U of T alumnus Jim Worrall proudly carried the Canadian flag leading a procession of world-class athletes into the official start of the XI Olympiad. On April 17th, over 70 years later, Worrall again found himself leading a parade of Olympians —  this time at the Varsity Centre dome in celebration of a new era for sport at the University of Toronto.

Veteran Olympics reporter Brian Williams served as the night’s emcee and introduced the troupe of 50 Olympians — all whom have a connection to the University of Toronto. In the past 100 years, more than 300 Olympic athletes have attended U of T – and Thursday night’s procession included a representative from every Summer Games since 1936.

Guest speaker Chris Rudge, the Canadian Olympic Committee’s chief executive officer, discussed the urgency for governments and institutions like U of T to work together to reinvest in sport and help prepare tomorrow’s Olympians for success on the podium.

Ontario Minister of Health Promotion Margarett Best also addressed the crowd and spoke about her government’s renewed commitment to sport. Best cited the announcement, made earlier in the day at U of T’s Athletic Centre, that her ministry will invest $2-million at U of T over the next two years. In exchange, U of T will provide a range of sport services and facility access to Ontario’s top athletes.

One of the Varsity Blues’ biggest fans, U of T President David Naylor, was also on hand, highlighting the importance of investments in keeping Ontario athletes at home and providing them with infrastructure they need. “We want to keep our most promising student athletes here in Canada. We’re losing a staggering number of them to universities in the U.S. Timing is everything.  We cannot develop athletes for games of the future without building the infrastructure now.”

The Varsity Centre is now in full operation, with an eight lane state-of-the-art track, a FIFA two-star-rated turf and seating for 5,000. The next step is the construction of the Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport, which will create a synergy of sport science and medicine, training, research, teaching and coaching.

“The best athletes in the world benefit from a training model that blends outstanding coaches and facilities with a research-intensive environment,” said FPEH Dean Bruce Kidd. “It’s the ‘institute’ model - the world’s gold standard - and it’s what we’re building here in Toronto.”

Guests at the event were entertained with demonstrations from two of the Varsity Blues’ top fencers and athletes from Skyriders trampoline club and Sport Seneca gymnastics club(the respective clubs of U of T students and Beijing-bound trampoline athletes Sarah Charles and Rosie MacLennan and rhythmic gymnast Alexandra Orlando). Attendees included 2008 Olympians and U of T students Sarah Charles and Colin Russell, the Minister of Tourism & MPP of Mississauga East, Peter Fonseca, alumni and co-chairs of the Varsity Centre Campaign Cabinet, Gord Cunningham and Karen Pitre, along with many other friends and supporters of U of T’s athletics programs.