Barrie Shepley has provided an update on Caledon’s Jake Holden……
Just hours before he left for Sochi Russia, Caledon’s Winter Olympian Jake Holden took some time to catch up with local Olympic coach Barrie Shepley. Shepley and Holden have known each other for over a decade and he has been impressed with how well Jake has handled his journey in preparing for the Sochi Olympic Games. Instead of going to the opening ceremonies Jake Holden watched the opening ceremonies from his training base in Whistler British Columbia. “Jake and his snowboard cross team-mates wisely decided to stay in Canada as long as possible to keep their preparations
going without any distractions” said Shepley. When Shepley spoke to Holden he had just gotten his Kinetico – C3 & Town of Caledon Good Luck Banners. Over 4000+ names and best wishes were on the Banner and Flag.
“I was pretty emotional realizing that my old grade school, high school, ski club and friends/sponsors and class mates from Caledon had taken time to come out and leave me a good luck note” said Jake Holden. Holden says he will proudly carry the banner and flag to Sochi and bring a part of the town with him for good luck. “I could not have gotten here without the amazing support of so many people, starting with my parents, coaches and sponsors” said the snowboard cross athlete. Holden’s races are on Monday Feb 17th.
Jake wanted to thank Kinetico Canada for their unconditional support of his journey to Sochi. “Knowing that your sponsors, friends, family and town are there to help you is such a huge bonus” said Holden.
“Its pretty cool to realize that I will be on the same Canadian Team as hockey player Sydney Crosby, cross country skier Alex Harvey and our flag bearer Hayley Wickenheiser” said Jake Holden. Holden is also pumped up to watch the results of his other Caledon Olympic Team-Mate Brittany Webster who is expected to race three times over the two week Olympic Games. “I heard that a similar banner and flag from the Caledon/Kinetico/C3 and thousands of well wishers is on its way to Brittany Webster as well” said Jake Holden.
While Holden will have time to come back to Caledon and catch up with his many thousands of well wishers, for now he is narrowing his focus on preparing for his long trip to Sochi and his big event on Feb 17th.
