Canadian Olympic freestyle skier tops national poll for Air Canada Athlete of the Year Award
MONTREAL, Dec. 12, 2014 /CNW Telbec/ - Air Canada today announced that Canadian freestyle skier Alexandre Bilodeau has been voted the winner of the Air Canada Athlete of the Year Award in a national on-line poll.
"Air Canada extends its heartfelt congratulations to Alexandre who has been chosen to receive the Air Canada Athlete of the Year Award for 2014. He exemplifies the leadership, dedication and commitment to excellence the award celebrates and it is evident that Canadians recognize his hard work and talent," said Craig Landry, Vice President of Marketing at Air Canada. "As a sponsor of the Canadian Olympic Team, we take great pride in our association with all of our Canadian athletes and also congratulate curler Jennifer Jones and bobsledder Kaillie Humphries who were the runners-up for this award. Additionally, we thank the hundreds of thousands of Canadians who took time to vote for their favorite athlete in our national poll."
At the 2014 Olympic Winter Games, Alex Bilodeau, already a giant in the world of moguls skiing, became the first Canadian man (and just the second Canadian athlete ever) to successfully defend an individual Olympic gold medal. Now retired from competition, he also became the first freestyle skier in any discipline to win two Olympic gold medals.
The Air Canada Athlete of the Year Award was presented last year to short track speed skater Charles Hamelin, and in 2012 to soccer player Christine Sinclair. In order to raise the athletes' profiles and engage all Canadians, the winners are chosen by a public vote from a short-list of finalists selected by a committee representing Air Canada, the Canadian Olympic Committee, the Canadian government, The Canadian Press and also last year's Award winner.
The winner will receive two Business Class tickets to anywhere in the world Air Canada flies, as well as Super Elite™ 100K status in Air Canada's Altitude program for one year.
About Air Canada
Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international airline serving more than 180 destinations on five continents. Canada's flag carrier is among the 20 largest airlines in the world and in 2013 served more than 35 million customers. Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 60 Canadian cities, 49 destinations in the United States and 73 cities in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico and South America. Air Canada is a founding member of Star Alliance, the world's most comprehensive air transportation network serving 1,316 airports in 192 countries. Air Canada is the only international network carrier in North America to receive a Four-Star ranking according to independent U.K. research firm Skytrax that ranked Air Canada in a worldwide survey of more than 18 million airline passengers as Best Airline in North America in 2014 for the fifth consecutive year. For more information, please visit: www.aircanada.com.
SOURCE Air Canada
