OTTAWA, Oct. 27, 2014 /CNW/ - The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) Sports Awards Ceremony honoured the past year's outstanding CAF athletic achievements on October 24 at the Hampton Inn Conference Center in Ottawa. The ceremony was presented by Canadian Tire Corporation and sponsored by BMO Bank of Montreal.
Through this annual ceremony, the Canadian Armed Forces recognizes the accomplishments of its elite athletes and sports supporters. The ceremony features awards for Athlete, Coach, Official and Team of the Year. Outstanding sports careers are also recognized with inductions into the Canadian Armed Forces Sports Honour Roll, and the Canadian Armed Forces Sports Hall of Fame, the evening's highest honour.
General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, attended the ceremony and paid tribute to the important role sports play in the lives of military personnel. "It's important for leadership at all levels to recognize the tremendous benefit of making regular physical activity the norm for everyone in uniform. Many of those same attributes we wish to encourage in our personnel are the same as those developed on the field of play. Discipline, commitment, leadership, teamwork, perseverance…and that intangible quality, the warrior spirit."
Among the big winners at this year's ceremony were triathlete Captain David Lacombe and fencer Lieutenant Navy Chantel Helwer, the Male and Female Athletes of the Year.
Capt Lacombe of Valcartier, Quebec had a standout season in 2013. He beat out hundreds of competitors to win gold at the Rev3 Maine Half Ironman in Old Orchard Beach, the Triathlon Joliette Coupe du Québec, and the Duathlon Mont Tremblant. Capt Lacombe was second out of 8524 participants at the Army Run Half-Marathon and won bronze at the CAF Triathlon Nationals. Capping off his amazing year, Capt Lacombe was selected for Team Canada, and placed 14th out of 122 athletes at the World Triathlon Championship.
Lt (N) Helwer is a reservist, law student and world-ranked fencer from Winnipeg, Manitoba. In 2013, she won silver medals at the Manitoba Provincials and the Canadian University Championships. She also made Team Canada, and competed at a series of World Cup events throughout Europe and the US. Building on this success, Lt (N) Helwer made history as the first Canadian Armed Forces female fencer to compete at both the World Championships and the World University Games.
To learn more about the 2014 Sports Awards winners, visit www.cafsportsawardsceremony.ca.
SOURCE: Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services (CFMWS)
Todd Kealey, 613-992-1879
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