She is part cheerleader and part ambassador.
Delta MP Carla Qualtrough Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, is in Tokyo to cheer on Team Canada athletes at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
In a phone interview with the Optimist on Thursday evening, July 22, Qualtrough was just a few hours away from attending the opening ceremony.
Qualtrough will be at the event for five days and four nights, which is the maximum allowable stay for dignitaries as part of the COVID measures in place.
“I won’t be able to interact with the athletes face-to-face, because of the COVID protocols that are in place keeping athletes safe and dignitaries safe,” she said. “I’ll be watching a lot of sport and it looks like I will be able to see all the Delta athletes who are competing during my time here.”
Minister of Heritage Steven Guilbeault was not able to attend due to vaccination timing for him and Qualtrough was asked by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to attend on his behalf.
“Certainly, as you know, I’m an Olympic and Paralympic junky, so it was not hard to persuade me to come and support Canada’s delegation here,” Qualtrough added. “That is really the purpose for me attending…to signal to our athletes and to Canadians that the Government of Canada supports our team, that we support Japan in hosting and that we know how important it is for Canadians to see a demonstration of support by their government in these difficult times for this very hopeful event.”
After a year-long delay, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games take place from July 23 to Aug. 8 and will include around 11,090 athletes from 206 countries.
Canada will field a team of 371 athletes in 33 sports.
Delta has seven athletes at the Games. They include: water polo players Hayley McKelvey and Gurpreet Sohi, Mark Pearson (field hockey), Markus Thormeyer (swimming), Maxwell Lattimer (rowing) Brendan Guraliuk (field hockey) and Kelsey Harshman (softball).
Athletes will be competing in mostly empty venues, with no spectators allowed.
Qualtrough said it will most certainly be a different Olympic experience.
“The restrictions are tight and rightly so, but it is still exciting,” she said. “The country is in a state of emergency and for good reason, but I feel very safe.”
Qualtrough, as Federal Sport Minister, attended the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio and has been to other Games in many capacities.
She also competed in swimming at the 1988 and 1992 Paralympic Games.
“I have a big passion for seeing sport as a tool to broaden international conversations that can be difficult otherwise,” she said. “There is a spirit of hope, but a spirit that recognizes that we are not out of the woods yet in this global pandemic and as such, athletes will be very respectful of the protocols that are in place.
“This is a very exciting event and I’m a big fan. I see the potential around the world for sport to really do good, but at the same time, we are still very much in this global pandemic, so we have to be a little more sober in our approach to these Games.”
Qualtrough said she is looking forward to cheering on Delta’s athletes.
“Our athletes in Delta take their sports very seriously and have had incredible success throughout Canada’s participation in previous Games,” she said. “I’ve longed believed that sport can foster shared values of equality and inclusion that this movement globally offers the world. Athletes have shown incredible resilience the past year training and competing differently because of COVID. It shows the world that people can face adversity and still triumph. That is what the Games are all about.”
