Connected to Calgary
WinSport has evolved in the three decades since the 1988 Calgary Olympics and it will continue to evolve over the next 30 years.
Like any great legacy, WinSport, as owners and operators of Canada Olympic Park, has not stood still. COP is home to new winter Olympic sports and to more than 15 National and Provincial Sport Organizations as well as the Canadian Sport Institute Calgary, which all support high-performance sport. Our world-class coaching, training and competition facilities support the ever-growing number of Canadian athletes achieving podium finishes on the global stage.
COP is a year-round sport and recreation hub for Calgarians. Thousands of children, newcomers, adaptive sport athletes and others are inspired through sport and recreation at COP each year. WinSport’s annual economic impact on the City of Calgary is $120 million and the park welcomes more than 1.2 million visitors each year. The impact of the 1988 Games extends from beginners to elite athletes and from youth volunteers to 30-year employees. It has inspired generations of Olympians, welcomes new Canadians to winter sport, and it is world-renowned.
While WinSport has been the gold standard for how to own, operate and maintain Olympic legacy, challenges are mounting. Aging infrastructure, ever-increasing pressure on sport and recreation in Canada and tough economic times are among the challenges. WinSport’s mandate is to manage, operate and maintain COP in an efficient and business-like manner, as a prudent owner of a world-class facility. It is to provide training, coaching, competition and recreation facilities to be used by high-performance athletes, developing athletes and the community.
The operation of COP is intended to be flexible and to evolve and adapt, as events occur and circumstances change, to respond to the needs of high-performance athletes, WinSport users and the public. With limited resources, WinSport is constantly navigating the delicate balance between these three user communities. We are focused on the future to continue this legacy to ensure that WinSport exists and COP lives on.
