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Roots has long played a prominent role at the Olympic Games. As an official outfitter of several countries over the years, Roots has also generated millions of dollars in royalties for the Canadian and United States Olympic teams, working closely with both the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). Here are the major highlights in the Roots Olympic history:
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- At the request of the Canadian Olympic Committee, Roots outfits Team Canada with winter footwear (the negative heel quilted “Puffboot”) for the athletes to wear during the Opening Ceremonies Parade.
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- Roots designs and makes jackets for the celebrated Jamaican bobsledding team which had arrived in Canada to start their Olympic training and had no winter outerwear.
- The story of the Jamaican bobsledding team eventually becomes a hit movie entitled Cool Runnings (1993) starring John Candy wearing the Roots Jamaican bobsled jacket.
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- Roots creates special retail collection of clothes in honour of the 1994 Canadian Olympic team, under the banner “Roots salutes the Canadian Olympic Team”.
- Roots designs jacket for legendary Norwegian skier and Olympic Gold Medalist Stein Eriksen with whom Roots Co-founder, Michael Budman and his son Matthew attend the Lillehammer Games.
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- Roots becomes the official outfitter of the Canadian Olympic team, providing athletes with outfits for Opening Parade Wear, Podium Wear, Village Wear and Closing Ceremony wear.
- The outfits steal the show at the Opening Ceremonies and become the number one traded uniform among athletes and visitors in Nagano.
- The red “Canada Poorboy” hat becomes a national and international success. It’s seen on celebrities around the world, from rap star Puff Daddy to Britain’s Prince Charles. The hat also steals the show at the 1998 Oscars.
- There is an extremely high demand for the hat, with many stores selling out as soon as shipments arrive. Roots sells more than 500,000 of the hats.
- Canadian snowboarding gold medalist Ross Rebagliati becomes Canada’s hero and tours North America as a Roots spokesperson.
- Canadian gold medalist Elvis Stojko appears in Roots posters and takes part in various special events for Roots.
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- Roots outfits the Canadian Summer Olympic and Paralympic Teams with Parade Wear, Podium Wear and Village Wear.
- This is the first time Roots is an outfitter at the Summer Olympics and shows that Roots is just as successful producing uniforms for the Summer Games as for the Winter Games.
- The Canadian Olympic Team again wins accolades from other teams for their appearance. The Roots stylized podium hockey jersey is the surprise hit.
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- Roots outfits the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Teams, and the United States Olympic and Paralympic teams with Parade Wear, Podium Wear and Village Wear.
- The U.S. Team Wear is the talk of America. People line up for hours at Roots stores to get the Roots Team U.S.A. Beret.
- At the Olympic Opening Ceremonies, televised around the world to an audience of four billion people, U.S. President George Bush wears a Roots Team U.S.A. leather jacket when making his welcoming speech.
- During the Opening Ceremonies, in a scene voted one of the most powerful moments in Olympic history, U.S. athletes outfitted in Roots, are escorted by 6 New York City firefighters and police officers, in a solemn procession. The athletes carried a large tattered U.S. flag that flew at New York’s World Trade Center when the twin towers were destroyed in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
- The U.S. outfits are seen on N’Sync, the Today Show, the Rosie O’Donnell Show, Conan O’Brien and Saturday Night Live.
- Demand for Roots Olympic merchandise proves unprecedented in the history of the Olympics. More than a million of the Roots Team U.S.A. berets are sold. (Roots boutique in Park City does $10 million of business in 2002).
- The Canadian uniforms are also a huge success culminating in recording artists Barenaked Ladies and skating superstars Jamie Sale and David Pelletier wearing their Roots outfits live on the Tonight Show.
- Roots signs Gold Medalists Sale and Pelletier, and Canadian Speed Skating Gold Medalist Catriona LeMay Doan as its representatives. They make many North American appearances and figure prominently in Roots ads.
- Roots is also the official outfitter for the Great Britain Olympic Team, providing them with Roots Parade Duffle Coats.
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- As a Community Contributor with the 2010 Vancouver Bid Corporation (VBC), Roots provides financial sponsorship and product in-kind to support activities of the official committee bidding for Vancouver to host 2010 Winter Olympics.
- Roots also provides VBC with uniforms when traveling to Prague in July 2003 for the final bid presentations and official announcement of who would host the 2010 Games.
- Roots creates merchandise for Vancouver’s successful Winter 2010 Olympic bid.
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- Roots is the official outfitter for the Olympic teams of Canada, the United States, Great Britain and Barbados. Roots provides the Olympic athletes from these four countries with Opening Parade Wear, Podium Wear and Olympic Village Wear.
- Roots creates merchandise for Olympic Spirit, the world’s first permanent Olympic-themed attraction, located in Toronto.
- Canadian Olympians – Gold and Silver Medalist Kayaker Adam van Koeverden and Silver Medalist Diver Alexandre Despatie part of Roots signed to Roots team
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- Roots is the official outfitter for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Teams.
- Roots is the official sponsor of the Canadian speed skating team and of the Jamaican bobsledding team.
- Roots signs U.S. Olympic Speed Skating Gold Medalist Apolo Ohno to the Roots team. He makes many appearances and is featured in various ads for Roots.
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