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Rosie MacLennan leads team Canada into the stadium during the opening ceremony at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press

Reaching the Olympics might seem to be life's pinnacle for the handful of Canadians fortunate enough to get there, but for the athletes, many of whom are in their 20s and 30s, life goes on once the Games have ended and the world media focus moves on to something else.

That was very much the motivating factor as the Canadian Olympic Committee and the Smith School of Business at Queen's University launched an eight-year partnership to provide scholarships for athletes, as well as coaching and leadership training for COC staff.

"[We are] helping our fantastic athletes transition into the next part of their lives," says Matt Reesor, director of the MBA program at Smith in Kingston. Mr. Reesor says the qualities that make up an Olympic athlete, such as resilience, leadership and team skills, are exactly the kind of attributes that business schools such as Smith try to foster. The hope is that Smith's partnership with the COC will help "identify more of these individuals and get them into our program."

The partnership will make up to 1,200 athletes eligible to attain scholarships in a number of Smith programs, such as its suite of MBA programs, the graduate diploma in business and the master of entrepreneurship and innovation.

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