A group of intrepid Canadian freestyle aerials skiers, including a couple of childhood friends, won three medals in one difficult afternoon yesterday on a World Cup hill at Mont-Gabriel, Que.

Cord Spero, 27, of Grand Prairie, Alta., won the first World Cup medal of his career, a gold, and was joined on the podium by his boyhood friend Ryan Blais, 27, of Grand Prairie, who won a silver medal after a horrendous fall in a training run.

Veronika Bauer, 26, of Toronto, won a bronze medal after judging that puzzled her.
Blais’s recovery from a fall was most miraculous. During a training run before the final, he caught an edge on his ski as he was hurtling down the hill at 60 kilometres an hour, fell backward and went completely out of control in the air. “I was absolutely lost in the air, spinning and twisting like crazy, and instead of doing three flips, I did 3 ½ to four flips,” he said. “I landed upside down on my head.”

He was on the ground for about five minutes as doctors rushed to help him. Both his skis were broken and his competition suit had burst its seams from the impact. He saw “fluttering lights” and his shoulder hurt so badly, he considered pulling out of the competition.

After checking for a concussion, doctors cleared him to compete. To deaden the sore shoulder, he took Advil and nervously faced the hill again. There was no opportunity for him to take another practice jump.

He landed his jump and was leading the pack until the final skier, his friend Spero.
It was an incredible effort by Blais, considering he hadn’t properly landed his quadruple twisting triple back flip during the week because of the constant rain. He landed it for only the second time this season in the qualifying round.

Blais’s accident came two days after Olympic bronze medalist Sandra Laoura suffered a serious back injury during training for a women’s event at Mont-Gabriel. She is recovering in a Montreal hospital after surgery to stabilize and fuse her 11th and 12th thoracic vertebrae. There is hope she will not be paralyzed.

Spero came down the hill after Blais, disappointed with the new format that drops the score of the first round. He had been first after the first run. He nailed it again to win the gold medal. “It’s been a crazy day for me,” said Spero, who had finished fourth a couple of times in previous World Cup events. “I’m on cloud nine.”

Four Canadian aerialists finished in the top seven, with 2005 world champion Steve Omischl of North Bay finishing fifth and Jeff Bean of Ottawa seventh.“This is one small step to get to [the Vancouver Olympics] and do the best performance,” Spero said. “Winning events like this are awesome. But the world stage is a different stage when the Olympics are on. Everybody stops and pays attention to it.“I was happy to be alive,” he said. “And happy to be on the podium.”

Bauer, a two-time Olympian, barely squeaked through the qualifying round, finishing 10th, the final spot to make the final. “I thought I was better than that,” she said.

She did a harder jump in her second run, but felt she still received a low score.
Bauer had skipped the early World Cup competitions in China to train at home and correct some technical problems that had been plaguing her the past couple of years.

“It’s such a relief to finally see a difference and my jumping is so much better,” she said. “It’ll pay off in the end. Really, my goal is the 2010 Olympics. It’s not the judges’ fault, she said of her displeasure with the scoring. “They care and they try really hard. They just see aerials once or twice a year.”

The freestyle skiing world championships have been postponed by more than a month due to a lack of snow. The competition was originally scheduled for Jan. 22-27 in this Italian resort. The new dates are March 5-11, the International Ski Federation announced Monday.

Due to unseasonably warm weather, snowmaking at Campiglio has only been possible during eight nights in the past two months

WINTER SPORTS ROUNDUP LUGERS TAKE BRONZE.
The Globe and Mail - Beverley Smith

Throw an innovative sport at Canadian athletes and they will be among the first to excel at it.

Yesterday, a Canadian team of lugers earned the bronze medal in a new relay event at a World Cup event in Koenigssee, Germany. A group that included doubles lugers Chris and Mike Moffat of Calgary, Regan Lauscher of Red Deer, Alta., and Jeff Christie of Vancouver finished third in 2 minutes 42.501 seconds, more than a second behind the winning German team. The Austrians took the silver.

In late November, the International Luge Federation lost its bid to get a team event included for the Vancouver Olympic Games. But yesterday, it presented a revamped version that is a relay. Each relay team consists of one doubles team, a women’s and a men’s singles competitor. All sleds start from the same height. Only after the doubles sled passes across a pressure contact on a rubber mat at the finish line, is the women’s single allowed to take off. The clock runs from the start of the doubles run to the end of the men’s singles run. “This was fun,” Lauscher said. “This race is the future.”

Federation president Josef Fendt said the International Olympic Committee did not appreciate the concept of adding individual run times under the old team system. But he was pleased with the event’s debut yesterday. “Many people say that international federations are not innovative,” he said. “But we have proved the opposite. I’m sure we will continue this format in the future.”

The Moffat brothers finished eighth in their doubles event on Saturday, while Lauscher was 11th in women’s singles and Jeff Christie was 11th in men’s singles.

Bilodeau wins bronze; Freestyle skier stages rally.
The Toronto Sun

Moguls skier Alexandre Bilodeau of Rosemere, Que., overcame a ninth-place qualification round to capture a bronze medal in a freestyle skiing World Cup event yesterday.

Dale Begg-Smith, who grew up in British Columbia but competes for Australia, took gold withFrance’s Guilbaut Colas earning silver.

Begg-Smith, a gold medallist at the 2006 Olympics, said he hasn’t had trouble finding motivation after winning at Turin. “There’s a strong field, so I have enough motivation to ski well,” Begg-Smith said.

Bilodeau, 19, performed a double-twisting back flip and a complicated off-axis manoeuvre en route to the bronze. “It was pretty good, except that I landed my jumps a little deep,” Bilodeau said. “I’m pretty happy to start the season with a podium.”

Pierre-Alexandre Rousseau of Drummondville, Que., finished 10th while Vincent Marquis of Quebec City was fifth in the qualification round before finishing 11th.

Jenn Heil of Spruce Grove, Alta., who last season collected medals in 10 of 11 World Cup starts, had her ski caught in the snow after her first jump and crashed en route to an 11th-place finish. Shannon Bahrke of the U.S., had the sixth World Cup victory of her career. “I’m from California and I’m used to this,” Bahrke said of the foggy, warm and mushy snow conditions. “I skied the course the way I wanted to.”

Sara Kjellin of Sweden was second while Margarita Marbler of Austria took third. Stephanie St. Pierre of Sainte-Foy, Que., was the top Canadian, in seventh place.
The World Cup season resumes with aerials today.

Canada’s Clegg fifth in World Cup biathlon race.
Associated Press and Canadian Press

OBERHOF, GERMANY — Nikolay Kruglov of Russia won a biathlon World Cup event Saturday, ending Ole Einar Bjorndalen’s unbeaten streak this season. Kruglov won the 10-kilometre sprint event, missing one target. Germany’s Michael Greis was second, with Italy’s Rene Laurent Vuillermoz third.

Ottawa’s Robin Clegg was top Canadian on the day, settling for 53rd, two and a half minutes of the leading pace. It’s a disappointing result for the two-time Olympian who is ready to make his mark on the biathlon world.

“It’s frustrating not being able to put together a solid race both on skis and in the range,” said Clegg. “I am feeling really strong on my skis right now, but I haven’t been able to pull together a great performance on the range. The laws of average say it should happen and I am confident that I will achieve some great results this season. “It’s just a matter of putting it all together on the same day.”

In their first relay event of the season, the Canadian women fought through challenging conditions to finish in 11th spot. Zina Kocher, of Red Deer, Alta., led the charge for the Canucks, with teammates Sandra Keith of Calgary, Marie Pierre Parent, of St-Paul de Joliette, Que., and World Cup rookie Sonya Erasmus, of Vanderhoof, B.C., all combining for a solid outing.

“The conditions were quite difficult on the range,” said Kocher. “The wind was really shifty. One minute it was gusting, then it would quiet down and then it would start gusting in the other direction. The mix of artificial and fresh snow made the course really slippery so there were a few crashes, making the already narrow track even trickier.”

It was a close call, but organizers of the Oberhof Biathlon World Cup managed to pull together enough snow to host the first biathlon event of the new year. In order to make the race possible, a total of 3,600 cubic metres of crushed ice (a sort of artificial snow usually used for refrigerating fish), were trucked down to Oberhof, Germany, from as far as the North Sea.

Mother Nature has been a constant challenge for races throughout Europe, with warm temperatures and lack of snow forcing race organizers and athletes to hunt for snow across the continent. The forecast is calling for conditions to stay warm, with rain or wet snow on the way for the weekend. In the 15-year history of the event, the Oberhof Biathlon World Cup has been relocated twice due to lack of snow.

Alberta ‘boarder has the Wright stuff.
The Calgary Herald

Kory Wright looks more like a desert soldier as he slides to a stop at the bottom of Canada Olympic Park’s halfpipe.

The diminutive Calgarian’s face is cloaked by a blue and white wrap with an opening just big enough for a pair of big, orange goggles. There is no mistaking the 21-year-old’s ability on a snowboard, however, as the first-year member of Canada’s freestyle snowboard team performs a number of runs down the Olympic-sized halfpipe in preparation for this weekend’s world championship team trials.

Wright, who finished third in the world junior championships last year and marked a World Cup-high third-place finish recently at Whistler, figures to be one of Canada’s soldiers at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games at Vancouver. “Brad Martin and Crispin Lipscomb have had the most success among the men, but they’re all close,” said freestyle coach Tom Hutchinson on Friday morning as he watched his troops go through training runs. “Kory is our No. 1 Alberta guy.”

The national three-day selection camp, which began Saturday and wraps up Monday, will see the men compete for eight freestyle world championships berths and the women four.

Wright is just excited to be a rookie national team member, knowing there are probably bigger and better things ahead as he continues to polish his routine.“It’s pretty cool,” he said, through his face muffler. “It all happened pretty quickly. I really didn’t know this would be happening. It’d be sweet to go to the Olympics. That’s the direction we’re all going in now, but it’s a long ways from here to there, so I just have to keep having fun and learning.”

Wright was never an alpine skier, taking to the snowboard at a young age. His free riding in the mountains soon led to the halfpipe and then to competition.“You just have to give it a go,” he said of the halfpipe. “You can try similar stuff off jumps, but you just have to go for it.”

With COP offering an Olympic halfpipe for the first time this season, it holds the promise of allowing the Canadian freestylers to get in more training and bust loose in world competition, where their top finish at Turnin was sixth.“Vancouver is a long ways away, but with this facility . . . once it gets good, it’s going to be amazing,” said Wright. “It’s such a huge stepping stone. It’s the first year we’ve had it and it should help us in the long run.”

The Canadians will get a chance to strut their stuff on the superpipe when COP plays host to a Nokia Snowboard FIS World Cup on March 2 and 3.

Canada’s male speed skaters dominate while international women make their mark at Canada Cup.

Calgary, AB - - Canadian Development Team skater Mark Jesney finished first in today’s men’s 5,000 metres followed by four other top Canadian distance skaters, Neal Zaluski, Jay Morrison, Aaron Sadlier and Philippe Riopel, at the Canada Cup #1 speed skating competition at the Olympic Oval. 

“The ice was pretty fast today,” says Jesney, 27, from Saskatoon, Sask. “I feel that we have a lot of depth in the 5,000 now. There are a lot more Canadian skaters including a couple of young guys like Riopel, who can skate pretty fast. It makes all of us faster to have more competition.” “This was a personal best time, the first time I have ever skated faster than 6:30.00.” Jesney is set to skate in the 5,000 and 10,000 metres distances in two upcoming winter World Cups in Europe.

Canadian National Development Team skater Jeff Kitura, from Langley, B.C., had a hat trick of first place finishes this weekend, clinching his third win in the men’s 1,000 metres this morning.

In the ladies 1,000 and 3,000 metres competitions international speed skaters took the first place finishes. Chinese skaters Beixing Wang, Xiaomei Sheng and Aihua Xing, swept the 1,000 metres coming in first, second and third. All three train at the Olympic Oval with Coach Kevin Crockett, Canadian Olympic bronze medallist at the 1998 Winter Games.

National Development Team women Justine L’Heureux and Shannon Sibold, finished second and third in the 3,000 metres. “My race was solid, but it was really to gain experience,” says Sibold, 22, from Calgary, Alta. “I did really well at the Canadian Single Distances Championships last week, so this competition has been an opportunity to practice a lot of new race strategies.”

Sibold, who has been with the National Development Team for the past four years, competed in her first World Cups this fall and will continue on the World Cup circuit for the rest of the season. Next weekend she will be in Milwaukee, USA, for Continental Championships

CANADIAN NORDIC SKIERS SURVIVE INAUGURAL TOUR DE SKI.
CODA Release

Val di Fiemme, ITA—After six days of racing that included travelling hundreds of kilometres, both on the snow and in the team van around Europe over a one-week span, Canada’s elite cross-country skiers survived the ultimate endurance test – the Tour de Ski.

The inaugural event wrapped on Sunday with the men’s and women’s 15- and 10-kilometre pursuit races in Val di Fiemme, Italy. Germany’s Tobias Angerer and Virpi Kuitunen claimed the final leg of the grueling marathon, and were crowned the overall Tour de Ski champions.

“It was a great experience for our team and they fought hard to the end,” said Dave Wood, head coach, Canadian Cross-Country Ski Team, who added it was unfortunate they lost many of their top guns heading into the final weekend including Devon Kershaw and Drew Goldsack due to illness. “We started off the event with a couple of medals, and had some significant challenges, but I think we could have done some more great things if our team didn’t get sick.”

George Grey, of Rossland, B.C., and Chandra Crawford, of Canmore, Alta., led the Canadians on the final day. Grey and Crawford finished the pursuits in 43rd spot.

Other Canadian results included: Stefan Kuhn, of Canmore, Alta., in 49th; Sean Crooks, of Thunder Bay, Ont., in 57th; and Dan Rocroft, of Port Sydney, Ont., in 59th in men’s competition. World Cup youngsters, Amanda Ammar, of Onoway, Alta., and Perianne Jones, of Almonte, Ont., who will both stick around in Europe to compete in the Under-23 World Championships, finished 45th and 47th respectively.

The rest of the Canadian team will return home for training and selection races for the 2007 World Nordic Ski Championships, which will take place in Japan.

Kory Wright can barely contain his enthusiasm for the chance to show off what he can do at Canada Olympic Park.

The Calgary snowboarder has spent countless hours at the hill working on his tricks in front of friends. Now the rest of the world is set to show up. The Nokia Snowboard FIS World Cup will be held March 2-3.

CODA launched construction of five new world-leading facilities at COP this fall, including the towering snowboard halfpipe that replicates the Olympic facility that will be constructed for the 2010 Games in Vancouver.

The 22-ft. superpipe was completed with the latest environmentally progressive snowmaking and enhanced lighting for night training and competition. “CODA is committed to giving Canadian athletes the facilities and resources required to foster excellence and be the world’s best,” said Bob Nicolay, president and chief executive officer of CODA.

“Access to cost-effective, leading training facilities at home is what Canadian athletes must have if Canada is to attain its goal of becoming a world-leading winter sports nation by 2010.”

The first World Cup in Canada was held at COP in 1995, so the national team is excited to be back at the park in 2007. “We are looking forward to returning to Canada Olympic Park this year for the Nokia Snowboard FIS World Cup event,” said Tom McIllfaterick, CEO of the Canadian Snowboard Federation.

“They have just opened their new pipe, which will be the national training centre for the Canadian team leading up to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, so it is very fitting.”

A second stop on the World Cup tour will hit Stoneham, Que., March 16-18 for the Nokia FIS Snowboard World Cup Finals.

China Daily launches special Olympic weekly.
ENGLISH NEWS SERVICE

(Xinhua) -- China Daily, the national English-language newspaper, launched an eight-page weekly publication devoted to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games here on Friday. The Olympian, printed in color in tabloid size, is available across the world along with China Daily.

The publication will give English readers a comprehensive and close access to the Beijing Games, the preparations and the people involved in making it a success. The Olympian is expected to be expanded to 16 pages at the end of the year, and will turn into a 48-page daily during the Beijing Games in August 2008.

In the past 25 years, China Daily has become one of the major sources of information about China for Western readers and is one of the most widely- quoted media organizations in China.

Canadian Olympic Committee Welcomes Helena Guergis as Secretary of State (Sport)

TORONTO – The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) welcomes Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s appointment of Helena Guergis as Secretary of State (Sport). 

“With the federal government’s recent creation of Podium Canada and the ongoing development of the Own The Podium 2010 and Road To Excellence programs, the Canadian sport system continues to progressively evolve at an accelerated rate,” said Chris Rudge, COC Chief Executive Officer.  “With the 2008 Olympic Games fast approaching, we look forward to additional podium performances from Canada’s summer athletes and achieving a result of increased funding for a program that rivals the system developed for Canada’s winter athletes.  We would like to extend our appreciation to Minister Van Loan for his contribution over these past two months and we look forward to working with the Honourable Helena Guergis and the federal government as a full partner with the goal of advancing Olympic sport in Canada.”

China to take Olympic torch over Everest in trial run.
Agence France Presse English

BEIJING - China will take the Olympic torch relay over the summit of Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak, in a trial run this year, state media reported Wednesday.

“The torch will be designed specifically in order to burn at such a high altitude. And the design is in its final stage,” Liu Jingmin, Beijing’s deputy mayor, was quoted by the Xinhua news agency as saying. “This rehearsal will be very important for a successful torch relay,” Liu said.

Liu, who is also the vice president of the Beijing organising committee of the 2008 Olympic Games, said the torch relay would be performed when the weather was good and the whole process would be televised. On the official website of the organising committee, Liu said the relay was just one of several targets in the run-up to the Olympics.

All the game venues and training sites are scheduled to complete construction by the end of this year. And 26 trial events would take place in 2007, the website said, without giving specific details.