Adam van Koeverden searched and searched, but his longed-for souvenir remained untraceable.
The kayak champion turned politician was well versed in the time-honoured tradition of exchanging country badges at the Olympics. And since Milton has a sizeable Pakistani community, the MP was keen to grab a few Pakistan badges for some friends back home, especially since javelin thrower Aarshad Nadeem had just won the country’s first gold medal in athletics.
Van Koeverden made numerous requests to spectators and vendors, but to no avail. Hopes of leaving Paris with the souvenir had all but disappeared until he came across the souvenir by chance at the closing ceremony on Sunday (11 August).
“A gentleman sitting right next to me wearing a green shirt asked me out of the blue if I wanted a Pakistan pin. I swapped five or six Canadian pins for the one he had and told him I have a lot of friends back home who would really appreciate it. Lucky guy,” said the four-time Olympic medalist.
This meaningful exchange marked the end of van Koeverden’s eighth Olympic Games – a sporting celebration that he experienced from all angles.
In addition to participating in four Summer Games as an athlete, he went to Vancouver as a board member of the Canadian Olympic Committee and served as a CBC commentator in Sochi and Pyeongchang.
This time he took on the ambassadorial hat as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State to the Minister for Sport and Physical Activity Carla Qualtrough, a Paralympic swimmer who was present in the pool for Summer McIntosh’s historic feat.
Just a few days later, van Koeverden experienced a similar thrill as she cheered on canoeist Katie Vincent to gold.
“That was definitely my highlight,” he said. “They (Olympics) are all special, but I have to say Paris really put on a show. The venues were super iconic; they really put the athletes in the spotlight first and foremost.”
Among the many Canadian athletes that van Koeverden cheered on was Michael Foley of Milton, a successful track cyclist who competed in both the team pursuit and the Madison race.
He was still at home when fellow Miltonian Kayla Alexander took to the field with the women’s basketball team, but he enthusiastically followed the entire event on television.
“I’m a huge fan of hers, on and off the field. She’s a wonderful person and a really great children’s author… check out her work. Canada is proud of all our hometown heroes,” van Koeverden said.
Among the dozens of events he attended was the women’s beach volleyball semifinal, where, as luck would have it, he found himself sitting directly in front of IOC President Thomas Bach.
And van Koeverden had the perfect icebreaker.
“I told him if he likes French crepes, he should try them with Canadian maple syrup,” said the Milton MP, who gave Bach one of the many Springridge Farm bottles he brought. “Then Canada won, so that was lucky for Melissa and Brandie, too.”
Van Koeverden was enthusiastic about the increasing popularity of “urban disciplines” such as breakdancing, wall climbing, skateboarding and 3×3 basketball, which he said had increased the attractiveness of the Olympic Games.
“A younger, more urban and cooler audience has been watching these games and I think that’s great.”
Another positive aspect: Van Koeverden, who also serves as Parliamentary State Secretary in the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change, was particularly encouraged by the measures taken to make the Paris Games significantly more environmentally friendly and sustainable than previous Olympic Games.
“Usually there’s just an absurd amount of free, mostly plastic, single-use giveaways. Paris did something very cool. Basically they said: take pictures, make memories, because not everywhere is going to give away a free plastic piece of jewelry or a hat that you only wear once or a disposable item.
“It was a nice change. There were almost no plastic bottles and bags either. It was a good example for large global events in the future. They definitely rewrote the book and took it a step further in terms of sustainability on a large scale.”
