The man I picked for the Gold on Floor in Beijing has found a sponsor.
Congratulations.
Brandon was forced to limp off the competition Floor at the 2008 Olympics after being injured in podium training. Like many others, Brandon was considering retirement.
Gymnast gets second chance at medal
Thanks to the generosity of a city businessman, local Olympian can revisit his dream in 2012
An Olympic medal wasn’t to be in his future — but then he met Shawn Dolan.
Dolan had watched O’Neill’s agony as he tried to compete in the Olympics a week after suffering ligament damage to one ankle. The Edmonton businessman almost felt the young gymnast’s disappointment as the ankle gave out.
“You’re cheering for him and suddenly you’re friggin’ disappointed when he comes in sixth,” Dolan said. “Well, know what? We were talking about it and I did something about it.”
The owner of ECM Electronics founded the Alberta Olympic Sponsorship Group and will provide O’Neill with the financial resources to continue competing through the 2012 Games.
Dolan and a small group of investors will give O’Neill $4,000 a month for the next four years to keep alive his Olympic medal dream and to “prove to the rest of Canada that if our athletes are funded properly and are able to train as in other countries, they’ll succeed in winning medals.”
Dolan chose O’Neill as the first recipient of the group’s funding, partly because Dolan didn’t want to see him quit, and partly because his own daughter is a member of the same Capital City Gymnastics Club as O’Neill.
…
He’s looking for more investors — private or corporate — to join his group so more Alberta athletes can be helped. He said the athletes have to be carded, have a good competitive record and be able to quality for the Olympics. He hopes to add a winter athlete after the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and a second athlete after the 2012 Summer Games. …
Shawn Dolan, left, founder of the Alberta Olympic Sponsorship Group, persuaded Olympic gymnast Brandon O’Neill to come out of retirement and train for the 2012 Games.
Photograph by: Larry Wong, The Journal
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