has renewed its confidence in Tricia Smith as President of the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC). Members of the COC Session, comprised of sport leaders, athletes and coaches, voted unanimously to give Ms. Smith a second term.

A prominent leader in the Olympic Movement, Smith was overwhelmingly elected as COC President in November 2015 after having served as Vice President since 2009, and briefly as Interim President. She has since been elected as a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and appointed to the IOC’s Medical and Scientific Commission, and Legal Affairs Commission.

The Session also elected seven members to the COC Board of Directors. Four current members were re-elected including: two-time Olympic medallist and marketing executive Therese Brisson; corporate director Chris Clark; sport executive Kevin Gilmore; and lawyer and Paralympic coach Peter Lawless. Business leader Maureen Kempston-Darkes; corporate director Karen Rubin; and three-time Olympic medallist and humanitarian Mark Tewksbury were elected for a first term.

Tricia Smith, a lawyer and businesswoman based in Vancouver, has had a successful and multifaceted career in sport. A four-time Olympian in rowing, Smith captured a silver medal at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games. She has also won seven world championship medals as well as a gold medal at the 1986 Commonwealth Games.

For nearly 30 years, she has served the COC in various senior and executive capacities. Since she first became involved in the COC Athletes’ Council in 1980 as rowing’s representative, Smith has been a member of the Executive, Team Selection, Games, Governance and Compensation Committees. She was Canada’s Chef de Mission for the 2007 Pan American Games.

Smith was a key member of the international team of the Vancouver 2010 Bid Committee. She is the Vice President of the International Rowing Federation (FISA) and has played a strong role in FISA’s anti-doping policies as a Member of the Executive Committee.

Smith was nominated by the IOC Athletes’ Commission to the Board of the International Council of Arbitration for Sport. She is now Deputy President of the Ordinary Division and Chair of the Commission for CAS Membership. She is a partner and Deputy Managing Director at Barnescraig & Associates, a risk management and adjusting firm.

QUOTE:

"I am honored to be entrusted to lead our great sport movement and I thank everyone for their support. The next four years are about being the best Olympic Committee we can be. That means being the best partner and providing the best support to our sport system for the benefit of our athletes and coaches in Canada and internationally."

- Tricia Smith, President, Canadian Olympic Committee