(November 23, 2004)

Three Canadian skaters – Mira Leung, Siobhan Karam and Myriane Samson – have been named recipients of the 2004-2005 Petro-Canada Olympic Torch Scholarship Fund.

Leung, who is currently studying at the Greater Vancouver Distance Education Schools and lists math and English as her favourite subjects, is a member of the 2004-2005 Skate Canada National Team. She made the team on the strength of her fifth-place finish in the senior ladies event at the 2004 BMO Financial Group Canadian Championships in Edmonton. At the end of October, the 15-year-old Vancouver native competed in her very first International Skating Union (ISU) Grand Prix event, placing seventh at the 2004 MasterCard Skate Canada International in Halifax. She also recently placed seventh at her second ISU Grand Prix assignment of the season, the 2004 Cup of China. Leung won a bronze medal at her first-ever senior international event, the 2004 Nebelhorn Trophy, which took place in early September.

Eighteen-year-old Siobhan Karam, a native of Ottawa, is a member of the Skate Canada Junior National Team, along with her ice dance partner Joshua McGrath. The duo won the bronze medal in the junior ice dance event at the 2004 BMO Financial Group Canadian Championships. This season, Karam and McGrath have competed in two ISU Junior Grand Prix events, capturing the silver medal at the 2004 ISU Junior Grand Prix event in Long Beach, California, and placing fifth at the 2004 ISU Junior Grand Prix event in Chemnitz, Germany. Karam, who now lives in Windsor, Ont., is presently taking classes at the University of Windsor.

St-Jean-sur-Richelieu native Myriane Samson is also a member of the Skate Canada Junior National Team. The 16-year-old was crowned the 2004 Canadian Junior Ladies Champion at the 2004 BMO Financial Group Canadian Championships. Samson, who is a student at l’Ecole Secondaire Beaulieu in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, competed internationally this season, placing 19th at the 2004 ISU Junior Grand Prix event in Kiev, Ukraine.

Since the Petro-Canada Olympic Torch Scholarship Fund's inception in 1988, over 1876 scholarships valued at over $5.3 million have been awarded to Canadian student-athletes and coaches. The athlete stream of the 2004-2005 program provides athlete development funding in addition to tuition support for high performance student-athletes. In addition, with a renewed emphasis on high performance, the program provides special needs funding support as well as tuition support for coaches.

Skate Canada extends its congratulations to this year’s recipients.