The Empire Club of Canada
Hybrid
Thursday, May 23, 2024
What does it take to qualify for the biggest multi-sport event on earth? How do you prepare to perform in front of four billion viewers? How do you balance the priorities of 206 National Olympic Committees? And how does Team Canada move more than 350 athletes, with all their equipment and hundreds of support staff and fans around the world every two years?
Join David Shoemaker, CEO of the Canadian Olympic Committee and Bruny Surin, Team Canada’s Chef de Mission for Paris 2024, alongside Olympian, Pan American Champion, and Paris Qualified Taekwondo athlete Skylar Park, for a peak behind the scenes of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games moderated by veteran CBC Sports anchor Andi Petrillo.
Don’t miss this event at the Empire Club of Canada to experience this moment of patriotism in celebration of Canada’s Olympic achievements and our athletes.
Making the quarterfinals in her Olympic debut in Tokyo 2020, Skylar has been doing taekwondo since she could walk. Her father (who is also her coach) and grandfather are both taekwondo Masters and a total of 16 family members are black belts, including her two younger brothers, mother, father, grandfather, aunts, uncles and cousins — her grandmother says she doesn’t need a black belt because everyone else can protect her.
After earning gold at the 2016 World Taekwondo Junior Championships, Park achieved her first senior highlights in 2019, winning a bronze medal at the World Taekwondo Championships and a silver medal at the Lima 2019 Pan American Games. She made her Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020, where she reached the quarter finals and in 2022 she won three straight gold medals leading up to the Pan American Championships and another gold medal at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games.
Andi Petrillo serves as host of CBC Sports Presents each weekend. She, along with fellow host Scott Russell, guides viewers through CBC Sports’ coverage of national and international elite high-performance sport competitions each weekend, in addition to in-depth features on the athletes and sports being covered.
Petrillo brings tremendous knowledge of both the athletes and the game to CBC’s broadcasts no matter which sport she is covering. Known for her work as part of the studio team for CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada, she was the first full-time female Hockey Night in Canada in-studio personality. She also hosted other major international events for CBC in the past, including 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazilâ, the Pan Am Afternoon on CBC TV during the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games, as well as the 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2022 Olympic Games.
Petrillo got her start in the broadcast business volunteering with Rogers TV York Region, while earning degrees in English and Mass Communications from York University. She followed up her university experience with a diploma in Broadcast Journalism from Seneca College. After earning her diploma, Petrillo joined Rogers TV York Region full-time as a sports producer and host in 2004, covering local high school sports as well as golf and weekly Junior ‘A’ hockey games. In 2006, she joined Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment’s Leafs TV where she hosted the pre- and post-game shows as well as Leafs Today and also served as a reporter at Maple Leafs and Marlies games, providing in-game reports and player interviews.
While with MLSE, Petrillo also served as the main host and sideline reporter on the organization’s Raptors TV and GOL TV networks, covering the Toronto Raptors and Toronto FC, respectively. In 2008, Petrillo had the opportunity to report from the sidelines of the National Lacrosse League Championship for ESPN.
Petrillo was recognized with the 2016 Canadian Screen Award for Best Sports Host in a Sports Program or Series category for her work on CBC’s coverage of the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games. Her win in this category makes her the first woman to win an award from the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television for her role as host of a sports program or series. In 2012, she hosted the All-Canadian Awards Banquet at the CIS Women’s Basketball Final 8, where she was presented with a Woman of Influence Award in honour of her influence in both her profession and in her community.
Follow Andi Petrillo on Twitter: @AndiPetrillo
Chief Executive Officer and Secretary General of the Canadian Olympic Committee.
With over 20 years of experience in the industry, David is an accomplished global sports executive and a trusted name in the worlds of sports business and law. David joined the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) in 2019 after being named Chief Executive Officer and Secretary General. In his role, he oversees the broad scope of operations of the Olympic Movement in Canada including national sport development programs, Team Canada preparation, Olympic bids and events, as well as the commercial and marketing arms of the organization. He works closely with the 52 national sporting organizations to provide the tools and support they need to develop the next generation of Olympians.
Before joining the COC, David spent seven years as the CEO of NBA China, leaving behind a legacy of record revenue growth, expanding partnerships to unprecedented levels, and skyrocketing viewership in China. In his seven years at the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), where he was also President from 2009 to 2011, David was instrumental in the global expansion of women’s professional tennis and part of the team responsible for the historic achievement of equal prize money for women at both the French Open and Wimbledon.
A native of Ottawa, ON, he currently resides in Toronto with his wife Jennifer and their three children. David speaks three languages: English, French and Mandarin Chinese.
Team Canada’s Chef de Mission for Paris 2024
Bruny Surin is a four-time Olympian who teamed with Donovan Bailey, Glenroy Gilbert, Robert Esmie and Carlton Chambers to win 4x100m relay gold at Atlanta 1996. Surin ran the third leg of the final as the Canadians became the first team to ever defeat the United States for the Olympic gold medal in the men’s 4x100m relay. Their time of 37.69 seconds stood as a national record for 20 years.
Surin also won two world titles in the 4x100m relay in 1995 and 1997, which followed a bronze medal in 1993. He stood on the world championship podium twice as an individual, winning 100m silver in 1995 and 1999. To win the latter, he tied the Canadian record of 9.84 seconds that Bailey had run to win 100m gold at Atlanta 1996, a mark that still stands. Surin was twice a world indoor champion in the 60m in 1993 and 1995. He holds the Canadian record of 6.45 seconds in that event. Surin made his Olympic debut at Seoul 1988 as a long jumper. His final Olympic appearance came at Sydney 2000.
Bruny was inducted to the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 2004 and Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2008 alongside his Atlanta 1996 relay teammates. Surin served as Team Canada’s Chef de Mission at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires
