Name: Matthew Marshall

Hometown: Calgary, Alberta

Carrying Torch: Calgary
Torchbearer number: OTR082-077           

Torch Relay Segment: January 19^th, 2010

Age: 15

Matthew Marshall is a 14 year-old teenager living in Calgary, Alberta. His active lifestyle is filled with a variety of sports. He participates in hockey, golf, track and field, cross-country running as well as trying out for the school badminton team. All of these sports have helped Marshall to remain active and healthy during all times of the year. His thirst for activity has driven his love for physical education and pursuing new sports. Some sports have motivated him to participate in other sports.

By leading an active lifestyle, Marshall has done his best to encourage others to try their best at being active. He has attempted to do this in three main ways: being a leader, coaching and by being a role model. This last hockey season, he was voted team captain by his fellow teammates. In the spring, he helped coach a hockey team of 8-10 year olds and felt they enjoyed having him as a coach. Last, but not least, Marshall has always tried to lead by example and live an active lifestyle in the hopes that those around him will, too.

Name: Nicole Hare

Hometown: Calgary, Alberta

Carrying Torch: Calgary
Torchbearer number: OTR082-097           

Torch Relay Segment: January 19^th, 2010

Age: 15

Nicole Hare believes being active is not only vital for your body, but is also beneficial for your mind. She encourages other people to become more involved in activity by showing them that it is both fun and will help lift their spirits.

Hare dedicates herself mainly to rowing, school teams, downhill skiing and field hockey. Sport helps her focus, set goals, release stress and develop important character traits such as diligence and commitment. Sport also helps her gain self-confidence by looking and feeling better. By showing other people the benefits of staying active, Hare hopes they, too, will become more active and interested in sport. For example, she encourages her friends and family to join her on hikes, bike rides, ski trips and water sport activities so that everyone can have fun being active.

Sport is a huge part of Hare’s life. On average, she dedicates more than an hour each day to vigorous training or competition. This year, she has participated in numerous junior high sports teams, including volleyball, basketball, track and field, badminton and cross-country. Throughout junior high, she has won a variety of athletic awards, including 2009 athlete of the year. Hare has also been a keen member of the Calgary Rowing Club and the under 16 Field Hockey Alberta Provincial Team. 

Name: Erin Tang

Hometown: Calgary, Alberta

Carrying Torch: Calgary
Torchbearer number: OTR082-027           

Torch Relay Segment: January 19^th, 2010

Age: 17

Living active has always been an important part of Erin Tang’s life.  Even though she was never able to participate in organized sports due to expensive costs, she still managed to live an active lifestyle while enjoying a wide range of different activities.

She joined her school’s wrestling team and convinced some of her friends to participate as well.  She likes wrestling because it is a sport that anyone can join, whether rookie or amateur, and is a great way to get physically fit.  There are now thirty people on her team and although wrestling is a one-person sport, everyone trains together.  Erin likes the teamwork aspect of the sport.

Erin believes that living actively is possible for any one, regardless of age or natural talent.  Erin says that all you need it a desire to be fit and the initiative to get started!

Name: Marika Wagner 

Hometown: Calgary, Alberta

Carrying Torch: Calgary
Torchbearer number: OTR082-005           

Torch Relay Segment: January 19^th, 2010

Age: 16

Marika Wagner is 16 and from Calgary.  For three years, she has been involved in the Calgary Youth Summit for global water issues, sponsored by the Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology. Marika has used these conferences to further her knowledge of water problems and search for solutions.  Two years ago, Marika and her classmates created a project to educate their school and raise money for the Calgary-based CAWST.  CAWST provides biosand water filters and education to water scarce countries.  For 7 months, her group met once a week at lunch in order to plan the event. 

Finally, on May 22, 2007, all fountains, sinks and most toilets in her school were shut down for a day.  They sold bottled water and had educational displays throughout the school, as well as a relay for gym classes simulating the difficulty of carrying water.  They inspired students to make a difference by conserving water to protect their local resource.  There is no doubt that this Water Day had an impact on the entire school, 750 students, 40 staff, because everyone experienced a water shortage and was shocked when they learned that they had to wait for the one available toilet!  Over the past three years, Marika has worked to raise more than $1500 for this cause.

Name: Michelle Dickie

Hometown: Calgary, Alberta

Carrying Torch: Calgary
Torchbearer number: OTR082-085           

Torch Relay Segment: January 19^th, 2010

Age: 31

Michelle Dickie has been a highland dancer since she was a little girl. She has parlayed her love of the sport into a rewarding experience teaching young people about highland dancing. She now teaches private and group lessons to children of all ages.

Michelle is proud to be part of the Coca Cola Olympic Torch Relay.

 

Name: Christopher Matthews

Hometown: Calgary, Alberta

Carrying Torch: Calgary
Torchbearer number: OTR082-012           

Torch Relay Segment: January 19^th, 2010

Age: 36

Christopher Matthews believes that that best active living activities can be shared with friends or family. He enjoys scenic hikes through the mountains with friends and white water rafting.

When he moved to Calgary, more than ten years ago, he found the best way to make new friends was through sports.  It was an easy way to meet people, and to develop lasting friendships.  He found a sporting group that ran summer and winter sports, such as curling, bowling, squash, and hiking. Since then, he has volunteered to lead hikes and rafting trips to meet people, and to help newcomers to the city develop friendships through sports and activities, just as he did.

Christopher believes that with a little effort to live Olympic, everybody wins in sports and in life – and that’s what the Olympic spirit is all about!

Name: Susan Eaton

Hometown: Calgary, Alberta

Carrying Torch: Airdrie
Torchbearer number: OTR082-156           

Torch Relay Segment: January 19^th, 2010

Age: 51

Susan Eaton has been a dedicated environmentalist since Earth Day in 1990. She says it was a turning point in her life and since she has worked to help the environment. She is now the volunteer director of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society. She was the recipient of the 2008 Emerald Award for a community-based conservation program that has inspired 65,000 school children to protect southern Alberta’s grizzly bears and endangered species. Susan is passionate about bears — grizzly, polar and spirit bears alike. In order to protect these majestic and endangered animals, she has travelled to the Khutzemateen Valley and to Princess Royal Island, both in northern British Columbia, and to Churchill, Manitoba, to observe bears ”doing their thing” in the wild.

As a director of the Calgary Rainforest Action Group, she volunteered during the 1990s to preserve British Columbia’s endangered old growth rainforests. Susan has raised money to build three canopy research platforms in Carmanah Valley, enabling scientists to catalogue the biodiversity of these temperate rainforests. Susan has had the unique privilege to climb 300 feet, into Carmanah’s old growth forests, to get a bird’s eye view of what lives in the dense rainforest forest canopy.

Susan is proud of her accomplishments to date and says she will keep working to preserve the environment.

 

Name: Adil Damani

Hometown: Calgary, Alberta

Carrying Torch: Chestermere

Torchbearer number: OTR082-122           

Torch Relay Segment: January 19^th, 2010

Age: 17

Growing up, Adil Damani didn’t make it onto any school teams. When he tried out for community teams, he was often placed on the ”worst” team. Despite not being able to play in the championship game or be the team captain, he still tries to do his best and give it his all.

Although he may not be the quickest basketball player or the fastest runner, Adil is still rewarded by his love of sport. He has joined the cross country running club at his school. He credits the running club with improving his fitness, allowing him to develop a more positive attitude, and increasing his enjoyed high school.

 

Name: Bernie Anderson

Hometown: Calgary, Alberta

Carrying Torch: Calgary
Torchbearer number: OTR082-029           

Torch Relay Segment: January 19^th, 2010

Age: 18

Bernie Anderson just finished high school and he is a registered Apprentice Carpenter. He plays football, floor hockey and volunteers at his church and local Boys and Girls Club.  He has asthma and has lived with a severe Peanut Allergy all my life but he says he will never let that stop him from what he wants to do!!