Dana Antal (CP)

CANADA DEFEATS USA’S WOMEN’S TEAM 2-1 TO WIN THE 2005 FOUR NATIONS CUP.

HAMEENLINNA, FINLAND - Team Canada faced the USA for the forth consecutive time in the final of the Four Nations Cup. The 2005 Four Nations Cup finished with the same score line as the last two championships as Canada defeated the USA 2-1.

The two teams faced off twice at the 2005 Four Nations Cup event. The first meeting was on Thursday, September 1, when Canada defeated the USA 4-0 in Hameenlinna. The second being the gold medal final which saw Canada win 2-1.

The game winning goal came at 11:39 of the third period when Canadian forward Dana Antal slide the puck past the USA net minder on a goal mouth scramble. Dana scored the game winning goal in last year’s championship in Lake Placid in a 2-1 Canada victory. Canada captured their eighth Four Nations Cup Title in ten attempts.

"I'm just having a lot of fun," said the native of Esterhazy, Sask said. "Last year, I received a really nice pass from Danielle Goyette and this year playing with Caroline Ouellette and Jennifer Botterill, I just thought the three of us had a really great game." This one wasn't as pretty as last year's goal -- when she took Goyette's pass and buried the winner in a 2-1 victory over the Americans at Lake Placid, N.Y. -- as it came off a scramble.

Team Canada will travel home on Monday as the players will go to their respective homes to enjoy a well deserved week off. The team will then return to Calgary on September 12th for practice at Father David Bauer Arena.

RETURNING FLIGHT INFO:
CALGARY arriving on Sept. 5 @ 9:35pm MT Flight AC224 – Antal, Bechard, Bredin, Kingsbury, MacLeod, Bonhomme, Wickenheiser, Coaching staff

* PLEASE NOTE ALL FLIGHT INFO IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE
Game summaries and stats for all of Canada's games are available at Hockey Canada’s official website at www.hockeycanada.ca

Lightweight Four Team (FISA Photo)

Canada gets gold, bronze in rowing finale.
(The Daily News - Halifax)

Canada finished the world rowing championships with a bang yesterday. Canadian rowers won gold in the lightweight women’s quad and bronze in the lightweight men’s quad. Also, the men’s eight, a huge disappointment after failing to reach its final, finished strong, winning the B title to capture seventh overall. Canada finished the championships 11th overall with nine medals.

Mara Jones of Aurora, Ont., Tracy Cameron of Shubenacadie, Elizabeth Urbach of Carp, Ont., and Melanie Kok of St. Catharines, Ont., dominated their race, winning in six minutes 19.87 seconds. Denmark was second in 6:20.69 and Great Britain third in 6:22.49.

“We took a lead from the start, and it was only by a small margin at the beginning,” said Kok, competing in her first world championship. “But we were really solid through the middle, and we held on to that lead for a good finish even when we were challenged by the Danes.”

Canadian coach Laryssa Biesenthal was impressed with the team’s victory, especially considering Jones was the only crew member with any Olympic experience, having rowed with Fiona Milne in 2004 in lightweight double. That, Biesenthal says, bodes well for the team leading up to the 2008 Beijing Summer Games.

“They held their composure, stayed on task and took it one stroke at a time,” said Biesenthal. “This is a great stepping stone two years and 11 months out of an Olympics, and the hope is that this speed will be transferred into the double (only Olympic event open to lightweight women).”

The lightweight men’s quad team of Doug Vandor of Dewittville, Que., Jeff Bujas of Grimsby, Ont., Matt Jensen of Innerkip, Ont., and Morgan Jarvis of Winnipeg was third in 5:47.86. Italy won gold in 5:44.76 and Belgium took silver in 5:46.00. “It was a bit rough technically,” said Vandor. “Our start wasn’t that bad, but the race was not as clean as we could have been.” Added coach Pat Newman: “Our goal was to win, so coming third is bittersweet for this crew. It was a very competitive field, and I told them that a bronze medal is still something to be very proud of.”

The men’s coxed four of Saskatoon’s Todd Keesey, Toronto’s Daniel Casaca, Ryan Slate of Kingston, Ont., Dan O’Shaughnessy of Brockville, Ont., and cox Stephen Cheng of Toronto almost earned Canada another medal. They stood third for much of their race before narrowly being beaten out for the bronze by Germany. France won the event in 6:02.42, followed by the U.S. in 6:03.44, Germany in 6:06.01, and Canada in 6:07.14.

“We were focused on the two crews that were ahead of us and lost sight of who was behind us,” said Cheng. “It’s a tough result to take, but we’re a young crew and it was a valuable experience for all of us. “It will make us hungrier for next time.”

The Canadian men’s eight, looking for a strong showing here after finishing fifth at the 2004 Athens Games, shocked many by failing to reach its final. Canada finished third in its repechage Wednesday, less than a second behind second-place Great Britain. Only the top two advanced.

So instead of rowing for a medal yesterday, the Canadians settled for respectability. By winning the B final in 5:29.52, Canada finished seventh overall in the eights. The U.S., 2004 Olympic champions, won the gold in 5:22.75.

Kyle Nissen (CP)

Nissen leaves Buller ranked second in the World Cup standings.
(Freestyle Canada Release)

MOUNT BULLER, Australia – Aerialist Kyle Nissen of Calgary followed up a season-opening, silver-medal performance Saturday with another strong performance for the Canadian freestyle ski team Sunday. He finished sixth and made up ground on defending World Cup champion Jeret Peterson of the United States who was eighth in Sunday’s final.

“It’s great. I really couldn’t have expected more,” said Nissen, 25. “I’m just going to go back out there and get my first yellow bib,” he added, referring to the leader’s bib. That honour belongs to Peterson, a resident of Boise, Idaho, with 132 points, compared to 120 for runner-up Nissen in the overall aerials standings.

Nissen cracked the top 15 in the final standings last year with the help of two World Cup medals in a season delayed by a mid-season knee injury. Ryan St. Onge of the U.S. sits third overall, with 118 points, after winning Sunday -- for the third World Cup win of his career -- with a score of 247.79. Eric Bergoust of the U.S. was second in 243.12 and Alexei Grishin of Belarus placed third in 241.26.

A traffic-jam of scores followed, with Nissen less than three points out of third, with a score of 238.50. Jeff Bean of Ottawa was seventh in 236.43, Warren Shouldice of Calgary 11th in 219.59 and Cord Spero of Grande-Prairie, Alta., 14th 213.17.

“My main goal was to get a couple of good early-season results and get to the Olympics.”
So far, Steve Omischl of North Bay is the only Canadian male aerialist to clinch an Olympic berth, after winning the 2005 world championship title. At that same event, Nissen was fifth.

Omischl was not competing in Australia. Neither was 2002 Olympic bronze medallist Deidra Dionne of Red Deer. She planned to, but suffered a fracture in her neck during training and is scheduled to undergo surgery Tuesday in Melbourne, Australia. Dionne hurt herself in training when she came into a jump too fast and “slapped back” on landing. While she landed on her skis, the force of her back, shoulders and head hitting the snow snapped her head forward and that’s when the injury occurred, according to Dionne’s mother, Fay. Her parents are flying to Australia today to be with their daughter. Fay Dionne said Deidra has full movement in her arms and legs. The surgery will involve fusing some discs in her neck.
“She’s frightened,” said Fay. “She’s alone and that’s the worst part.”

It isn’t known how long Dionne will be sidelined and her status is uncertain for the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy.

This week’s World Cups almost didn’t happen because of inclement weather a few days beforehand. Winds reached 190 kilometres per hour while tearing off roofs off buildings, smashing a window in the Swiss quarters and threatening to wipe out the snow at the World Cup site.

In women’s aerials Sunday, Nina Li of China won for the second straight day. She scored 203.92, while Alla Tsuper of Belarus was second in 191.79 and Shuang Cheng of China third in 174.53.Top Canadian was Veronika Bauer of Toronto. She placed sixth in 168.67, while Melissa Prefontaine of Grande Prairie was 10th in 156.56.

The World Cup season resumes in December with moguls in Europe and aerials events in China.

Charles Hamelin and Mathieu Turcotte (CP)

Turcotte and Roberge post second wins at Bell Short Track Speed Skating Olympic Trials.
(CSN)

SAGUENAY, Que.- Mathieu Turcotte of Sherbrooke, Que., and Kalyna Roberge of Ste-Etienne-de-Lauzon, Que., earned their second wins at the Bell Short Track Speed Skating Olympic Trials on Monday night with victories in the men’s and women’s 1,500 metres.

In the men’s 1,500, Turcotte was the winner in 2:13.795 with Francois-Louis Tremblay of Boucherville, Que., second in 2:13.975 and Jonathan Guilmette of Montreal third in 2:13.986.

“The guys got a bit tired at the end and that was too my advantage,” said Turcotte, a double medallist at the 2002 Olympics who won the 500 on Friday. “I didn’t really set a plan with seven skaters in the final. Everyone in that final had the ability to win the race I just tried to manage my passes at the right time.”

In the women’s 1,500, Roberge scampered past Amanda Overland of Kitchener, Ont, on the final lap to win in 2:22.899. Overland was second in 2:23.029 and Anouk Leblanc-Boucher of Montreal third in 2:23.117.

“It was a strategic race and the tempo was high,” said Roberge, 18, who won the 500 race on Friday. “I tried to stay up front as much as possible because those at the back were working a lot more. I’m surprised to have two wins at this point.”

The trials run until Sunday September 11 and determine the five men and five women named to the short track Olympic team. The 16 men and 16 women contest each Olympic distance (500, 1,000 and 1,500) three times at the trials. The top skater overall at each distance gets an automatic selection to the team while the other selections are based on the overall standings from the entire meet.

After four races (two 1,500’s and one 500 and one 1,000), Turcotte leads the men’s overall standings with 3,178 points as well the 1,500 standings. Tremblay is second overall at 2,964, Guilmette third at 2,652, Charles Hamelin of Ste-Julie, Que., fourth at 2,200, Eric Bedard of Ste-Thecle, Que., fifth at 1,722 and Steve Robillard of Montreal sixth at 1,424. Each win is worth 1,000 points, second place 816 and so on.

Roberge leads the women’s overall standings with 3,178, Leblanc-Boucher, the current 1,500 metre leader, is second at 2,652, Tania Vicent of Montreal third at 2,555, Overland fourth at 2,468, Alanna Kraus of Abbotsford, B.C., fifth at 2,164 and Jessica Gregg of Edmonton sixth at 1,117.

Competition continues Tuesday night with the second 500 metre races for men and women.

Hayley Wickenheiser (CP)

Wickenheiser hits milestone in win.
(The Leader-Post - Regina)

HAMEENLINNA, Finland (CP) -- Hayley Wickenheiser achieved another hockey milestone Wednesday, scoring her 100th international goal in Canada's 3-1 win over Sweden on the opening day of the Four Nations Cup.

Wickenheiser, who scored twice against the Swedes, has played 145 games for Canada.
"When I got the second goal, I knew I had 100 goals so one of my teammates, Gillian Apps, grabbed the puck for me," said Wickenheiser, who had the puck tucked safely in her bag.

Hockey Canada initially believed Wickenheiser, from Shaunavon, Sask., was the first woman to reach the 100-goal milestone in international play. But it appears American Cammi Granato may have beat her to it. According to USA Hockey, Granato has 177 goals and 152 assists in 191 games. "It was kind of a nice moment," said Wickenheiser, who was named player of the game. "It was exciting to get the 100th goal and to do it in Finland where I played before here, it was sort of a neat feeling."

Winnipeg's Jennifer Botterill also scored for Canada, which plays the U.S. on Thursday.

Wickenheiser, 26, made headlines when she played for a men's pro hockey team in Finland, and the Finnish crowd Wednesday clearly remembered her. "There were a lot of kids in the crowd and I think a lot of them were familiar with my name and obviously being over here with the attention I received when I was here," said Wickenheiser. "It was kind of nice to hear the kids squealing, the atmosphere was good."

Wickenheiser's two goals came in the third. On memorable No. 100, she started off the play making a long stretch pass to Apps. "She threw it out from the corner to the high slot, and I just sort of made a little fake and went top shelf over the Swedish goalie," said Wickenheiser. "It was a decent goal, a nice goal. Sometimes you get them on garbage goals, but this was kind of a fun one."

Wickenheiser knew she was on pace to make history -- people had been reminding her for days. "It's kind of nice to get the monkey off my back and get two goals and now I don't have to think about it anymore," said Wickenheiser.

What's next? "I think 200," Wickenheiser said with a laugh. "That would maybe be another milestone. "But I think the next goal is to win the Olympic gold medal this year, that's for sure the biggest one."

Canadian head coach Melody Davidson has brought 22 of the 27 players who have been based in Calgary since August to Finland for the tournament, which is part of the selection process for the 2006 Olympic team.

LONDON 2012: London celebrates 2012 as preparations begin
(IOC NEWS)

London relived its Singapore success last Thursday, at the start of the month-long “Everyone’s London” campaign. Aerial performers abseiled down Nelson’s Column, for the first time ever, unveiling a 300ft silk banner with the London 2012 logo on it. The crowd, which had packed Trafalgar Square for the event, was also treated to a performance from Heather Small, the former M-People singer, as a second banner was unfurled with the phrase “London Prepares”.

Straight from the start
The Chairman of London 2012, Lord Sebastian Coe, said on the day of the event, “We said we would start work straight after the decision, and these were not empty words.” He continued, “In the first six days after the decision, 17,000 people registered an interest in volunteering for the Games, with the total tally standing at nearly 60,000 people today.”

Days and Years
In order to show the speed with which London has begun its preparations, Lord Coe gave a few examples of concrete actions that London 2012 has taken since it was elected as the host city for the Games of the XXX Olympiad, “Eight days after the decision, the Olympic Bill was introduced to Parliament. Twenty days after the decision, the first lottery scratch cards were launched to fund the Games. Although it will take a few years before we see the actual venues, much work will be done preparing the site.”

No delays
The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, joined Lord Coe in giving concrete examples of the work that has been accomplished so far, “I have already directed the London Development Agency and Transport for London to do everything necessary to ensure there are no delays in our planning and a contractor has now been selected to remove and reroute the power lines and pylons that cross the Olympic site.”

LONDON 2012
London was elected as the host city for the Games of the XXX Olympiad on 6 July 2005 at the 117th IOC Session in Singapore. London eventually succeeded in the fourth round of voting, obtaining 54 votes out of a possible 104. London faced stiff opposition during the vote from the other four candidate cities: Paris, New York, Moscow and Madrid.

Stephanie McCann (CP)

Shoulder sidelines McCann.
(MetroValley Newspaper Group)

Stephanie McCann found it odd to be able to sit in her parents' home in south Newton on a warm summer's day, and watch the World Track and Field championships on the television.

The 28-year-old Seaquam Secondary School graduate is used to competing in the summer, usually at a major international meet. The Canadian record-holder in the women's pole vault opted out of this year's world championship meet to nurse an injured shoulder, wanting to be healthy for next summer's Commonwealth Games in Australia.

"It's the first year in five years I haven't been on a national team competing somewhere," said McCann, winner of bronze medals at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England and the 2003 Pan- Am Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

She has set a long-term goal of qualifying for her second Olympic Games in 2008, after having qualified for the 2004 Games in Athens, Greece. Opting to take a summer off three years before the next Games, McCann is still doing her bit to assist herself and other Olympians faced with the financial burden of training and competing to achieve their goals by promoting the "See You In" Canadian Athletes Fund.

"They started it up to try to find extra money for athletes," said McCann of the fund, from which she benefitted while training for the 2004 Olympics in Athens. "They're biggest concern is people are willing to offer support the year of an Olympics, but they can't find the corporate support when it's not an Olympic year." "Unfortunately, as an athlete, we still need the money in the off years to get to the Olympics."

McCann placed 10th in Athens last summer, capping a long, financially-draining road to her goal. She intends to compete internationally for at least the next four years, including the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. The long-term goal was why she opted to sit out a summer of competition to rehabilitate her shoulder.

When she returns, she hopes again to be one of the hundreds of Canadian athletes competing internationally benefitting from the "See You In..." Canadian Athletes Fund, which is now promoting it's See You In Torino fund for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Italy, and the See You in Beijing fund for the 2008 Summer games.

The fund contributed to 244 of the 266 athletes in Athens, including 11 of 12 medals winners and all three Canadian gold medalists - kayaker Adam van Koeverden, gymnast Kyle Shewfelt and cyclist Lori-Ann Muenzer. Created in 1997, the fund has raised more than $2.5 million for both able-bodied and paralympian athletes.

"It's hard. In North America, we don't support athletics - and sports in general - the way Europeans do," said McCann, now based in the United Kingdom after several years in southern California. "In Europe, the countries are quite small, but they find the money and do the best they can for the athletes. Canada is working towards that, but we need more awareness out there, for people to understand what it takes to get there.

The climate and a lack of facilities kept McCann in California after graduating from Asuza College in Pasadena with a Bachelor of Science degree in applied health in 2000. Working in a book store, as a high school track coach and in a physiotherapy clinic helped cover living expenses and the cost of training.

The move to the United Kingdom helped her access a national training centre, and work with a new coach who "had some really cool ideas for some things I needed to work on technically."

It's also closer to major track and field meets in Europe, which helps cut down on travel costs. "That's where the meets are with the money," she said. "There's not much money at the meets in North America."

Eighty-five cents of every dollar donated goes to the athletes, and tax receipts are issued for donations of more than $25. It's hoped the countdown to the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver will give a boost to the "See You In" Canadian Athletes Fund. More information about the fund is online at http:// www.seeyouintorino.com

"It's a message we have to get out there," said McCann. "Especially if we're expected to do well in 2010."

Dick Pound (CP)

Anti-doping tests will eventually identify cheaters.
(Richard Pound: The Times-Herald - Moose Jaw)

It is interesting to see the various reactions to new evidence about possible old infractions in cycling's blue-ribbon event - the Tour de France.

The background is quite simple. A blood-boosting drug, erythropoietin (EPO) has been prohibited within the sports community for many years. It is a performance-enhancing drug that increases the percentage of oxygen-carrying red blood cells, enabling muscles to function better than under normal conditions. It has taken many years to develop a scientifically reliable test to detect the presence of EPO and to disqualify athletes for using it.

The test was not available during the 1998 and 1999 Tours de France. The science of detection has now improved to the point that EPO taken by athletes can be detected.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) was established in late 1999 as a joint initiative of the sports movement and governments to create an independent agency to co-ordinate and to monitor the fight against doping in sport. Coincidentally, WADA's creation was partially the result of the discovery by French police of doping substances and equipment in the possession of one of the teams during the 1998 Tour de France and the arrest of those concerned.

Although WADA did not exist when the samples from the 1998 and 1999 tours were collected, it has a keen interest in understanding how long (and where) certain doping practices have been going on. When WADA learned that there were samples of urine from those Tours still available for testing, it encouraged the accredited French laboratory to conduct analysis on them.

The laboratory, one of the leading laboratories in the field, tested the old samples and found that several of them were positive for EPO. It did not know the identity of any of the athletes whose samples it analyzed, since no names were connected to the samples, only some unidentifiable code numbers. A daily newspaper in France (L'Equipe) recently published a report that linked the code numbers from the laboratory with the doping-control forms signed by one of the athletes, cycling legend Lance Armstrong. Armstrong has blasted the newspaper and others involved for the allegations, saying the samples were too old and that "protocol wasn't followed." The International Cycling Union is investigating.

Now, what does it all mean?

First, as to testing in general, there can be no objection in principle to any subsequent testing of samples provided by athletes in the course of their participation in sport. One of the agreed- upon rules is that specified performance-enhancing drugs will not be used and there is a reasonable expectation that athletes will be called upon from time to time to demonstrate that they are in compliance with those rules.

Second, as to the scientific reliability of tests, there are minimum standards of applicable scientific competence that accredited laboratories must be prepared to demonstrate. So, for samples that have been kept for several years, laboratories must be capable of establishing that the samples have been properly stored, that they have not been tampered with and that the analysis has been properly performed.

Third, in the unfortunate cat-and-mouse game played by athletes who cheat (usually with the assistance of medical and other entourages) and those who try to ensure a level playing field, it is a fact of life that the latter are often trying to catch up with the cheaters. It is not satisfactory (as Canadians know from our experience with East German athletes in the Montreal Olympics in 1976) that doped athletes can escape with their medals, thumbing their noses at both their fellow competitors and later scientific progress. The overwhelming consensus among the sports movement and governments, when drafting the World Anti-Doping Code - now the basic document used throughout the world in doping matters - was that there should be an opportunity to go back eight years in the testing of samples.

Anyone who has cheated will now have the additional anxiety of knowing that their dishonest results may be removed, even eight years after they thought they had succeeded. Think of it as finding a criminal through the new science surrounding DNA, or freeing a wrongly convicted person on the same basis.

Fourth, there are some research protocols that need to be addressed if pure research is being done. I do not want to minimize any related ethical concerns in this field. Informed consent is required from persons providing biological samples for research. I support that ethical position and the code expressly recognizes this when pure research, unrelated to compliance with the sport rules, is contemplated.

But the primary purpose of providing these samples is for sport regulatory purposes and no special consent is required to allow subsequent testing to see if a particular athlete had cheated at the time of providing the sample.

Finally, there is an apparent gap in the sport portion of the process, which has traditionally operated on the basis of what are referred to as the "A" and "B" samples, created when the sample is divided into two portions at the time it is taken. The first analysis is performed on the "A" sample and if it proves to be positive, the athlete may require the opening and analysis of the "B" sample in his or her presence. Only if the "B" sample confirms the "A" is the doping offence complete.

The problem, illustrated by the current analysis of the old Tour de France samples, is that there is no longer a control sample to be used to validate the analysis of the "B" samples. (The "A" samples were opened and analyzed in 1998 and 1999.)

This is guaranteed to make every lawyer's heart beat faster, since the rules of the day did not contemplate subsequent analysis and the resulting difficulties of imposing sanctions long after the original analysis may have failed to detect a particular drug.

Some bad folks may, therefore, get away with the money and the medals. But not with their honour.

Richard W. Pound, Q.C., is a Montreal lawyer, a member of the International Olympic Committee and president of the World Anti- Doping Agency.