Cindy Klassen (CP)

Cindy Klassen Named Canada’s Flag Bearer for 2006 Olympic Winter Games Closing Ceremony.
COC Goal Of A Top-Three Finish Achieved

TURIN, February 26, 2006 – The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) announced today that it has achieved its goal of a top three finish in the overall medal standings at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games. Chef de Mission Shane Pearsall and Assistant Chef de Mission Sylvie Bernier also announced that long track speed skater and five-time 2006 Olympic medallist Cindy Klassen (Winnipeg, Man.) has been named Canada’s flag bearer for this evening’s closing ceremony.

“I am honoured to be selected as Canada's flag bearer for the closing ceremony of the 2006 Olympic Winter Games," said Klassen.  "Over the past 16 days we've had some outstanding performances by Canadian athletes and it is truly overwhelming to be selected as the flag bearer amidst the most successful Canadian Olympic Winter Games team ever.”

By capturing five medals at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games, Klassen became the first Canadian ever to win more than three medals at a single Olympic Games.  A bronze medallist at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Klassen’s career total of six Olympic medals is the most ever for a Canadian Olympic athlete.

“With her five podium performances in Turin, Cindy Klassen has cemented her reputation as one of Canada’s greatest Olympians,” said Pearsall.  “Led by Cindy, Canada’s athletes recorded a best ever medal performance for Canada at these Games.  The 2006 Olympic Winter Games have been a huge step forward for high-performance sport in our country and I am truly proud to have been the Chef de Mission for Canada during these Games.”

Klassen was chosen as Canada’s closing ceremony flag bearer by Pearsall and Bernier following informal discussions with athletes and coaches in the three Olympic villages. 

Canada concluded the 2006 Olympic Winter Games with a record of 24 podium finishes – seven gold, 10 silver and seven bronze – placing third overall in the medal count.  Four years ago, Canada captured 17 medals and finished fourth overall at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City.

“The 2006 Olympic Winter Games have been a great success for Canada,” said COC President Michael Chambers.  “We set an aggressive goal of a top-three finish at these Games and we will leave Turin having achieved that goal.  All of Canada’s athletes turned in an exceptional performance at these Games and they have made all Canadians proud.”

Since the launch of the Own The Podium – 2010 program in January 2005, the COC has worked together with Canada's winter sport partners and National Sport Federations to initiate a number of new high-performance initiatives designed to increase podium success for Canada at the Olympic Winter Games.

Among some of the notable high-performance benchmarks Canada achieved at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games are:

• A total of 58 top-eight finishes – 12 more than at the conclusion of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.  Overall, Canada finished third in top-eight performances at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games behind Germany and the United States of America which recorded 72 and 68 respectively.
• A total of 21 Canadians placed fourth or fifth at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games.  In addition, of the 21 athletes, 19 are under 30 years of age and will remain contenders for a podium result at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
• A tie with Germany for the most number of top-four and top-five finishes at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games with 37 and 45 respectively.
• Producing a medallist in 10 of the 15 2006 Olympic Winter sports – the most out of any nation competing at the Games

“When examining Canada’s performance at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games it is clear that several of our high-performance initiatives have had a direct and positive effect on Canada’s athletes”, said COC Director of High Performance Alex Gardiner.  “Not only did we achieve our goal of a top-three finish but we also increased our medal total and had a significant number of top-eight finishes by athletes who have their best years ahead of them.  While there is no question that the Canadian Olympic Committee has four more years of hard work ahead, Canada’s results in Turin are very encouraging heading into 2010.”

Chandra Crawford (CP)

Congratulations to Canada's 2006 Olympic Medallists.

GOLD

Cross Country Skiing / Ski de fond
          Crawford, Chandra                              Sprint - W / Sprint - F

Curling
        Men / Hommes:
          Adam, Mike                                       Team - M / Équipe - H
          Gushue, Brad                                     Team - M / Équipe - H
          Howard, Russ                                    Team - M / Équipe - H
          Korab, Jamie                                      Team - M / Équipe - H
          Nichols, Mark                                     Team - M / Équipe - H

Freestyle Skiing / Ski acrobatique
          Heil, Jennifer                                     Moguls - W / Bosses - F

Ice Hockey / Hockey sur glace
        Women / Femmes:
          Agosta, Meghan                                 Team - W / Équipe - F
          Apps, Gillian                                       Team - W / Équipe - F
          Botterill, Jennifer                                Team - W / Équipe - F
          Campbell, Cassie                                 Team - W / Équipe - F
          Ferrari, Gillian                                     Team - W / Équipe - F
          Goyette, Danielle                               Team - W / Équipe - F
          Hefford, Jayna                                   Team - W / Équipe - F
          Kellar, Becky                                      Team - W / Équipe - F
          Labonté, Charline                               Team - W / Équipe - F
          Kingsbury, Gina                                  Team - W / Équipe - F
          MacLeod, Carla                                   Team - W / Équipe - F
          Ouellette, Caroline                              Team - W / Équipe - F
          Piper, Cherie                                      Team - W / Équipe - F
          Pounder, Cheryl                                 Team - W / Équipe - F
          Sostorics, Colleen                               Team - W / Équipe - F
          St-Pierre, Kim                                    Team - W / Équipe - F
          Sunohara, Vicky                                 Team - W / Équipe - F
          Weatherston, Katie                            Team - W / Équipe - F
          Vaillancourt, Sarah                              Team - W / Équipe - F
          Wickenheiser, Hayley                          Team - W / Équipe - F

Skeleton
          Gibson, Duff                                      Skeleton - M / Skeleton - H

Speed Skating - Long Track / Patinage de vitesse - longue piste
          Hughes, Clara                                    5,000m - W / 5 000 m - F
          Klassen, Cindy                                    1,500m - W / 1 500 m – F

SILVER

Bobsleigh
          Lueders, Pierre                                  Two-Man - M / Bob à deux - H
          Brown, Lascelles                                 Two-Man - M / Bob à deux - H

Cross Country Skiing / Ski de fond
          Scott, Beckie                                     Team Sprint - W
         Renner, Sara                                     Team Sprint - W

Skeleton
          Pain, Jeff                                          Skeleton - M / Skeleton – H

Speed Skating - Long Track / Patinage de vitesse - longue piste
          Groves, Kristina                                  1,500m - W / 1 500 m - F
          Klassen, Cindy                                    1,000m - W / 1 000 m – F

       Women / Femmes:
          Groves, Kristina                                  Pursuit - W / Poursuite - F
          Hughes, Clara                                    Pursuit - W / Poursuite - F
          Klassen, Cindy                                    Pursuit - W / Poursuite - F
          Nesbitt, Christine                                Pursuit - W / Poursuite - F
          Rempel, Shannon                               Pursuit - W / Poursuite - F
        Men / Hommes:
          Dankers, Arne                                    Pursuit - M / Poursuite - H
          Elm, Steven                                      Pursuit - M / Poursuite - H
          Morrison, Denny                                 Pursuit - M / Poursuite - H
          Parker, Jason                                     Pursuit - M / Poursuite - H
          Warsylewicz, Justin                             Pursuit - M / Poursuite - H

Speed Skating - Short Track / Patinage de vitesse - courte piste
          Tremblay, François-Louis                      500m - M / 500 m - H

        Women / Femmes:
          Kraus, Alanna                                     3,000m Relay - W / Relais 3 000 m
          Leblanc-Boucher, Anouk                      3,000m Relay - W / Relais 3 000 m
          Overland, Amanda                              3,000m Relay - W / Relais 3 000 m
          Roberge, Kalyna                                 3,000m Relay - W / Relais 3 000 m
          Vicent, Tania                                     3,000m Relay - W / Relais 3 000 m

        Men / Hommes:
          Bédard, Éric                                       5,000m Relay - M / Relais 5 000 m
          Guilmette, Jonathan                           5,000m Relay - M / Relais 5 000 m
          Hamelin, Charles                                 5,000m Relay - M / Relais 5 000 m
          Turcotte, Mathieu                              5,000m Relay - M / Relais 5 000 m
          Tremblay, François-Louis                      5,000m Relay - M / Relais 5 000 m

BRONZE

Curling
        Women / Femmes:
          Bakker, Glenys                                   Team - W / Équipe - F
          Nixon, Amy                                       Team - W / Équipe - F
          Keshen, Christine                               Team - W / Équipe - F
          Jenkins, Sandra                                  Team - W / Équipe - F
          Kleibrink, Shannon                              Team - W / Équipe - F

Figure Skating / Patinage artistique
          Buttle, Jeffrey                                   Singles - M / Épreuve individuelle

Skeleton
          Hollingsworth-Richards, Mellisa              Skeleton - W / Skeleton - F

Snowboarding / Surf des neiges
          Maltais, Dominique                              Snowboardcross - W / Snowboard

Speed Skating - Long Track / Patinage de vitesse - longue piste
          Klassen, Cindy                                    3,000m - W / 3 000 m - F
          Klassen, Cindy                                    5,000m - W / 5 000 m - F

Speed Skating - Short Track
          Leblanc-Boucher, Anouk                      500m - W / 500 m – F

Closing Ceremonies (CP)

Italy bids ciao to Games.
CBC Sports

Led by snow explorers with a white horse symbolizing victory, the Olympic closing ceremony began in grand style at Stadio Olimpico in Turin, Italy, Sunday.

Canada had a star turn in the ceremony, as the next Winter Games will be in British Columbia in 2010. Vancouver mayor Sam Sullivan received the Olympic flag from his Turin counterpart Sergio Chiamparino and International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge, who placed the flag in Sullivan's motorized wheelchair.

Canadian opera star Ben Heppner sang a stirring rendition of Canada's national anthem, which started the section of the program that signified the countdown to Vancouver. Heppner, an internationally renowned tenor, performed the anthem a cappella and was joined by a Royal Canadian Mounted Police honour guard.

Canadian pop superstar Avril Lavigne and the building of an Inukshuk – an Inuit human-shaped symbol – were also featured in the special eight-minute Vancouver celebration.

The theme of the closing ceremony was Carnivale Italiano, the Italian masked festival that included performances by some of Italy's most famous circuses. Popular Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli was the headline performer.

Following the Italian national anthem, the flag-bearers of each nation entered the stadium simultaneously. Canadian speed skater Cindy Klassen had the honour of leading Canada into the closing festivities as its flag-bearer. The news came to no one's surprise as the 26-year-old Winnipeg native won a Canadian record five medals and is the nation's most decorated Olympian with six career medals.
Other notable flag-bears included speed skater Joey Cheek for the U.S. and Russian figure skater Evgeny Plushenko.

In his final speech to the Italian people, Rogge closed the Torino Olympics by saying "these have been wonderful, fantastic Games." In grand tradition, he then called on the youth of the world to assemble four years from now in Vancouver for the 21st Winter Olympics.

Some 2,000 performers took part in the ceremony. It's expected this closing ceremony was viewed by a television audience of 500 million people.

Jeff Pain and Duff Gibson (CP)

Canada: Olympic powerhouse?
CBC Sports

The Canadian Olympic Committee raised eyebrows when it boldly proclaimed a top-three finish and a minimum 25 medals at Turin. The concern was that it set the bar too high and raised unrealistic expectations. "The 2006 Olympic Winter Games have been a great success for Canada," COC president Mike Chambers said Sunday. "We set an aggressive goal of a top-three finish at these Games and we will leave Turin having achieved that goal."

Canada won 24 medals – seven gold, 10 silver, seven bronze – to shatter the previous record of 17 set at Salt Lake City in 2002. Only Germany (29) and the United States (25) had more in Turin, but 13 Canadians posted fourth-place finishes with eight others coming fifth.

For the first time in a long time, Americans feel Canadians breathing down their necks. A Sunday headline on the ABC News website noted: "Canada is emerging as an Olympic powerhouse.""All of Canada's athletes turned in an exceptional performance at these Games and they've made all Canadians proud," Chambers said.

Canada would have reached its goal of 25 medals had:

• Short-track speed skater Eric Bedard not been denied by 4-1,000ths of a second in the men's 500.
• Skier Kelly VanderBeek not finished 3-100ths behind the bronze medallist in the women's super-G.
• Francois Bourque not missed the podium by 76-100ths in the men's giant slalom.
• Pierre Lueders not lost out on a medal by 9-100ths of a second in four-man bobsleigh.
• Canada's men's hockey team won even a bronze medal.

A break here, a blink of an eye there – woulda, coulda, shoulda.

Truth be told, Canada's emphasis on elite athletics paid off handsomely at Turin, thanks in large part to a five-year, $110-million initiative introduced in January 2005. "The new program of the Canadian Olympic Committee 'Own the Podium,' which is supported on one hand by the government, but on the other hand the corporate world, has yielded already unbelievable results," said International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge.

Winnipeg's Cindy Klassen achieved unprecedented results, capturing five medals to give her six overall, both Canadian records. It also marked the highest total by a female speed skater, surpassing the four gold medals won by Lidiya Skoblikova of Russia at the 1964 Innsbruck Winter Games. "To see Cindy Klassen win five medals, she was definitely the woman of the Games," Rogge said. "Led by Cindy...(these) Games have been a huge step forward for high-performance sport in our country," said Canada's chef de mission Shane Pearsall.

Eighteen years ago, Canada held high hopes heading into Calgary, only to suffer the indignity of failing to win a single gold medal – a rarity for a host nation. But a shift in attitude and focus by the COC, namely a commitment to win medals, and the inclusion of extreme sports such as freestyle skiing and snowboard in the Olympics, is reaping positive results.

According to COC executive Alex Gardiner: "It is clear that several of our high-performance initiatives have had a direct and positive effect on Canada's athletes. Not only did we achieve our goal of a top-three finish, but we also increased our medal total and had a significant number of top-eight finishes by athletes who have their best years ahead of them."

"You know how much the IOC believes in the success of the home team," Rogge related. "You (Canadians) have a record number of medals – far bigger than at the last Olympic Games – and what is more important, you have a young generation. "You have really the stars of tomorrow who have not yet got gold, but are very close to it. I think this is very promising."

The Vancouver Olympics will be the first in Canada since 1988, when Calgary hosted the Winter Games. Valentino Castellini, chairman of the Turin organizing committee, said it would be wise for British Columbia to reflect what distinguishes Canada from the rest of the world. "Be Canadian," Castellini suggested. "Give a strong identity of your country to the Games and look at the details. There are a lot of details in Games time that determine the quality. From what I know, Vancouver, the mountains and the sea together, will give a strong identity of your Canadian Games."

Kristina Groves and Cindy Klassen (CP)

Oh, what a Games! Our athletes did us proud in Turin - next stop Vancouver.
DAVE PERKINS
(TORONTO STAR)

Canada's Olympic athletes have earned themselves the right to go relax with a two-four.

The great Cindy Klassen — and there's no better introduction for this winner of five Olympic medals — didn't quite singlehandedly make the Canadian Olympic Committee almost right on the money with its pre-Games goal-setting.

She did a lot, though, picking up an unbelievable five medals, the last a bronze behind Clara Hughes's jubilant 5,000-metre speed skating gold. So it was just another podium packed with those tremendous Canadian women skaters and became a four-medal night with the addition of two silvers in short-track.

Francois-Louis Tremblay finished second to Apolo Anton Ohno, one of the very few high-profile Americans to come through here, in the men's 500. A few minutes later, he joined Eric Bedard, Jonathan Guilmette, Charles Hamelin and Mathieu Turcotte on that nutty tush-pushing patrol, the short-track relay. They finished just behind the amazingly good Koreans and — stop the presses — Koreans win short-track gold.

So the final medal tally for Canada is an outstanding record total of 24 — a before-deductions increase of 41 per cent over the 17 that arrived in Salt Lake City. Unless Russia or Austria sweeps the 50-kilometre cross-country race today, Canada will indeed meet the COC's goal of finishing third in the total medals count. Germany wins, with 29 entering today. The U.S. is second with 25, the last of those a bronze in the short-track relay.

Feel free to blame that ineffective Canadian men's hockey team, the one assembled by Wayne Gretzky, for screwing up the grand plan.

The COC estimated it would take 25 medals to finish third in their arithmetic, which, dangerously, grades all medals as equal. The COC did not set 25 total medals as the particular goal, per se. There has been misunderstanding about that. The goal was to finish third and the COC estimated it would require 25. They are not quite the same thing.

Clearly, the COC was very close. Now factor in some 14 fourth-place finishes and, sure as Italian food has too many carbs, they'll insist they are right on target to top the table in 2010 on home ice and snow.

In the official medals count, which ranks countries by gold medals won — because winning, after all, should be the point when you're keeping score — Canada will be fifth. Still good, but not great. Four countries had more wins: Germany (11), the U.S. (9), Austria (9) and Russia (8). If Sweden wins the gold-medal hockey game, that's seven gold for them, too. Imagine if the U.S. missed by one gold medal; that nitwit snowboarder trying a trick before the finish line and crashing would be immortal.

Canada won seven gold medals, same as Salt Lake. So there's no bottom-line improvement there and for a country to "own" the podium — the basis on which the COC is raking in the sponsorship dollars — more victories are essential.

(Look at Norway, with 19 total medals through last night, but only two gold. Not one Norwegian here is suggesting this was a good Olympics for the team).

Comparisons to Salt Lake, too, need a tweak. Three of Canada's 24 were obtained in events that did not exist at Salt Lake. So the apples-to-apples number would be 21 compared to 17. That's about 23 per cent more, very good in anyone's ciphering.

Do the same trick again for 2010 and the national haul works out to something like 29 or 30. And 29 or 30 easily wins the count this time, if anyone is noticing. With no new sports on the Vancouver horizon, things might not be drastically different at the top.

It feels strange talking like this; Canada is, of course, the only country in history to not win a gold medal at its own Games. And we did it twice.

Anyway, more good news is the widening of the base these past 16 days. Canada won 17 medals in seven sports at Salt Lake, after 15 medals (six gold) in seven sports at Nagano in 1998. This time, the medals came in 10 sports. That's 10 of the 15 disciplines; the five shutouts were Alpine skiing (where there were some good fourths), biathlon, luge, Nordic combined and ski jumping and, aside from Alpine, those might be bleak spots again in 1,444 days.

That is a huge increase and probably more telling than the plain medal count.

There were occasional disappointments, sure, but there always are. There were magnificent surprises, too — none more so than Chandra Crawford coming from left field in the cross-country sprint — but that's nothing new, either. What's an Olympics without happy shocks?

All told, it was a terrific performance. Deep bows are well deserved.

Clara Hughes (CP)

No loonie but beer caps, trinket do trick.
RANDY STARKMAN SPORTS REPORTER
(TORONTO STAR)

TURIN, Italy—As Clara Hughes churned her way to victory on the Lingotto Oval last night, a couple of pieces of Canadiana lay buried in the oval ice — a tiny gold maple leaf and some beer bottle caps.

Ice maker Mark Messer of Calgary, who'd been cagey before the Games when asked whether he'd put a loonie in the ice, put a 14-karat gold maple leaf given to him by Canadian team sports psychologist Kimberly Amirault at the finish line right by the Games slogan `Passion lives here.'

"I thought, `Put it at the top of the P,'" said Messer, whose regular job is at the Olympic Oval in Calgary, where the country's top skaters train. "It's got to be a passion for sport if you're going to win.

"I also put a couple of Molson Canadian caps in the ice, too. That was for me. But this is for the team. I wanted to put a Canadian flavour in the ice. I mean the maple leaf represents Canada and it represents the gold and that's what we were after."

Amirault bought the maple leaf in Canada, but it was made in Italy. She was talking to Hughes on her cell phone when she brought the little trinket — "for good karma," she said — but decided this week she wouldn't tell the skater about it.

It was dug out of the ice after the race and given to Hughes. The whereabouts of the beer caps are unknown.

"This is a pretty special little nugget," said Hughes.

The lucky loonie tradition began at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics when icemaker Trent Evans buried one at centre ice and the Canadian men's and women's hockey teams went on to win gold.

Steven Harper with Jenn Heil (CP)

Busy week for Jenn Heil.

February 26, 2006 -- There’s been little time for freestyle skier Jennifer Heil to rest on her laurels since her Olympic triumph two weeks ago in women’s moguls.

Heil has been a busy bee over the past week celebrating her victory in Turin, Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa and Edmonton. Then, on Saturday, she departed for South Korea. “I’m exhausted”, said the Edmonton native, who now resides in Montreal. “But it’s been very exciting. I think all the people I’ve met since the win have been more excited than me. I’m being recognized by strangers. I even talked with Prime Minister Stephen Harper in his office in Ottawa. I was driven there by environment minister Rona Ambrose, who also grew up in Edmonton. She picked me up at the airport and I was brought to the House of Commons. I was photographed sitting on the Speaker’s chair with my medal. It was an incredible honour for me.’’

With all the media requests, Jennifer has started to lose her voice. “It’s been worth it, especially to be part of such a great performance by the Canadian team at the Turin Games.’’ The 22-year-old received the same greeting at the Edmonton Airport as a foreign dignitary. She was met by the RCMP, the mayor, friends, family and fans with flags and flowers decorating the venue and a limousine in waiting. But her cake was missing. In fact her neighbour, who traditionally bakes a cake for her when she returns from a long trip, was out of town. “She sent me an e-mail saying she’d bake me a cake the next time I’m back… ’’

Chandra Crawford (CP)

Crawford our best, inspiring lesson.
BARNEY WILLIAMS - ROWING OLYMPIAN
SPECIAL TO THE STAR

While there may be many people terribly disappointed and depressed over the elimination of the men's hockey team, I am not one of them.

Watching Chandra Crawford's performance before Team Canada's loss on a grainy Internet feed on my laptop sent my mind racing. Back to my Olympic rowing final in 2004 and forward to what will hopefully be another in 2008. I vividly remember the feeling of lining up next to Britain's coxless fours crew at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 20, 2004, and thinking that the little town of Marathon, Greece, was the coolest place on the planet to be at that moment.

I was transported back to Marathon after the camera panned the competitors for the final of the women's cross-country sprint final and I saw Chandra's face. In her eyes was a passion that is a pure illustration of the spirit that separates the Olympics from every other sporting event in the world. She wanted to be on that start line more than anything else in life and was embracing the opportunity ahead of her. She was not intimidated by her opposition but rather seemed to relish the chance to race the very best.

Her performance sparked a phenomenal day for the Canadian Olympic team, aside from the hockey loss. This was not a coincidence. After watching Chandra's performance, which many of Canada's athletes would have done because the event was so early in the day, I was overwhelmed by feelings that I needed to get to the Beijing Olympics and throw down the hardest 200 strokes of my life. There was no fear, no hesitation. She was going for the gold right from the first shove of her poles.

When coaches and sports psychologists are looking to help our athletes who have come up just short in these Games, including skiers Francois Bourque and Kelly Vanderbeek, they need only show a few seconds of Chandra's facial expressions before and during the start of her race. Unlike Bourque's cautious approach to his second slalom run whilst positioned with a once-in-a-lifetime chance to be Olympic champion, Chandra exhibited the same aggression and fearlessness that allowed Benny Raich to charge from fifth to first in Bourque's race.

It would have been easy for her to look at the four-women final and say, "Wow, I am only 22 and if I race this smart and beat just one competitor I am guaranteed an Olympic medal." But she raced with the reckless abandon that defines champions.

I am training with Jake Wetzel, one of my teammates from Athens, and when we met hours after the race we immediately noticed each other's excitement. We had witnessed something special and we both knew it. We had got a feeling watching Chandra in the starting blocks that she was going to dominate. Training that afternoon for the 152nd Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race on April 2 was a blast because we were so inspired.

Next was Cindy Klassen's similarly dominant performance in speed skating's 1,500 metres. This was not the performance of an athlete looking to stand on the podium. Again stuck in front of a grainy online feed I watched Cindy destroy Anni Friesinger, one of the best speed skaters in the world. Klassen was more than two seconds faster than Friesinger, which in speed skating terms is huge. Clearly she was not racing just to beat Friesinger, who was considered her strongest opposition. Klassen, like Chandra Crawford, had prepared for this moment so well that her body was ready to deliver a superhuman performance. Duff Gibson and Jennifer Heil demonstrated similar qualities. Is it a coincidence they also won gold medals?

These performances should be the model for our future Olympians. It is not about racing for a medal. It is about getting your body to deliver the best performance of your life at the Olympic Games, and then having the courage to go for it.

Beckie Scott (CP)

Beckie Scott Elected To IOC Athletes’ Commission.

TURIN, February 23, 2006 – The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced today that Canadian cross-country skier Beckie Scott (Vermilion, Alta.) was one of two Olympians elected to the IOC’s Athletes’ Commission for an eight-year term.  Finnish ice hockey player Saku Koivu was also elected.

During the 16-day election period from February 8 to 23, Scott received the highest number of votes amongst the 15 candidates with a total of 449.  Runner-up Koivu received 412 votes.  A total of 2003 athletes – a record number – voted in the election, representing 78.2% of all eligible voters.

“I’m absolutely flattered to have been voted by my peers to represent them in this prestigious role,” said Scott. “I look forward to working for all of the athletes, and doing my best for them.  I think it is really important to have a Canadian voice on the IOC Athletes’ Commission. Canadians are well respected worldwide, and bring a lot of what is good in sport and expected at the Olympic Games including sportsmanship and fair play.”

As a member of the IOC Athletes' Commission, Scott will gain IOC membership status following formal approval by the IOC Board on Sunday. She will become Canada’s second IOC member, joining Richard Pound of Montreal.

A two-time Olympic medallist and three-time Olympian, Scott became the first North American woman to win an Olympic medal in cross-country skiing when she captured gold in the five-kilometre pursuit race at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City.  She won a silver medal with Sara Renner in the women’s team sprint event on February 14 in Turin at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games.

An advocate of drug-free sport, Scott is also Canada's current representative on the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) newly formed Athlete Committee. As a member of the 13-person committee, Scott works with fellow international lobbyists to allow WADA closer contact with athletes and to give the agency better insight into its questions and concerns regarding doping.

Previous Canadian athletes elected to the IOC Athletes' Commission include Charmaine Crooks (athletics, North Vancouver, B.C.) who served from 1996-2004 and Ken Read (alpine skiing, Calgary, Alta.) who served from 1985-1998.

Established in 1981, the IOC Athletes' Commission serves as a link between the athletes and the IOC.  Composed of 19 active and retired athletes, the commission holds annual meetings and issues recommendations to the IOC Executive Board with the goal of ensuring that athletes' needs are met.

Clara Hughes (CP)

Clara Hughes digs deep for kids.
(TORONTO STAR)

TURIN, Italy—Clara Hughes was sitting in her dorm room before yesterday's race, pondering the meaning of sport and why she loves to compete.

Then, she turned on the TV. There was a documentary about Right To Play, the Toronto-based humanitarian organization which brings sport and play programs to the world's most disadvantaged children.

"I said to myself this morning that if I win my race, I have $10,000 in my bank account that I'm donating to Right To Play ..." Hughes said. "I'd like to say right now that I challenge all Canadians, everyone in Canada, if you have $5, if you have $20, if you have $50 — whatever you have to give — a little bit goes a long way."

Donations can be made at http://www.righttoplay.com.

Sam Sullivan (CP)

Vancouver here we come. Full steam ahead for 2010 after completing the most successful Winter Games ever.
(TORONTO STAR)

TURIN, italy—After a terrific showing in these Games, the Canadian Olympic Committee is doing the sensible thing for Vancouver 2010 and making its expectations more realistic.

Canadian athletes, aside from the men's hockey collapse, met virtually every expectation here, earning 24 medals and finishing third in the number of total medals won. The COC, striving mightily to avoid saying "We told you so," maintained the country is on course to win the count in Vancouver in 2010, albeit probably with around 30 medals rather than the 35 floated previously.

This kind of showing makes sponsors climb on board and while it's always the athletes who must get it done, it's money that makes the machine go. Success breeds success and it was achieved here in a record 10 different sports. The COC has plenty of time to crunch numbers and fine-tune the formula. Chris Rudge, under whose leadership the COC is evolving from every-four-years travel agent and haberdasher into a high-performance sports organization, suggests they'll re-evaluate and likely begin targeting medal colours as part of the equation.

This makes sense: In some sports, such as hockey and curling, bronze medals represent more loss than win. In others, bronze is a superior achievement. "It would be easy after what we've accomplished here to be smug and pat ourselves on the back,'' Rudge said. "I don't think we can afford to do that. We need to look at what we can do to make the program even stronger for 2010 and maybe redefine our goals. We said 35 (medals) and maybe it's only 30. There's been a flattening."

The COC has plenty to do; there's the not inconsiderable matter of Beijing and a Summer Games, three times the size of a Winterfest, between now and Vancouver. That's a mighty large ball to keep an eye on.

Topping the Vancouver table will be tremendously difficult, but not impossible; the developments of the past two weeks demonstrate that in winter sports, at least, the world is coming closer together. Germany won the count here with 29, ahead of the United States (25) and Canada (24). Alex Gardiner, COC director of international performance, noted there had been 13 fourth-place finishes and he couldn't restrain himself: "We're a fourth to be reckoned with," he said.

How many of those fourths translate is unknown, but as Klassen, the five-medal superstar who was the obvious choice to carry the flag in closing ceremonies, said, "The last Olympics I won a bronze and had two fourths. I know what that meant for me. Athletes who were fourth here should have tremendous confidence (for 2010)."

Canada won medals in 10 sports here, best number of all. Seven sports had been our previous best. The Germans, bless them, won their 29 in seven sports, a whopping 11 coming in biathlon. The U.S., fighting the natural medal dropoff that comes to countries after playing host to an Olympics, counted its 25 in nine sports. The big-name loudmouth athletes, like Bode Miller, flopped here, but speed skating (seven medals) and snowboard (seven more) saved their Schneiders.

Canada has a plus on its Vancouver ledger, namely home-field advantage. That doesn't mean large crowds of vocal fans pulling for them, although that never hurts. It's little things like setting the competition schedule to our best advantage, or big things like having the competition venues to practise on. Don't underestimate this area; the U.S. won plenty of sliding medals in Salt Lake City after practising on the facilities full-time.

Bottom line for Canada is that 132 of 196 athletes here were Olympic first-timers. They didn't all come home with medals, obviously, but they gained experience and, heading home for 2010, everything will count. And two dozen medals is a great place to start counting from.