Sport in Calgary

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The city of Calgary, Alberta is home to a relatively deep-seated tradition of winter sports. Much of this stems from its location, with proximity to the Alberta Rocky Mountains and Banff National Park. After hosting the 1988 Winter Olympics, the city has also had winter sports and training facilities that are considered to be world class. Beyond winter sports, Calgary has a number of professional and amateur sports teams and is a major world pro rodeo centre.

Calgary is also the home of "The Dungeon", the pro wrestling training camp founded by the late Stu Hart. Two of Hart's sons trained there and went to be some of the greatest competitors the sport has ever seen: Bret Hart and Owen Hart. Many Canadian wrestlers trained at the Dungeon, including Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Bad News Allen, Andrew "Test" Martin, and fellow Calgary native, Lance Storm. Numerous American wrestlers such as Steve Blackman, Brian Pillman and Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart and British wrestlers "The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith and the Dynamite Kid were also trained in "the Dungeon".

Calgary is next to some of the most visited natural scenery in the world. Banff National Park is about 125 km northwest of Calgary on the Trans-Canada Highway. 30 km west of the city is the town of Bragg Creek. Another 45 km west of Bragg Creek is the Kananaskis Country improvement district featuring hiking, horseback riding and mountain-biking trails, camping sites, rock and ice climbing, and cross country skiing. A Provincial shooting range for firearms is located on the highway to Kananaskis.

Many Calgarians and millions of tourists enjoy activities such as biking, hiking, skiing, snowboarding, mountainboarding, camping, and fishing in these parks every year. The town of Banff hosts nearly five million visitors annually.

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[edit] Sports facilities

Ski Jump and Chair Lift at Canada Olympic Park Summit
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Ski Jump and Chair Lift at Canada Olympic Park Summit

Calgary hosted the 1988 Winter Olympic Games. Many of the Olympic facilities continue to function as major high performance training facilities. Among the most notable of these are Canada Olympic Park and the Olympic Oval. Calgary is currently home to the only luge/bobsleigh track and ski jump tower in Canada.

Athletes also take advantage of the high altitude to improve their physical limit. With facilities that are considered to be world-class and proximity to the Canadian Rockies, Calgary attracts athletes from all over Canada and around the world for winter sport training.

Calgary's multipurpose arena, the Pengrowth Saddledome was formerly known as the Olympic Saddledome. The Saddledome was the first modern arena in North America capable of accommodating an Olympic regulation-sized ice rink. Calgary's primary open-air stadium, McMahon Stadium, was the site of the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics and is currently the venue for Calgary's Canadian Football League team, the Calgary Stampeders. The stadium has a capacity of nearly 40,000 and is the fifth largest in Canada.

The Olympic Oval is primarily a speed-skating arena that can also accommodate hockey and high-performance training. The rink's ice is world-renowned, and it brings some of the best speed skaters in the world to the facility for training and competition. The Oval has often been touted as having "the fastest ice on Earth" due to the fact that it is a climate-controlled facility and because of the effects of high altitude on the ice surface. As a result, many world records have been broken there. It was at this place where the likes of Catriona LeMay Doan and Cindy Klassen trained for their Olympic and world stardom.

Golf is also a popular sport in Calgary, and there are many courses including the Glencoe Golf and Country Club, Glen Forest and the Calgary Golf and Country Club which have been ranked among the top fifty in Canada.

Other venues:

[edit] Cycling

See also: Transportation in Calgary

Both Calgary and the Canadian Rockies are destinations for cycling and mountain biking. Within Calgary, a large bike path network exists (nearly 600 km) as part of the city's transportation infrastructure. It is used extensively both for commuting to work and for recreation as it connects most of the city's parks. Large parks such as Fish Creek Provincial Park and Nose Hill Park are also major destinations for cyclers.

In the summer, Canada Olympic Park functions as a venue for both cross-country and downhill cycling. The Glenmore Velodrome is an indoor track facility in the city. The Calgary BMX Association also opperates a BMX racing track near Blackfoot Trail.

[edit] Notable sporting events

XV Olympic Winter Games

Calgary hosted the following major Canadian and International sporting events:

[edit] Team sports

Main article: Calgary#Professional sports teams
See also: Ice hockey in Calgary

[edit] Major parks in Calgary and vicinity

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