Major Games competition is an exciting time for an athlete and for the Canadian team. Most high-performance athletes will tell you that representing their country on the world stage is the ultimate goal in their career. Beyond iconic competitions in each of the three Olympic and one Paralympic disciplines, competing wearing the maple leaf on your saddle pad and your show jacket or tail coat in front of the world is a dream come true.
The role of communications in the Games environment is to celebrate that athlete pride and share it with the equestrian community and beyond. It is also to help amplify the personal stories of athletes as well as to support and protect their interests in the oftentimes complex world of media relations.
Each sport competing at the Games for Canada has a media attaché supporting them. Most sports have their own communications person from the National Sport Organization (NSO) in attendance in Santiago, but for some it is a shared responsibility where they cover their own sport and then also provide coverage for one or several other sports.
Here I am with Director, High Performance James Hood during a show jumping course walk at the FEI World Championships in Herning, Denmark in August 2022.
Photo Credit: Cealy Tetley
Before the Games
Like anything, preparation is key. Long before teams were nominated or flights were booked for Santiago, media attaches for all of Team Canada’s sports began meeting biweekly in January 2024 to prepare for the Games. Led and organized by the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC), these virtual meetings shared information about all things Santiago and included information about logistics, coverage, locations, and day-by-day scheduling. There was an in-person meeting and training held over two days in Montreal in August 2023. Throughout the lead up, the COC has been a phenomenal resource and assistance to EC as well as all Team Canada media leads.
For our pre-games athlete supports, once nominations were completed by the disciplines, we prepared press announcements and what we call ‘Team Cards’. Like athlete trading cards, we create information social graphics to announce and celebrate each athlete and team. Announcements were collaboratively written with the COC and published on October 2.
Our Marketing and Communications team (Marcomms) were busy over the year so far in creative design for fan wear packages for those joining the team on the ground. The look and feel of the Pan Am time period for our daily update releases, social media posts, and medal celebrations all had to be prepared to be ready for the third week of October.
Data analysis of the Games history, Canada’s previous results, qualification information as well as athlete and horse bios has been completed to have the information at our fingertips when creating content for different outlets.
One of the activities on venue is accompanying and recording media interviews with Canada’s athletes, like this one with the FEI’s Louise Garland and Mathilde Blais Tetreault.
Photo Credit: Cealy TetleyDuring the Games
Once on the ground in Chile, the race is on to get things started. Wayfinding to get accreditations, navigating the venue and connecting with onsite personnel and the rest of the team. The travel doesn’t stop in Santiago as the Equestrian venue is located two hours outside of the city in a small town called Quillota.
Group Whatsapp chats help keep on top of what is happening with each discipline team and the media attaches on the ground in Chile. The Pan Am Sports group provides a significant amount of preparation as well as onsite supports with the media centres, sharing scheduling, organizing mixed zones, broadcasting, press conferences and photography.
The team hotel is approximately 10 minutes away from the venue and we will shuttle back and forth early each day and typically return later around the dinner hour. The timing of the day depends on any onsite needs and whether a press release will be written on the grounds or back at the hotel. We produce a daily update of the activities of the day that covers competition as well as non-competition days.
Social media stories, impromptu pictures and chatting with members of the team continues throughout the two and a half weeks to ensure we are documenting an accurate and authentic picture of the games and athlete experience. I liaise with the onsite photographers – two Canadians Cealy Tetley and Cara Grimshaw who were accredited by COC to cover the equestrian sports. Making plans for what photos we are seeking for the day and if there any special needs for the different mediums.
Time is split between the warmup areas, with the team and any place where I can set up my computer! Social media posts, interviews and writing fill the days! Secretly my favourite places to be and experience our sport is with the horses. Our team grooms, chefs and support teams are wonderful and the more time I can be around the horses, the better! I also get closer insights into the athletes and have benefitted greatly from getting to know them both watching them ride and on the ground.
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When the Kiss and Cry area is large enough, its the best place to watch, cheer and gather details for media coverage. Here I am (can you pick me out?) being my animated self cheering on the Canadian Dressage team at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago (Quillota), Chile.
Photo Credit : Cealy Tetley
Once any of them take on competition whether it be a technical Dressage test, galloping a cross country track or tackling a grand prix level jumping course, the nerves surge and the cheering begins. I try to balance paying attention to the technical details and scores, taking notes and a significant amount of animation in the form of nailbiting, holding my breath, jumping up and down and/or fist pumping on my part. That is then followed by running back to greet the athlete once they’ve come out of stewarding, cool down and conferring with their team on how things went.
I greet the athlete, typically provide them a drink of water and support them as they navigate through the mixed zone – the area designated for press to interview athletes. They can be from a variety of outlets, online and mainstream, equestrian and not. I will record the audio of each interview and then will see if there is anything else I’d like to ask them before we head back out. This will happen on repeat until all the athletes are done. If there are podium moments – those are even more exciting!
My preference is to write as soon as possible after an event or interview is done, but usually it is not until closer to the end of the day. I pull together my notes, chat with the team leader, manager, chef d’equipe to ensure the story will cover every we’re hoping for. I chat with the photographer to let them know what shots I’m looking for and then I write! Once it’s done, it gets sent to the group for review and feedback and once we’re happy with it, it gets sent to be translated into French.
Once photos are received, reviewed and selected, the story gets sent electronically, posted to the website and a social post is created. At the end of the day, I try to do catch up from other non-games work and projects, plan for the next day, maybe eat and then head to bed to get ready to get up in the morning and do it all over again!
Communications work at a major games is challenging, exhilarating, overwhelming, satisfying, and a balancing act. I am away from my family and friends, my dogs and my horse, which some days is the only bad part. There are always things that don’t go as planned, are lost in translation or come out of left field, but the role is one that feels like it’s every bit a part of the team.
Being a media attaché allows me the chance to be and share our Canadian pride in a sport I love and for that I am eternally grateful.
Cover photo: Anneli Tapanila Photography