Air Canada, Starbucks team up to help Canadian athletes
The 2018 Olympic Winter games in South Korea are proving to be another spectacular year for Canadian athletes. Consequently, several companies have been seeing this international success as an opportunity to promote their services. Air Canada, Starbucks, and Apple are just a few that have demonstrated their generosity in various ways.
By now it is well known that at the request of Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, Air Canada has agreed to fly the band the Arkells to Pyeongchang. What is less known, however, is Air Canada’s long history in providing assistance to Olympians.
Since the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Air Canada has delivered hundreds of requests to Canadian medal holders. The 2010 Games saw Olympian Patrick Chan’s longing for poutine unmet; the Ottawa native wasn’t used to the Canadian food out West. “There are only so many Nanaimo bars an athlete can enjoy while training,” moaned the figure skater. Air Canada promptly decided to send a fresh batch of fries, cheese curds, and gravy to the Olympic village in Vancouver. Chan and his teammates enjoyed the hearty, unwholesome dish the night before the closing ceremonies.
In the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, Bronze medalist Jan Hudec requested a pair of thick socks. “Compression socks in Russia are too itchy,” the skier announced on Twitter. As a result, Air Canada representatives flew a Costco-sized batch for the entire skiing team. “There were so many pairs, we were signing and giving them away to fans, and burning them for warmth” said one anonymous skier.
During the games in Sochi, Alexandre Bilodeau had a craving for some classic Starbucks one cool winter day. As there are only a handful of locations in Russia, Air Canada had to team up with the coffee chain to make Bilodeau’s dream come true.
“I’ll never forget that moment I took a sip of my Starbucks salted caramel brulee Frappuccino in front of the entire American team,” the decorated skier mused. “They were more envious of that coffee than they are of our health care system.”
The women’s curling team also found itself in a pickle when the entire group realized they had forgotten their phone chargers. Air Canada responded again by teaming up with Apple and delivering enough chargers for every Canadian athlete. “I am so grateful to Air Canada for giving me the chance to surf the web while waiting for my event to begin. The Wi-Fi in Russia isn’t great, so we had to rely on our data to surf,” revealed Rachel Homan, a member of the Olympic curling team.
It’s safe to say that Air Canada is going the extra mile in making Olympians’ dreams come true. The 2022 Winter Games in Beijing promises to be another spectacular year for making Canadian athletes dreams come true, one petty request at a time.
