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An Olympic ride
We expend a considerable amount of ink in this newspaper reporting on (and exulting in) the accomplishments of this community’s remarkable young people. As usual, you’ll find a number of them mentioned in this issue. On page 12, you’ll see a report on a young violinist and guitarist, selected to receive this year’s awards from the Uxbridge Music Scholarship Trust. On page 9, if you read Roger Varley’s Council report, you’ll find Jacob Mantle, only 23, making his customary solid contribution to the debate. And on page 3, you’ll hear from Jennifer Carroll, just 25, who Cosmos readers already know as a fine writer, but who takes considerable strides forward in an acting career this summer, tackling the wondrous prose and complex character of no less an icon than Lucy Maud Montgomery.
Talented and accomplished individuals all, well on their way to making their mark in their chosen fields. But towards the end of next month, all of Uxbridge (along with the rest of Canada) will be focussed on another young local native, performing on one of the highest-profile stages in the world - the Olympic Games. As we reported last week, and to no one’s surprise considering her recent accomplishments, Jessica Phoenix, 28, was named (along with her gorgeous horse, Exponential) to Canada’s equestrian team for the London Games, competing in eventing, the ‘triathlon’ for horse and rider, combining dressage, show jumping and cross-country racing over three consecutive days.
After a rousing sendoff from well-wishers last Thursday night, Jessica left this Monday for final training with the Canadian team in Virginia, before heading for London on July 1, giving her and Exponential plenty of time to acclimatize themselves before competing beginning July 27, early in the Olympic schedule.
Taking a horse to the Olympics is a pretty expensive proposition; Jessica’s support team hopes to raise $20,000 locally to offset those expenses. They made a good start last week and, as of press time, they were about a third of the way to their goal. But they could still use your help. To be a part of Jessica’s Olympic dream, just drop your contribution into BDO, at the corner of Brock and Main, during regular business hours, and when the Games finally begin, you’ll have a little bit of a stake in what you’re watching.
And how realistic are the chances of Uxbridge’s Olympian? Well, consider that Jessica won the individual gold medal in eventing just last year at the Pan-American Games in Mexico, defeating not only the rest of her accomplished team-mates, but some pretty highly-ranked riders from traditional equestrian powerhouses like the United States and Argentina. She is as comfortable in the international spotlight as she is on her Cannington farm.
Because of her Pan-Am gold, chances are good that the Canadian media will pay close attention to our Ms. Phoenix as she begins her Olympic quest on the Games’ very first day. Wouldn’t it be something if the first Canadian medal of the 2012 Summer Olympics went to an athlete from Uxbridge, Ontario? Wouldn’t it be fantastic if that medal was made of gold? It could very well happen... watch and find out!
July 14, 2011
