November 23, 2005 — The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) is proud to be associated with the 33rd Gala Sports-Québec and congratulates all the finalists for this year’s event. The COC, which is sponsoring the “Maurice” awards for the International Level Male and Female Athlete of the Year, announced the six finalists for this award at the official press conference today in Montreal. The winners will be named at the Gala Sports-Québec ceremony on December 21.

The three male and three female International Level Athlete of the Year finalists are:

-Alexandre Despatie (diving)
-Marc-André Moreau (freestyle ski)
-François-Louis Tremblay (short track speed skating)
-Ann Dow (water polo)
-Clara Hughes (long track speed skating),
-Marie-Hélène Prémont (mountain biking).

Each finalist received a $500 cheque from the COC’s Director of Athlete and Community Relations, Marc Gélinas. The winner in each category will receive a $1,000 cheque from the COC on the evening of the Gala.

“The COC wants to congratulate this year’s finalists in the international level athlete of the year categories. These categories are particularly special to us since five out of the six finalists are Olympians, and three of these athletes are hopefuls for the Olympic team in Turin,” said Gélinas. “The COC also wants to applaud Sports-Québec’s efforts to annually honour the best sport representatives from Quebec and increase the visibility of Quebec’s excellence in sport.”

The COC has entered into a three-year agreement with Sports-Québec to present the finalists and winners in the International Level Male and Female Athlete of the Year categories until 2008. Biographies and photos of the six finalists are available on the COC website at www.olympic.ca/EN/organization/news/2005/quebec_gala/index.shtml.