Advertisement

A trip to the CNE sent Pat Israel on her way to carry the torch for the Pan Am Games

A trip to the CNE sent Pat Israel on her way to carry the torch for the Pan Am Games

When Pat Israel saw the Pan Am Games booth at the CNE last summer, she made a beeline toward it and after some thought, decided to volunteer. When she emailed her application some time afterwards, Israel received a notice about how to be a torchbearer. This intrigued her enough to send through an application, and two weeks ago she received a call to confirm she beat more than 1,000 applicants to become a torchbearer for the summer Games in the Greater Toronto Area. 

Israel lives with her husband John in the Victoria Park section of Toronto and works mostly with seniors for Family Serve Toronto. When she was five years old she was diagnosed with a genetic disability called Dopamine Dystonia, an illness that restricts walking movements and has spent most of her life in a wheelchair.

“I was so excited when I got the call – just thrilled,” said the 64-year-old. “It means a lot to me. My mum – Helen Shinton – died last June. I think of her when I think of it (being a torchbearer). She would be proud of me.”

The Levack, Ont., native said she’s always admired how hard athletes train and got a taste of it when she signed up for wheelchair fencing at Variety Village. Once, she took part in a fencing tournament in Austin, Texas, and reveled in her first-ever win.

“It (fencing) was physically taxing,” she said. “But I like watching the Olympics and I’ve always enjoyed supporting athletes.”

Earlier this week 11 torchbearers from Toronto were announced that will make up a total of 3,000 who will participate at the Pan Am Games. Other torchbearers that were announced include: four-time Olympic triathlete, Olympic gold and silver medallist and Pan Am Games bronze medallist Simon Whitfield; police officer and 2007 Pan Am silver medallist, 2012 Olympian Zsofia Balazs; and Cameron Sault, a former professional hockey player and Six Nations youth worker.

With almost four months to go before the Pan Am Games kick off in Toronto, Games spokesperson Teddy Katz confirmed 350,000 tickets have been sold. 

“I’m not surprised we’ve sold that amount. We haven’t had a multi-sport event this size for some time,” he said. “People have shown interest in this, in this rare opportunity to see really high-calibre sport. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

Pan Am Games tickets sales are on a freeze until mid-April to make way for the Para Pan Games announcements, but Katz said, the projection for Pan Am ticket revenue is $38 million.

“We are one-third of the way there including the ticket sales,” he said. “We are looking to fill seats as much as possible and we hope the public can fill those seats.”

So far the most popular events include the men’s gold medal finals in baseball, basketball, soccer and volleyball, which are all sold out. Katz said some Canadian teams are still vying for Pan Am spots and are yet to qualify, making the ticket sales numbers an encouraging sign the Games will be well represented by Torontonians.

“It shows that people are interested,” he said. “It’s going to be a great opportunity to cheer on Canada or other places where people are from because of the diversity of this region.”