Calgary’s Olympic and Paralympic athletes got their own hometown podium recognition, with a tip of the hat at Calgary city council.

Nearly three dozen Calgary athletes and coaches had their names called, and recognition of their accomplishments shared publicly at the April 28 Regular meeting of Calgary city council.

Multiple speed skating medallist and Olympic competitor, Ivanie Blondin, who won a gold and silver in the recent Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, said it means a lot to get the local recognition.

“I think it’s special for all of us,” she said.

“As athletes, I mean, we put our heads down, and we put in the hours, and it comes naturally to chase those dreams and to be recognized by an entire city, and especially Calgary, a city (where) there’s just so much infrastructure for sport and so much for us to be able to perform, and it means the world.”

Olympians and Paralympians who live and train in Calgary brought home several medals in both sporting competitions earlier this year.

Blondin said that being in a city where many athletes are here to train and excel at their respective sports builds a lot of momentum and keeps morale high – even in the communities where they live.

“I recently moved to Dalhousie. We bought a house there last August, and I’m now this little superstar for all the young kids, and now they’re all running around the streets on their rollerblades and saying they want to become Olympians in the future,” she said.

“The impact that that can have on a community and an entire city is astounding.”

Gold medal curler Brett Gallant said they certainly felt the support from back home during the Olympics, and it was nice to be officially recognized after the Games.

“To come home and just to be recognized in front of our family and friends and in our hometown, it’s certainly special,” he said.

Calgary has produced many Winter Olympians over the years

Gallant said that Calgary fosters a community of like-minded athletes who are focused on reaching the highest level.

“Calgary’s really brought a lot of winter Olympians together over the last number of years. I think that goes back to hosting the Olympic Games here a number of years ago,” he said.

“I’m from the East Coast, but (Calgary’s) now become home, and so it’s home for so many athletes to compete at the Olympics and Paralympics, and just to see everybody gathered in the same room, not even everyone, just a portion of the athletes that represent Calgary when they compete, it’s pretty cool to see what a hot bed it is for winter Olympians.”

While Blondin praised the infrastructure available for recreation in the city to help build future Olympians, she acknowledged that it’s aging, and in need of upgrades. She pointed to refrigeration issues from back in 2010 at Calgary’s Olympic Oval that forced them to create a contingency plan that could have interrupted Milano Cortina training.

What would help is a potential future Calgary Olympic bid. Blondin said she would support Calgary pursuing a future Olympic Winter Games in the city.

“I’ll be retiring in the near future, but I will definitely do everything that I can to try to make that bid happen, infrastructure wise, and to bring sport back to Calgary,” she said.

Mayor Jeromy Farkas has mused about a potential future Calgary Olympic bid, as has Premier Danielle Smith.

On Tuesday, Mayor Farkas congratulated Calgary’s athletes, and thanked them for representing Calgary so admirably. They were also recognized at a breakfast earlier in the morning.

“I don’t know about you guys, I had some serious imposter syndrome walking into that room with these amazing athletes. Your performance created memories that will stay with us for years to come,” Farkas said in council.

“To Team Canada, to all of you here today, you have made Calgarians proud by competing at the Games and representing our country on the world stage.”