Maelle Ricker (CSF)

Canadians almost on top of Worlds: Silver, bronze for host nation in great day of snowboard cross at Whistler.
(The Vancouver Province)

WHISTLER -- Two weeks ago Francois Boivin wore a cast on a broken right wrist and had plans to head home to Quebec while his Canadian mates came here for the Nokia Snowboard FIS World Championships.

And two weeks ago there was injury- plagued Whistler home girl Maelle Ricker still trying to get a feel for how much strength might be left in a right knee that had been operated on for the fifth time.

Sunday the pair were posing on the podium after this week-long event kicked off with the snowboard cross, where 32 riders race in groups of four until only four remain to shoot it out in the final.

Boivin won a silver medal, trailing Seth Westcott of the U.S. Ricker wound up with bronze, behind American gold medallist Lindsey Jacobellis and silver winner Karine Ruby of France. "I really needed a confidence boost," said Ricker, 24, who tore ligaments in Chile and went under the knife in mid-October. "I was a little bummed out with yet another knee surgery. To come out on the podium was a great feeling."

The finish will rev up Ricker, who's had her left knee operated on three times, for Saturday's half-pipe. Her success is timely, given that it's only 13 months until the Olympics in Turin. Fifth at the Olympic half-pipe in 1998 in Nagano as an 18-year-old, she missed Salt Lake City in 2002 -- out with, what else, a knee injury. Ricker blew out her knee each season from 1999-2002, always on a boarder cross course.

She shelved the event and concentrated on half-pipe and free riding. "When I heard that boarder cross had been nominated for the Olympics [along with parallel slalom and half-pipe] -- I'm better at boarder cross -- I thought I really want to do it again. I got my feet wet again last year, tested my knee and I decided it was something I really wanted to do.

"Missing Salt Lake was a bit of a blessing in disguise because it made me realize how much I wanted this. I've put in a lot mental training this year and I've been in the gym. I'm looking for some confidence building this year so to have it right away in my home town is awesome. I've been visualizing this for a couple of months now."

For Boivin, who's two years younger than Ricker, self-belief is never a problem. A late addition to the team after North Vancouver's Drew Neilson hurt a knee training at Mt. Bachelor, Ore., Boivin expected to do well. "I knew I could do it," said Boivin, who got a bronze medal on the World Cup circuit in Germany last season. "I've been riding well all year. I'm not that surprised I came second."

Canadian officials had expected -- OK, hoped for -- a couple of podium finishes Sunday. They just didn't expect them from this pair.

Jasey-Jay Anderson, the World Cup overall points leader and pre-race hope after qualifying second on Saturday, was knocked out in the quarterfinals when he hit a hole and did a 360 spin.

Dominique Maltais, the 24-year-old Montreal firefighter who qualified first on the women's side, finished fourth. Safely tucked in second place in the final, she crashed halfway down the 1300-metre course. "We quietly expected we could have a couple of wins but if I'd be betting on which of them would do it I'd have lost my bet," said Canadian Snowboard Federation CEO Tom McIllfaterick. "Not everybody's going to have the best result of their life on a given day. We saw that with Jasey-Jay today. With depth, the odds give someone a chance to come through."

Vernon's Tom Velisek wound up sixth Sunday with Anderson placing 10th and Cranbrook's Robert Fagan 12th. West Vancouver's Erin Simmons placed 11th in the women's race. Today is an off day, with parallel giant slalom set for Tuesday.

Steve Omischl and Jeff Bean (CP)

Bean and Omischl add to medal count in Placid.

Lake Placid, New York -- For the third day in a row, the Canadian freestyle ski team emerged with a pair of World Cup medals. Ottawa aerialist Jeff Bean collected his second medal of the week, a silver medal for the 12th World Cup medal of his career, while defending World Cup aerials champion Steve Omischl of North Bay, Ont., emerged from a mini-slump with the bronze and his 20th career World Cup podium appearance Sunday.

Ironically, it was the first time Bean and Omischl have been on the World Cup podium together. The same aerials team had collected two medals Friday, with a silver medal for Warren Shouldice of Calgary and a bronze for Bean, while the Canadian moguls team got gold from Jennifer Heil of Montreal and bronze from Marc-Andre Moreau of Chambly, Que., on Saturday.

Sunday's men's aerials winner was Jeret 'Speedy' Peterson of Boise, Idaho to retain his lead atop this season's World Cup aerials standings. Peterson scored 250.53 for the win, leaving Bean second in 246.08 and Omischl third in 245.56. "I'm even more pleased knowing I can do it again," said Bean, 28, of his second medal in three days.

Back from a vertebrae break in his neck in Australia several months ago, Bean says he's finding some of the energy that was lacking last season. "I felt great, the weather was great, and everything was set up for success. "Six aerialists were tightly bunched in the fight for medal after the first of two rounds, with Bean second, Peterson third and Omischl fourth. "I'd gone four events without a podium, and that's a long time for me," said Omischl, 26. "I've been training really well, but not competing well. So this was a step in the right direction."

Omischl says he was also pleased with Sunday's aerials results, after reading a headline in a Quebec newspaper that questioned the strength of the so-called Canadian Air Force. That was after only one World Cup event this winter season, with the two earlier starts last summer in Australia, causing Omischl to say after Sunday's two-medal haul for the Canadian aerialists: "I'm glad to give it back, not to the media, but to those who want to look for flaws in us."

The first-round leader, Dmitri Dashinski of Belarus, emerged fourth after a small tip-up of his skis when landing his final jump, while Warren Shouldice of Calgary moved from 10th in the first round to place fifth. That placing also moved Shouldice to second in the men's aerials standings for 2004-2005.

In women's aerials, Nina Li of China won her second straight World Cup to solidify her second-place ranking in the World Cup aerials standings.She edged World Cup leader Lydia Ierodiaconou of Australia 186.72 to 186.01 for the win, while Alla Tsuper of Belarus was third in 176.19.

Two Canadian women cracked the top 10, as Deidra Dionne of Red Deer, Alta., placed fifth -- a month after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on her left ankle -- and Melissa Prefontaine of Grande Prairie, Alta., was ninth with the second-best showing of her World Cup career.

After battling through several seasons of injuries, Prefontaine had a career-best sixth place in Friday's World Cup to improve on her previous best World Cup placing of 12th in the 2003 Lake Placid World Cup. Dionne's fifth place kept her fourth in the overall women's aerials standings. "I'm still coming back from my injury," admitted Dionne. "It was really, really painful today on my body. Landing was difficult."

Other Canadian women competing Sunday were Veronika Bauer of Toronto who placed 12th and Amber Peterson of Thunder Bay in 22nd. The other Canadian men's placings were Cord Spero of Calgary in 19th and Ryan Snow of Calgary 24th. World Cup action continues with action in Fernie, B.C., next Friday and Saturday.

CALGARY- It was an unusual day on Saturday in World Cup long track speed skating. Canada didn’t win a medal.

Jeremy Wotherspoon of Red Deer, Alta., provided Canada’s best result finishing fourth in the men’s 500-metres on Saturday to conclude the third stop for the sprinters on the World Cup circuit.

It’s the first day this season in six (three sprints and three all around) long track World Cup competition that Canada didn’t step on the podium.

Erben Wennemars of the Netherlands concluded the meet with three wins in four races including Saturday’s men’s 1,000. Joey Cheek of the U.S., took the men’s 500 ahead of two Japanese skaters.

Wotherspoon, who has 54 career World Cup wins-most all time for men- was fourth in the 500 in 34.97 and seventh in the 1,000 in 1:08.85. He’s confident he can reclaim the world sprint title next weekend in Salt Lake City. ‘’This weekend I was feeling a lot of fatigue from all the training we’re doing in preparation for the world sprints and I didn’t have my usual snap,’’ said Wotherspoon, still comfortably first in the World Cup 500 standings and third in the 1,000. ‘’I think the world sprints will have one of the most competitive fields since I’ve been around. A lot of guys are in contention.’’

In the men’s B group races, Steven Elm of Red Deer and Denny Morrison of Fort St. John, B.C., tied for fourth in the 1,000 while Jean-René Bélanger of Sherbrooke, Que., was eighth and Jason Parker of Yorkton, Sask., 15th. In the 500 B race, James Monson of Winnipeg was eighth, Brock Miron of Calgary 10th, Mark Nielsen of Calgary 11th and Bélanger 14th.

On the women’s side, Shannon Rempel of Winnipeg posted a personal best for the second straight day clocking 1:15.94 for fifth spot in the 1,000. Her previous best time was 1:15.95 on Friday night and it earned her a silver medal.

On Saturday Chiara Simionato of Italy won her fifth gold this season clocking 1:14.89, Anzhelika Kotyuga of Belarus was second in 1:15.12 and Marianne Timmer of the Netherlands third in 1:15.16.

‘’I wasn’t surprised at all that everyone went faster today,’’ said Rempel, 20. ‘’I knew I would need another personal best to at least make it into the medals. My first lap again was perfect today. What I need to work on is my start and my last lap.’’

Danielle Wotherspoon of Red Deer, Alta., was 17th and Krisy Myers of Lloydminster, Sask., 18th.

In the women’s 500, China’s Manli Wang was defeated for the first time this season finishing fourth. Tomomi Okazaki led Japan to a 1-2 finish winning the gold in 37.73. Rempel was 10th in 38.57 while Kim Weger of Regina was 19th and Myers 20th.

In the women’s B races, Sarah Smith of Medicine Hat, Alta., and Wotherspoon were 13th and 16th in the 500 while in the 1,000, Brittany Schussler of Winnipeg and Christine Nesbitt of London, Ont., were ninth and 11th.

CANADIAN DUO SLIDE INTO 11TH PLACE AT VIESSMANN LUGE WORLD CUP.

Igls, AUT-Canada's Grant Albrecht and Eric Pothier inched their way closer to a top-10 finish in men's doubles competition at the Viessmann Luge World Cup in Igls, Austria on Sunday.

The Canadian duo, who have been struggling to jump back into the top-10 standings in World Cup competition, finished off the day in 11th place after posting a two-run combined time of one minute 20.193. "For the most part we slid pretty well today, but our times did not reflect it," said Pothier of Airdrie Alta., who along with partner Albrecht, of Red Deer, Alta., have been working on their sled for most of the season to make it faster. "Again, it was a disappointing finish, but we've learned a little bit about what other athletes are doing to their sleds to increase speed. I think we now have a better idea of what we're going to do to our sled to hopefully cut our time on the track."

Germany's Patrick Leitner and Alexander Resch slid to their second consecutive World Cup victory in men's doubles action. The German duo posted a two-run time of 1:19:447. Teammates Andre Florshütz and Torsten Wustlich, who are currently sitting on top of the World Cup standings, took home the silver medal with a time of 1:19:469. Italy's Christian Oberstolz and Patric Gruber rounded out the top-three at 1:19:531.

Meanwhile, in the women's draw, Canada's Regan Lauscher struggled to maintain her momentum from her bronze medal win at Friday's Challenge Cup in Igls, posting a disappointing 13th place result on Sunday. The 24-year-old luge veteran, who is currently ranked eighth in World Cup standings, finished the day with a combined time of 1:20:663. "It was a hard day today because I was really expecting to have two solid runs," said the Red Deer, Alta. native. "I feel numb because this is not the way I had expected it to go at all. We fight for fractions of a second and any small error on the track will set you far back in the standings."

The German women grabbed the top four spots today with Sylke Otto leading her teammates with her first World Cup victory of the season. Otto slid into the top spot to take the gold medal with a combined time of 1:19:546. Barbara Niedernhuber, who is currently ranked first in overall World Cup standings, slid into second place to take the silver medal at 1:19.841, while teammate Silke Kraushaar rounded out third with 1:19:990.

Calgary's Madison Dupuis was the only other Canadian slider in today's race. She finished off the day in 20th place after posting a combined time of 1:21.288. The Viessmann Luge World Cup will continue January 21-23, in Winterberg, Germany.

Beckie Scott (CP)

BECKIE SCOTT SPRINTS TO FIFTH AT CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING WORLD CUP.

Nove Mesto, CZE-Beckie Scott wasted little time proving she remains one of the strongest cross-country skiers in the world.

The Olympic gold medallist finished fifth on Sunday in a World Cup sprint in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic, in just her second event of the season after training full-time in North America this fall. "It is a definitely a great feeling to finish where I did today," said the Vermilion, Alta. native. "I was exhausted this morning when I woke up because of the travel and yesterday's race so I thought it could go either way today, but I mentally got my way through it."

Scott, who qualified in sixth spot with a time of two minutes 31.12 seconds for the round of 16 athletes competing in the head-to-head heats , won her quarter-final heat, but got squeezed out in the semi finals, finishing third, which moved her to the consolation final. The speedster quickly rebounded and won the B Final, to solidify fifth place.

The heats consist of four athletes in each race, with the top-two athletes crossing the line first moving onto the next round. The finals pit the top-four athletes battling it out for the finish.

While Scott was pushing for the podium, another Canadian skier had a solid outing in her first World Cup race ever. Chandra Crawford of Canmore, Alta. finished a respectable 35th in a field loaded with 60 of the top athletes in the world. The 21-year-old is developing into one of the strongest cross-country ski sprinters in the country behind veterans Scott and Sara Renner.

"I am really happy to get this first World Cup race under my belt. I was so excited and quickly realized the best in the world are extremely fast," said Crawford, who has won a number of sprint races in North America. It was really exciting to do a good sprint and see where I stood against the best. It was also awesome to watch Beckie compete for the top. We are so lucky to have a great leader like her on our team."

Two other Canadian women also suited up in the Sunday sprints. Sara Renner, who has enjoyed one of her most successful seasons on the World Cup, narrowly missed the final heats after qualifying 19th, while three-time Olympian, Milaine Theriault of St. Quentin, N.B. finished 58th.

However, it was Norway's Marit Bjoergen who continued her dominance of the World Cup on Sunday when she made another trip to the top of the podium. Joining Bjoergen in the top three was Pirjo Manninen of Finland in the silver medal position, and Germany's Claudia Kuenzel taking home the bronze.

It was another challenging day for the young Canadian men's squad. Devon Kershaw of Sudbury, Ont., the youngest of the Canadian quartet at 22 years of age, led the way in 41st position. Other results included: George Grey, 25, of Rossland, B.C. in 49th; Dan Roycroft, 26, of Port Sydney, Ont., in 70th; while Chris Jeffries, 27, of Chelsea, Que., did not start.

The Norwegian flag was also flying on top of the men's podium as Johan Kjoelstad grabbed the gold medal. Italy's Freddy Schwienbacher finished second, while Sweden's Bjoern Lind rounded out the top three taking home the bronze medal.

Dale Henwood

The Big Picture with Dale Henwood: Canada’s diminished role.

A recent cover story in the Canadian edition of Time Magazine trumpeted: “Would anyone notice if Canada disappeared?” The article went on to assert that Canada’s influence in the world is shrinking fast and that something must be done – NOW.

Canada has long considered itself as a “middle power”, as an honest broker who could build consensus and mediate conflict. We pride our self in being involved, and in having membership, in many organizations – NATO, UN, and G-8. We like to be at the table but we really do not contribute much. Our influence on the world level is diminished, our military and peace keeping role is inconsequential; we are less generous in our investment in foreign aid and so less able to make a difference in the world. Very simply, we are not influential or competitive worldwide.

Canadians, as private citizens, are making fantastic contributions to the world in the area of the arts, writing, music, but Canada as a nation, has been sleeping.

We need to rethink our role as global citizens. We need to create an identity. We need to have a strategy on where and how we make a difference. A strategy requires a definitive choice, as we can not be all things to all people. As a nation, and specific to high performance sport, it is not possible to “do everything for everybody”. We need to find a niche capability. Sport is a niche where we could show the world we value excellence, a commitment to sport would show we value a healthy population and quality of life and it would bolster our diminishing international status. We have some outstanding and world class athletes in Canada. An international impact in the world of sport is not beyond our reach, rather it would make a significant contribution to our credibility and identity as a nation.

Shannon Rempel (CP)

Rempel shows sure signs of stardom.
(The Calgary Herald)

Sean Ireland was anxious to see how she'd react.

Still flushed with the euphoria of her first Essent ISU speed skating medal. Lugging around the expectations of being back home, on fast ice and under even more scrutiny in the voluntary absence of recent world-record setting teammate Cindy Klassen at this World Cup stop.

Mission accomplished for Shannon Rempel. Another successful step in the process of creating a champion. "She comes in here with a lot of eyes on her, with more attention than she's ever had before, and responds with three personal bests and a silver medal,'' said Canadian national team coach Ireland, contentedly. "That's pretty impressive. She was just so consistent. We couldn't have hoped for better.

"It's a great place to be heading into the world sprint championships next weekend. Especially when you consider it's a combined event and Shannon was solid in both the 500 and 1,000 this weekend."

"There's a difference between believing and knowing. You can believe, but until you've shown you're capable of doing something, you don't know. Now, she knows.''

The Shannon Rempel express train has a pretty good head of steam built up. And it shows no signs of veering off the tracks, or as much as slowing even slightly. A second and fifth in the 1,000 metres this weekend at the Olympic Oval. A sixth and 10th in the 500. The 20-year-old Winnipegger is, at the moment, making the traditionally daunting chasm between junior star and senior contender seem nothing more than a hop, skip and jump. Mere child's play.

You get the feeling this is one Can't-Miss-Kid who won't. "I'm feeling a little fatigued today,'' she admitted late Saturday afternoon. "It was a bit more of an effort. The 500 wasn't as good as yesterday, but on the whole, I'm happy; satisfied. You're going to have good days and bad days, the key is to keep the times as consistent as possible. This weekend has been a real confidence builder for me.

"I wanted to skate fast this weekend to put myself in good position for the world sprints. And I think I achieved that.'' Rempel shook her head, amused, when asked if, given the silver medal at Harbin and the follow-up silver here Friday, she felt she's already arrived as a force to be reckoned with on the senior ISU circuit. "No, it'll be a few more years before I feel that way.''

A fiver says she's selling herself short. Given the rapid rate of progression shown so far and the athletic ability so obvious at the junior level, there's no reason to believe Shannon Rempel won't be capable of making some major noise at the Torino Winter Olympics a year from now. And to gaze off into the distance a piece, by Vancouver in 2010? Among the ones to catch, surely.

On Saturday afternoon, with the Olympic Oval ice quickening due to the (ever-so-slightly) warmer temperatures, Rempel actually lowered the PB she established in the 1,000 Friday night, by 1/100ths of a second to 1:15.94, but still slid down three placing and off the podium, to fifth. No matter.

Runaway World Cup leader Chiara Simionato of Italy smoked the 19-woman field in the 1,000 in 1:14.89, almost a half second faster than her gold-medal winning time Friday.
"She was,'' praised Rempel, "amazing. She is amazing.''

If Rempel isn't quite at Simionato level just yet, she's certainly pointed in that direction. The initial nervousness at the step up in class, in facing the top skaters on the planet, has dissipated. The World Cup silver medal claimed in Harbin, China, late in 2004 proved she belonged in top-echelon company. This weekend only confirmed as much. Yes, she needs work on her starts -- paired with Sayuri Yoshii in the second-last grouping in the 1,000, Rempel fell behind, only to power past her Japanese rival in the race's final stages. But time is a staunch ally, and the raw materials there to work with infinite. "I was really looking forward to this weekend,'' said Rempel. "I'm pleased that it turned out as well as it did.''

The Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns, just outside Salt Lake City, and arguably the fastest ice on the planet, beckons. "She's a racer, a real competitor,'' lauded Ireland. "We'll take it easy for a few days and then push up the intensity, just to prepare her, get her sharp, for Salt Lake. It was interesting to see how she handled everything this weekend. And next week will be something new again. "But, obviously, we like where she's at.''

And, needless to add, where she's headed.

Jaret Llewellyn (CP)

Alberta’s Jaret Llewellyn named International Water Ski Federation’s male athlete of the year.

OTTAWA- Five-time world champion Jaret Llewellyn of Innisfail, Alta., was named Wednesday the International Water Ski Federation’s male athlete of the year for the second time in three years.‘’I’m surprised,’’ said Llewellyn from his Florida home. ‘’There’s a lot of guys who did well this year. I won a few events and broke a world record so I guess that’s what pushed it over the edge for me.’’

In fact, Llewellyn, who has broken world records 11 times in his career and is a living legend in the sport, enjoyed one of his finest seasons in his 20-plus years on the national team winning almost everything in sight.

The highlight for 34-year-old was reclaiming the world record in the men’s jump by soaring 240 feet (73.1 metres) at a meet in Florida in October. His arch rival Freddy Krueger of the U.S., had just claimed the world mark the week before.

‘’I can’t think of anyone more deserving of the award,’’ said Canadian national team coach Steve Bush of North Vancouver from Orlando where he is conducting a training camp. ‘’It’s just incredible how he continues to get better with age. Physically and mentally he’s at the top of his game.’’

Other highlights for Llewellyn this year were gold medal performances at the Moomba Masters in Australia, the Pan American Championships in Peru, the U.S., Masters in Georgia, the Malibu Open in California, several World Cup wins to place second in the final World Cup jump and tricks standings.

‘’It was one my better years, although it was a relatively short season with fewer events than usual,’’ said Llewellyn, who launched a trailer for his first instructional DVD today at
www.llewellynpro.com . ‘’But I’m skiing as well as ever. I stayed healthy which is key because at my age it takes me a lot longer to recover.’’

He finished the season ranked number-two overall in the world, number three in jump and number-six in tricks.

‘’He’s the best Canadian water skier we’ve ever had on and off the water in my time,’’ said Bush, a national team coach for 26 years. ‘’He’s such a role model for the athletes. When we talk at this camp about conduct and respect and pride for your country Jaret is a great example for all those kinds of values.’’

Kevin Overland (CP)

Olympic Oval pays tribute to Kevin Overland Crockett.

CALGARY – Speed skater Kevin (Overland) Crockett of Kitchener, Ontario, the 1998 Nagano Olympic Games bronze medalist, is the latest inductee to the Olympic Oval’s Wall of Excellence.

A 12 by 16 foot banner of Crockett was unveiled during the World Cup Sprint competition on Saturday afternoon.

“The banners not only recognize outstanding athletes that have trained with the Oval Program, they also serve to inspire the next generation of skaters,” says Mark Greenwald, Director of Sport for the Olympic Oval. “The University of Calgary and the Olympic Oval have a strong tradition of excellence and these athletes that we have honoured have achieved success at the highest levels in their sport.”

Kevin Overland Crockett was part of an exceptional 1997-1998 Canadian long track team, which brought home five Olympic medals, 18 World Championship medals and 42 World Cup medals. In the 500-metre race at the Nagano Olympic, Kevin captured the bronze medal, following behind silver medalist and teammate Jeremy Wotherspoon. Fourth and fifth place also went to Canadians.

A member of the national team for 10 years, Crocket now coaches at the Olympic Oval. During his opening season in 1992-93, he was crowned Canadian Junior Overall Championship and the Canadian Sprint Championship.

Crockett was a World record holder in both the 1000-meter and 1500-metre distance. In December 1995, he broke the world record in the 1000m with a time a 1 minute and 12.19 seconds. In 1997, with a time of 1.49.07 he broke the world record in the 1500m.

Crockett joins fellow Olympian long track speed skaters Catriona Le May Doan and Susan Auch, and short track speed skater Derrick Campbell, as honorees of the Olympic Oval Wall of Excellence.