Gala Podium Montréal: The Best of Montreal Sports Takes Center Stage!

On Friday, November 3, the prestigious Chalet du Mont-Royal hosted the Montreal Island sports community’s awards ceremony: the Gala Podium Montréal.

The event will honor the athletes, coaches, officials, volunteers, organizations, and other key figures in the city’s sports community who have excelled and distinguished themselves over the past year.

The gala, hosted by Emilie Duquette and Hassoun Camara, was a thrilled the approximately 300 guests in attendancein an electric and chic atmosphere.

During the event, awards were presented in 20 different categories.

From among them, the selection jury for the Gala Podium Montréal chose 25 winners from 64 finalists after reviewing more than 150 applications from across the island of Montréal.

At this year’s ceremony, para-sports emerged as the big winner, with the Altergo organization taking home three awards and Raphaëlle Tousignant being named Sports Personality of the Year following a public vote by more than 1,500 Montrealers.

“This return to the Chalet du Mont-Royal was another wonderful challenge for our teams and a much-anticipated event for our guests. We are always very proud to organize this event every year. Throughout the evening, we reconnected with the passion and enthusiasm for sports that are unique to our city. I believe the evening met the expectations of our sports community.” said Laurier Thériault, Executive Director of the Montreal Sports Council.

Here is the list of winners at the 2023 Gala Podium Montréal: 

Rising Star: Hunter Belle Hall – Slopestyle Skiing

Youth Team : Montreal Synchro Youth Team – Artistic Swimming

Youth Coach: Anton Dickson – Judo

Quebec Games Athlete – Montreal Region : Valeria Kostrovets – Judo

Quebec Games Athlete – Lac St-Louis Region: François Pelletier – Road Cycling

Quebec Games Athlete – Bourassa Region: Sophie Pineault – Archery

Official  : Daniela Arendasova – Rhythmic Gymnastics 

Club: Club Vainqueurs Plus – Track and Field

Regional Sports Association : Concordia Regional Soccer Association

Sports organization : AlterGo Sports Challenge

District or affiliated city : Villeray-St-Michel-Parc-Extension

Administrator : Rhéa Grutter, figure skating

Individual or organization that has supported the advancement of sports – Women’s sports: Vicky Marcoux

Individual or organization that has supported the advancement of sports – Ethnocultural diversity : Milton-Parc Recreational Association

Individual or organization that has supported the advancement of sports – Para-sports: AlterGo

An individual or organization that has supported the advancement of sports – Inclusion: Access Participation Network

Regional sports competition : Montreal Cup – Ice Hockey

Provincial Sports Competition: School Division of the 40th Défi sportif AlterGo – Parasport

National sports competition : 2023 U Sport Canadian Women’s Hockey Championship

International sports competition : Montreal Cycling Grand Prix

Builder – Bernard Trottier Award : Nicole Nobert – Tennis

Coach  : Stéphane Lapointe – Diving

International-level para-athlete: Iulian Ciobanu – Boccia

International-level athlete: Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard – Judo

Sports Personality of the Year: Raphaëlle Tousignant – Para hockey 

Finally, the Montreal Sports Council took the opportunity to thank its valued volunteers and partners for this event, including the City of Montreal, Événements sportifs Montréal, Sport et Loisir de l’île de Montréal, the Centre Pierre-Charbonneau, Sports Montréal, Loisirs Sportifs CDN-NDG, Jean-Drapeau Park, Ciele, PhysioExtra, and Shawbridge Microbrewery.