Rhian Wilkinson's Official Website

RHIAN'S SOCCER JOURNALS:

RHIAN WINS A "MAURICE" AT QUEBEC SPORTS GALA 18 Dec 2008

From Quebec Media sources

In the year following the 2008 Olympic Games, Rhian was honored at the

36th Quebec Sports Gala in Laval. She received a "Maurice" (named after the Canadiens' star Maurice Richard). This recognized her as the Quebec Athlete of the Year in a Team Sport. Quebec Athletes of the Year went to two other Olympians: Gold Medal winner Eric Lamaze and Olympic silver medal winner Emilie Heymans.

Lamaze was ranked 8th in the world when he won silver in the Olympics

Team Trial. Three days later, on 21st August 2008, he won gold in the

individual jumping event. He became the first Canadian rider to win a gold Olympics medal. Lamaze is the first rider to win a Quebec award, as he beat out Alexandre Despatie, silver medal winner on the 3 metre board, and canoeist Thomas Hall, winner of a bronze medal in the C-1 1000 m.

Emilie Heymans had previously won a "Maurice" in 2003. She has had an

excellent year on the international stage carrying off no fewer than 14

medals. She finished her 2008 season with a first individual Olympic silver medal in the 10 metre tower event. She had already won two Olympic medals in synchronized diving. Her coach at the Pointe Claire Club, Yi Hua Li, won a "Maurice" as Coach of the Year. Heymans was chosen over Marie-Hélène Prémont (mountain biking) and Karine Sergerie (taekwondo).

Rhian Wilkinson, the Quebec soccer payer from Baie-d'Urfé, won the

award as Athlete of the Year in a Team Sport. The Quebec player was

part of the team that won a quarter final berth in the Beijing Olympics.

In giving the award, the announcer noted that she was only 20 when

she was first chosen to play for Canada. Today at 26, she has become a key member of the squad.

She was undoubtedly the most surprised award winner at the Gala. She was convinced that the honor would go either to Samuel Giguère, a wide receiver with the Vert et Or of the Université de Sherbrooke and a

member of the Indianapolis Colts of the NFL, or to Matthew Langton, a

star pitcher and batter of the Quebec Elite Baseball League. "When I

saw the two guys I was competing against I thought I would be able to sit back and enjoy a quiet stress-free evening. I was looking forward to just having something to eat and drink....It was a shock," she said, "but it is really an award to the whole team."

At the Gala, Sylvie Bernier was recognized as Chef de Mission of the Canadian Team at the Beijing Olympic Games.

Other winners at the Awards were:

^{Female athlete National level: Marie-Philip
Poulin, hockey sur glace}

^{Male athlete National level: Philippe Riopel,
speed skating}

^{Female athlete Quebec level: Adriane Provost, cyclisme sur
route}

^{Club team : William Dion Club, curling}

^{Quebec Representative team: U17 Quebec,
basketball}

^{Male athlete Qc level: Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu,
speed skating}

^{Partners of year: Richard Dober Jr &t Andrew Willows,
speed kayaking}

^{Trainer of the Year: Yi Hua Li, Diving}

^{Official of the Year: Guylaine Bernier, Rowing}

^{National Volunteer award: Denis Lévesque, Road
racing}

^{Canadian event: National Special Olympics Winter Games
Quebec 2008}

^{International event: World Hockey championship 2008}

^{Sports Federation of the Year : Tennis-Québec}