'Dine with an Olympian' was the theme of this year's Black Cockatoo Ball, the OWI's traditional Opening Weekend fundraiser, and the concept proved a great success.

Nine Torino Olympians attended the event, hosting tables and providing a unique experience for the 125 guests.

Overall host of the evening was Salt Lake 2002 short track speed skating gold medallist Steven Bradbury, one of the Board members of the OWI.

Athletes attending were aerial skier Liz Gardner, alpine skiers Craig Branch and Jono Brauer, figure skater Jo Carter, luger Hannah Campbell-Pegg, moguls skier Nick Fisher, snowboard halfpipe rider Andrew Burton, snowboard PGS rider Jo Shaw, and short track speed skater Mark McNee.

As well as hosting tables, the athletes supported the fundraising efforts by displaying auction items during the major auction. Jono Brauer demonstrated that he has a future as a male model whenever he retires from skiing, enjoying his opportunity to model the alpine ski team uniform.

Retiring athletes Andrew Burton and Nick Fisher were presented with plaques in recognition of their OWI scholarship years and tribute footage was shown of the guys in action.
 
Steve Bradbury conducted roving athlete interviews with Craig Branch (focussing on his Olympic experiences) and Jo Shaw (focussing on Vancouver 2010 and her future goals.

The Chalet Hotel provided a five course degustation menu with matching wines with an Italian theme.

Most important of all, the auction was a great success, raising $23,000 (including ticket sales revenue) for Institute programs.

The most popular auction item? A framed Holly Crawford bib which sold for $2000.