Canadian 2014 Olympic uniforms unveiled
Hudson's Bay once again providing team uniforms
Canadians are getting their first look Wednesday at the uniforms the country's Olympians and Paralympians will wear at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games.
Hudson's Bay Company revealed the team uniforms in Toronto. The athletes will wear them at the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as in the Olympic Village and on the podium in the event of a medal win.
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The collection of clothing includes T-shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, sweaters and accessories like mittens and scarves, in red, white, grey and black. Some items are emblazoned with a crest featuring a polar bear, a beaver or a loon next to the maple leaf. Others will feature "Canada" in a vintage classic logo.
All of the garments will be available for consumers as well. Most of the goods are manufactured in Canada, except for the luggage, backpack, bracelet, poncho, mittens and head bands.
After the Canadian team uniforms were unveiled ahead of the Beijing Olympics in 2008, the federal government and several opposition MPs cried foul after learning most of the clothes were manufactured by the host country — China — and not in Canada.
There was a similar flap south of the border last year. But it was revealed on Tuesday that every article of clothing made for the American athletes by Ralph Lauren — including their opening and closing ceremony uniforms and Olympic village gear — has been created by domestic craftspeople and manufacturers.
Star athletes, including moguls skiers Chloe and Justine Dufour-Lapointe, figure skaters Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje, and assistant chef de mission Jean-Luc Brassard, the former moguls skier, attended the uniform launch at Toronto's Distillery District.
The unveiling took place 100 days before the start of the Games in Russia.
Hudson's Bay had managed to keep a lid on the uniforms prior to the unveiling. The same couldn't be said for the men's and women's hockey jerseys, photos of which leaked on Sept. 6.
HBC has outfitted Canada's winter athletes for the Olympics since 2006, as well as at various points throughout the history of the Winter Games dating back to 1936. It released the 2014 edition of the red Olympic mittens on Sept. 10, with some design tweaks made to the wildly popular items from the 2010 Vancouver Games.
Adidas is scheduled to unveil the athletes' training gear on Nov. 7.
With files from The Canadian Press