Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
My first Pan Am experience was in 2007.
It was actually, and is, the only gold medal I’ve won internationally so it has a special place in my heart because I ended up rupturing my plantar fascia in the 800 metres and had to continue my race.
It’s going to be great for track and field; great for our sport to get exposure.
We have some great athletes that have been very successful at the international stage.
To see our Canadians thrive and do well, I think it’s going to be huge and I’m so excited it’s in Canada.
We don’t usually have the home turf advantage and I do believe in that.
It’s definitely fun always to compete in front of a home crowd for something like an international competition for the Pan Am Games.
It’s going to be something special.
I think athletes give it all they’ve got in every other place they compete at.
I think they’ll bring a little extra at home.
I saw it in London, England, with the British athletes so for us to be able to compete at home here, and for me in Ontario, is going to be pretty exciting.
Canada needs more of these kinds of elite-level competitions.
We need opportunities for our athletes to feel good competing on home surface.
Tonight’s a great stepping stone in that direction, but to have a huge event like Pan Ams being held here, it’s an opportunity for Toronto to showcase itself as a community, but also in terms of an athletic centre.
I’m really excited. Hopefully you’ll see my face on that team.
I got a little bit of a taste of it today.
The crowd went pretty loud when I said my name and said I was from Toronto so it was nice and it gave me an adrenaline burst.
I’m hoping to be in medal contention or at least final contention in 2015.
Any chance that you get to compete against the best in the world, it definitely gets you ready for events like the Olympic Games.
Pan American Games give you the experience you need to compete and be able to go with confidence to those big championships.
For Toronto to host an international meet right when I think I’m going to be at the pinnacle of my career is going to be thrilling.
It’s going to be a huge honour to compete in front of your home crowd and I look forward to it.
Toronto and Canada, it will be where the action’s at.