The Canadian Olympic Committee has announced a financial boost for athletes headed to Sochi and beyond.
Over the next four years, the committee will pour $37 million into high-performance sport and the “Own the Podium” program.
COC President Marcel Aubut made the announcement at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre on Thursday.
“We are so proud to be boosting the funding and support for Canadian high performance sport,” he said.
In a news release, Own the Podium Chief Executive Officer Anne Merklinger said the commitment will “deliver the critical resources athletes require to be fully prepared to climb onto the podium at major international competitions.”
The funding, which will go toward both summer and winter sports, is a 48 per cent increase over the amount spent in the previous four years.
Own the Podium, which was launched in the run-up to the Vancouver Olympics, “prioritizes and determines investment strategies to national sport organizations in an effort to deliver more Olympic and Paralympic medals for Canada,” according to its website.
Capturing 14 gold medals at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, Canada finished first overall in gold medal wins for the first time.
Going into Sochi, the COC hopes Canada can improve its medal count and finish at the top of the overall medals leaderboard.
With a report from The Canadian Press
