FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Ordering Information: (800) 565-4362 (USA)
(902) 863-6550 (other)
Press Contact: Cindy Daoust
(613) 734-4258
100 Years of Athletic Excellence:
New Stamps Mark Centennial of Canadian Involvement in the Summer Olympics
OTTAWA, July 12 /CNW Telbec/ - In the summer of 1904, the Galt Football
Club travelled to St. Louis, Missouri to represent Canada in the second
Olympic Football Tournament. The team defeated two American clubs to win
the Gold Medal and set the stage for what has become one of our country's
most popular team sports. Canada Post will pay tribute to this summer's
Olympic Games and one hundred years of participation by Canadian athletes
with two new stamps to be issued on July 28, 2004. The stamps will honour
soccer as well as the most historic individual Olympic event - the running
of the Marathon.
"The drive and passion shown by Olympic athletes often compels them to
hero status, whether they win a medal or not," said Anne Joynt, President
and CEO of Canada Post. "Canada Post salutes every Canadian athlete of
these Olympic and Paralympic Games and wishes them the very best as they
strive towards their very own heroic moment."
While the modern game of soccer started with the foundation of the
Football Association of England in 1863, its roots extend to the opposite
ends of the earth. The ancient Chinese, Greeks and Romans played similar
games involving the control of a ball with the feet. In 1900, football
became one of the first team sports included in the Olympic Games. Women's
football was introduced at the 1996 Olympic Games, where the final
attracted a world record crowd for a women's sporting event of 76,000
people.
Despite enjoying incredible success the last few years (silver at the
under-19 world championship in 2002, silver in the 2002 Gold Cup and fourth
in the 2003 World Cup), the Canadian women's team failed to qualify for the
Olympics. Despite opening round wins over Jamaica, Panama and Costa Rica,
the Canadian women were beaten by a Mexican team that had never defeated
Canada in 10 previous games.
Started in Greece some 2,500 years ago, the Marathon race now bears the
name of the city from which it was first run. It was from Marathon that
Philippides, a Greek soldier, ran to Athens to announce the Athenian
victory of General Miltiades over the Persians to his compatriots.
According to the legend, Philippides ran the 42 kilometres between Marathon
and Athens, delivered his message of victory and then collapsed dead. After
spending some 2,400 years in obscurity, the "marathon" reappeared at the
first Olympic Games of the modern era.
The stamps were designed by Pierre-Yves Pelletier, who has designed more
than 100 Canadian postage stamps, including the very popular Canadian
astronauts set issued in October 2003 for Stamp Collecting Month. The
Marathon stamp features a silhouette of an ancient Greek runner and a photo
of Spyros Louis (a Greek shepherd who won the first Olympic Marathon of the
modern era in 1896), against a palette of colours used in the ceramics of
the era. In the background is the outline of an athletic track that is used
as a visual guide to construct the letters that form the word "Athens" in
Greek. The images combine to illustrate the link between the ancient and
modern Olympic Games. The soccer stamp is illustrated by the flurry of
action in front of the goal net. The background colour is a palette of
green tones that symbolize the field on which the game is played. The word
CANADA appears in the weave of the net in front of which the young girls
fight for the ball.
Additional information about the Olympic stamps can be found in the
Newsroom section of Canada Post's website, and downloadable high-resolution
photos of the stamps are in the Newsroom's Photo Centre. Stamps and
Official First Day covers will be available at participating post offices,
can be ordered online by following the links at Canada Post's website
www.canadapost.ca, or by mail order from the National Philatelic Centre.
From Canada and the USA call toll-free: 1-800-565-4362 and from other
countries call: (902) 863-6550.
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