Premier Pat Binns welcomed a very special guest to the weekly provincial cabinet meeting earlier today.
Jared Connaughton received congratulations from the Premier and the Provincial Cabinet as Prince Edward Island’s first ever Canada Games double gold medal winner.
Connaughton was presented with a provincial declaration of congratulations signed by the Premier. The sprinter was joined at the cabinet meeting by his coach, Colin MacAdam.
Connaughton captured gold in both the 100M and 200M with times of 10.48 seconds and 21.30 seconds, respectively.
“This is a tremendous achievement,” noted the Premier. “The Government of Prince Edward Island recognizes the significant commitment, effort and sacrifice that it takes to become an accomplished athlete, and wishes to honour Jared Connaughton and express the heartfelt enthusiasm of all Islanders on this remarkable accomplishment,” said the Premier.
The Honourable Elmer MacFadyen, Minister of Sport, recognized the contribution of coach Colin MacAdam. MacAdam has coached Prince Edward Island’s Athletics Teams at the last several Canada Summer Games. Through Colin’s leadership, the sport of Athletics is again on the rise on PEI.
“With coaches such as Colin promoting quality and inspiring leadership, we set the stage for our young athletes to succeed,” noted Minister MacFadyen.
The Premier expressed his thanks to all the athletes, coaches and supporters who represented Prince Edward Island at the 2005 Canada Summer Games in Regina.
“Islanders are very proud of all the young men and women who competed and those who support them. They again demonstrated a commitment to excellence and sportsmanship which our province has built a national reputation for,” said Binns.