OTTAWA—Alex Davidson has been tapped to lead Own the Podium’s summer sport program in an effort to help Canada achieve its continued goal of being a leading summer sport nation.

An experienced high-performance athlete, coach, technical leader and mental performance consultant in Canada’s sport system, the newly named vice-president of summer sport has played a key role building high-performance programs while serving a variety of leadership positions that has resulted in improved and medal-winning performances at the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
 
“I am humbled, grateful, and excited for the opportunity to work with Canada’s high performance summer sport community to build on our record setting performance Olympic performance in Tokyo, while continuing to improve on our Paralympic medal count,” said Davidson. “The performance bar is constantly being raised around the world and Canada cannot stand still. We need to be bold, working together to build on our past successes to help Canada achieve its performance goals while creating positive, safe and welcoming daily training environments across the country that are accountable to the values of fair play, integrity, inclusion and excellence.”
 
Davidson will be elevated to the top summer sport position at Own the Podium effective December 1, 2022. Davidson has worked with Own the Podium as a high-performance advisor since 2016 where he was assigned to work closely with high-performance leaders and sport scientists to develop world-leading programs aimed at building the training and competition environments required to provide athletes and coaches with the resources they needed to perform on the greatest stage.
 
“Alex is a calm, confident leader whose skillset and experience working in all facets of the high-performance sport community bring immense value to our organization,” said Anne Merklinger, chief executive officer, Own the Podium. “Alex understands the high-performance sport environment in Canada. He is a pragmatic and people-focused. Alex has built longstanding relationships with our key sport and government partners while empowering people, high-performance systems and sport groups in their pursuit of excellence. Alex is a proven performer who knows what is required to help Canada’s summer sport organizations achieve excellence.”
 
Prior to joining Own the Podium, Davidson was the high-performance manager for Wrestling Canada where he managed all facets of the high-performance program throughout the performance pathway in addition to leading athletes and coaches to the 2016 Olympic Summer Games, 2015 Pan American Games and 2014 Commonwealth Games. 
 
The former elite level swimmer at the University of Connecticut, Davidson has been coaching poolside at the club and University levels after completing his Bachelor of Arts, Psychology with a minor in Sociology. He launched his career in Canada’s high-performance sport community supporting athletes and coaches in the mental performance side of sport as a consultant after completing his Master’s degree in Human Kinetics.
 
Davidson succeeds Mark Hahto in the role of vice-president of sport at Own the Podium. Hahto will retire from the position at the end of December but will mentor Davidson during the transition into his new role through to the end of March 2023.

“Alex is a highly-accomplished leader who understands the high-performance environment and working in a multi-sport arena,” said Hahto. “He has been growing as a high-performance advisor over the last six years and is surrounded by a team of high quality professionals who share a common goal to help Canada’s organizations achieve excellence on and off the field of play. I look forward to helping him transition and develop into this role.”

Davidson will continue working out of Own the Podium’s headquarters in Ottawa.

About Own the Podium
Own the Podium, a not-for-profit organization, prioritizes and determines investment strategies to national sport organizations in an effort to deliver more Olympic and Paralympic medals for Canada. Own the Podium's largest contributor of funding is the Government of Canada with additional funding provided by the Canadian Olympic Committee/Canadian Olympic Foundation, the Canadian Paralympic Committee/Paralympic Foundation of Canada, along with the corporate community. For a full summary of Own the Podium initiatives and programs, including a breakdown of support and services by sport, please visit us at www.ownthepodium.org on the Internet.
 
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FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Chris Dornan                               
Own the Podium                        
T: 403-620-8731
E-mail: chris.dornan@ownthepodium.org