Charmaine Crooks

Charmaine Crooks is a Member of the Order of Canada, a five-time Olympian and an Olympic silver medallist (in athletics from Los Angeles 1984), who has been an integral part of Canadian and global sport as a leader, innovator and advocate.

Currently, Crooks is President of NGU Consultants Inc., and a director on several charitable and public sector boards in a variety of sectors including technology, finance and health.

At the Atlanta Centennial Olympic Games, where she was Team Canada’s Opening Ceremony flagbearer, Crooks was part of the first group of active athletes elected by her peers to the International Olympic Committee as voting members. There she served on the IOC Press Commission, IOC Culture and Education Commission, New Media Working Group, IOC 2000 Reform Commission, founding IOC Ethics Commission and the World Anti-Doping Agency. She was also appointed founding Chair of the PASO Athletes’ Commission and was elected Vice President of the World Olympians Association.

As one of the members of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Organising Committee (VANOC), Crooks was the only director to serve from the initial bid phase through to the successful end of the Games.

Crooks’ current volunteer leadership in sport continues, as a member of the Canadian Olympic Committee, Canadian Soccer Association executive board and the Organising Committee for FIFA Competitions. She recently co-founded the 365 International Sport Foundation, dedicated to bringing communities together through sport. This includes the creation of Our Cityride, a mass participation cycling ride and festival. Globally, she is a Champion for Peace with Peace and Sport.

Among numerous recognitions and awards for leadership roles in sport, Crooks was the recipient of the IOC Women in Sport Trophy - Americas in 2006. She has been inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame, Athletics Canada Hall of Fame and the University of Texas El Paso Sports Hall of Fame, where she attended on an athletic scholarship.