Lueders nabs four-man bronze.
CBC Sports

Edmonton’s Pierre Lueders piloted his sled to another podium finish Sunday, placing third in a World Cup four-man bobsleigh event in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.

Lueders and teammates Ken Kotyk, David Bissett and Lascelles Brown posted a two-run time of one minute, 45.29 seconds, putting them behind the winning U.S. team piloted by Steven Holcomb (1:45.04) and the German team led by Andre Lange (1:45.25). Saskatoon’s Lyndon Rush (1:45.98) steered his team to an 11th-place finish.

Lueders — who along with Bissett raced to a silver medal in Saturday’s two-man event — sits second in the four-man World Cup standings with 300 points after four of eight races.

Russia’s Evgeni Popov, who finished fourth Sunday, leads with 360 points, while Latvia’s Janis Minins is third at 285. Lange and Holcomb are tied for fourth with 280 points. Rush sits in 22nd with 39 points

Kristina Groves Wins Women’s North American Overall Title.
Canadian Press

MILWAUKEE — Kristina Groves of Ottawa won the women’s overall title and Canada gained its maximum number of berths for next month’s world all-around championships in long track speed skating on Sunday at the North American qualifier.

Groves earned a victory in the 1,500 metres and third place in the 5,000 to finish first overall over four races this weekend. Winnipeg’s Clara Hughes, the 5,000 winner, was second and Christine Nesbitt of London, Ont., third.

Groves, Hughes, Nesbitt and reigning world all round champion Cindy Klassen of Winnipeg, who was pre-qualified and didn’t compete this weekend, will skate for Canada at the 2007 all around worlds February 9-11 in Heerenveen, the Netherlands.

“Clara’s performance in the 5,000 was very impressive on a very slow ice surface,” said Canadian national team coach Marcel Lacroix of Calgary. “Kristina Groves was solid in all her races and Christine Nesbitt rebounded from a tough week at nationals and showed the form she had at the start of the season.”

In men’s competition, Chad Hedrick took the overall crown but after that it was all Canada. Calgary’s Arne Dankers, who beat Hedrick in the 5,000 on Saturday, was second overall, Steven Elm of Red Deer, Alta., the 1,500 winner Sunday, third and Justin Warsylewicz of Regina fourth.

Dankers, Elm, Warsylewicz and Denny Morrison of Fort St. John, B.C., who was pre-qualified, are Canada’s entries for the worlds. “”The guys showed a lot depth this weekend,” said Lacroix. “To have Jay Morrison (of Fort St. John) win the 500 and place third in the 1,500 and not make the team that shows how much talent there is. And Arne continued what he started at the Canadian championships two weeks ago.”

Canada was allowed to send a maximum four skaters for the men and women to the worlds. In the women’s 5,000, Hughes showed why she is the Olympic champ in the event clocking just over seven minutes. Catherine Raney of the U.S., was second, Groves third and Nesbitt fourth. Groves won the 1,500 with Nesbitt second and Hughes third.

In the men’s 1,500 Elm took top spot with Dankers second and Jay Morrison third. In the 10,000, Hedrick prevailed with Dankers second and Warsylewicz third and Elm fourth.

Omischl wins silver and keeps yellow bib.

DEER VALLEY, Utah, January 11, 2007 - Steve Omischl of North Bay, Ont., reached a major goal by landing one of the most difficult jumps in the books to win the silver medal in men’s aerials on Thursday night at a World Cup freestyle skiing competition.

Jeret Peterson of the U.S., though, took it a notch higher winning the gold with a world record score executing a quintuple twisting jump. Omischl followed and Sen Qiu of China was third. Kyle Nissen of Calgary was fourth and Cord Spero of Grande Prairie, Alta., the winner this past weekend at Mont-Gabriel, Que., was seventh.

Omischl executed a full full double full on his second and final jump which features a double twist on the third flip. “It’s the jump I messed up at the Olympics and this is the first time I’ve landed it in competition,” said Omischl, the 2005 world champion. “So overall I’m actually one for five with that jump. I’ve been training that jump the last few weeks and this week I landed my five attempts in training. So overall I did what I needed to do today and I simply got beat by someone who put down a way harder trick.”

In women’s aerials, Jacqui Cooper of Australia won the gold medal with Nina Li of China in second and Alla Tsuper of Belarus third. Veronika Bauer of Toronto made the final and was 10th.

Shauna Maria Whyte and Robbi Weldon ski to podium in season-opener.

Vuokatti, FIN. Canada’s ParaNordic Ski Team enjoyed a successful first week at the IPC World Cup, winning two more bronze medals in the cross-country skiing distance events on Sunday in Vuokatti, Finland.

Shauna Maria Whyte, of Hinton, Alta., took home her third medal of the week, and second bronze, in the women’s sit-ski category after crossing the line with a time of 34 minutes 17 seconds, while visually impaired skier, Robbi Weldon and his guide Brian Barry, teamed up for the second trip to the podium on the day for the Canadians.

“It was a great day and we are all very happy with our performance,” said Whyte, who won three of Canada’s four medals during the opening week. “We got off to a bit of a rough start this week, but that happens at the beginning of the season, and I think it was a successful week and lots of fun. We are already looking forward to the next event.”

The IPC World Cup is divided into three categories for the various disabilities including: visually impaired, sit-skiing, and standing amputation and limb disability.
Russia’s Tatiana Ilyochenko and his guide, Valery Koshkin took home the gold in Weldon’s visually impaired category, whille Liudmila Valchok, of Belarus, won the gold in Whyte’s women’s sit-ski division.

Four other Canadian men also suited up on Sunday. In the men’s sit-ski category, Jimmy Pelletier finished in eighth, while Lou Gibson was ninth. In the standing men’s amputation and limb disability category, Canada’s Mark Arendz, of Springton, P.E.I., was 14th, while Tyler Mosher, of Whistler, B.C., was 15th.

The Canadian ParaNordic Team will now travel to Tannheim, Germany for races January 20-28, 2007.

Canada wins bronze medal in women’s relay at world junior short track speed skating championships.
(Canadian Sport News)

MLADA BOLESLAV, Czech Republic- Ivanie Blondin of Ottawa, Valerie Maltais of Saguenay, Que., and Valerie Lambert of Sherbrooke, Que., combined forces to win the bronze medal for Canada in the women’s 2,000-metre relay on Sunday to conclude the world junior short track speed skating championships.

South Korea won the gold medal with China second and the Canadians in third for its sole medal of the competition.

Canada was also in the men’s relay final but was disqualified in the race along with France.  South Korea took the gold and the U.S., won silver.  The Canadian skaters were Nicholas Bean of Ottawa, Maxime Fortin of Riviere-du-Loup, Que., and Vincent Andre of Ahuntsic, Que.

2007 World Championship Diving Team Named.

QUEBEC CITY- World Champion Alexandre Despatie of Laval, Que., broke a Canadian record Sunday with a magnificent golden performance on men’s three-metre springboard at the world championship trials and Winter Nationals diving competition.

Despatie earned his 36th career national title which eclipses the previous Canadian mark of 35 held by Bev Boys of Toronto, who judged the competition here this week.

The 21-year-old Despatie took the gold earning at least two 9.0’s on each of his six dives in the final including one perfect 10 in the third round.  Arturo Miranda of Pointe-Claire, Que., was second at and Ben Starchuk of Edmonton third. Despatie and Miranda grabbed the world team spots.

“Consistency is the key in this sport and that’s what I’m most happy about in my performance tonight,” said Despatie, who won three gold this week.  “To have these kinds of scores in early January augurs well for the world championships.  I couldn’t have asked for much better than this.  Right now I have a lot of confidence.”.

Despatie brought the house down on his third dive in the final, a reverse three and half on which he scored a perfect 10, five 9.5’s and a 9.0. “The reverse is my make or break dive,” he said.  “But it’s going well lately, I feel really comfortable when I execute that dive.”

Despatie was also delighted that his neck responded well to the four-day competition.  He missed most of last season and withdrew from the 10-metre tower at a competition in December due to a neck injury.

On women’s 10-metre tower, Emilie Heymans of Pointe-Claire also notched a perfect score on her armstand dive and took the gold points.  Roseline Filion of Laval, Que., was second and Rachel Kemp of Victoria third.  Heymans and Filion fill the world team spots. 

Diving Canada announced its team members for the 2007 World Aquatic Championships March 18 to April 1 in Melbourne, Australia: 

For the men it’s Despatie (three-metre, 10-metre, three-metre synchro), Miranda (three-metre, three-meter synchro) and Riley McCormick of Victoria (10-metre) and for the women Heymans (three-metre, three-metre synchro, 10-metre), Filion (10-metre, 10-metre synchro), Blythe Hartley of Calgary (three-metre, three-metre synchro, one-metre) and Meaghan Benfeito of Montreall (10-metre synchro).

Bad day on slopes for Canuck boarders.
CanWest News Service

VANCOUVER - Maybe it was those “snow snakes” sneaking up to bite them. Maybe it was the effect of the “gastro” problems ripping through the team. Or maybe, it was just the unpredictability of a discipline where inadvertent bumps and, occasionally, a deliberate one can spill you out of contention. As the riders like to say, “that’s boarder cross.”

Canada failed to make the podium didn’t even reach the semifinals on the men’s side as snowboard cross (SBX) kicked off the 2007 snowboard world championships on Sunday in Arosa, Switzerland. “It’s definitely disappointing,” said Drew Neilson of North Vancouver after his 10th-place finish. “I know what we’re capable of. It just wasn’t our day.”

Maelle Ricker of North Vancouver had the best result, finishing fifth in the women’s event. Fastest of the 16 qualifiers, Ricker went wire-to-wire to win her four-boarder quarter-final heat the top two advance but inexplicably slid out while leading her semifinal. Perhaps, she was tripped up by one of those invisible snow snakes men’s rider Tom Velisek talks about.

“I had a good pull out of the gate, got out into the lead, then all of a sudden about half way down I was on my bum in one of the corners, “It’s definitely disappointing,” added Ricker, who came back to win the consolation final to earn fifth. “I didn’t get done the job I came here to do.”

World championship rookie Christelle Doyon of Sherbrooke, Que., was eighth. American Lindsey Jacobellis won gold.

On the men’s side, Neilson was eliminated in the quarter-final round, as was Francois Boivin of Jonquiere, Que., who tied for 11th. Velisek of Vernon was 23rd and Jasey-Jay Anderson of Mont Tremblant, Que., 26th after both failed to advance out of their first-round heats.

Neilson, Velisek and Anderson were all weakened somewhat by bouts of the flu, or “gastro” problems as Anderson called them.

Sporting ‘superstate’ China scaring the world: Britain.
Agence France Presse English

SYDNEY, Jan 15, 2007 (AFP) - China’s emergence as a “sporting superstate” is frightening the rest of the world ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, a top British sports executive said Monday. “In sporting terms, actually, we’re all at war against China,” said British Olympic Association (BOA) chief executive Simon Clegg.
“We’re seeing the emergence of a sporting superstate and it’s quite frightening for all the other nations in terms of their preparations and expectations for the 2008 Games.”

Clegg was speaking to reporters in Sydney after the BOA signed a cooperation agreement with the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) in a bid to give their athletes a head start for the 2012 Games in London.

Australia’s athletes will have the advantage of training and competing in Britain in the lead up to the Games, while British athletes have been invited to the Australian Youth Olympic Festival in 2007, 2009 and 2011.

China has a 300-strong team at this week’s festival in Sydney and Clegg said he would be watching them closely.“It’s going to be very interesting to see not only their traditional areas of strength but also whether they’re going to be picking up in areas where they’ve been less strong in recent history.“I think that’s going to be a huge challenge for all of us, not only for 2008 but for 2012 and going forward.”

China have made no secret of their desire to top the medal tally in Beijing, knocking the United States off its perch, and have been working to close the performance gap with the world’s best in key areas like athletics and swimming.
At the Athens Olympics in 2004, the United States headed the medals tally, followed by China, Russia and Australia.

AOC president John Coates, meanwhile, predicted that Germany would take over Australia’s fourth spot in the Olympic medal tally in Beijing, leaving the sports-obsessed country to compete with Japan for fifth.“They’re clearly ahead of us ... the unified Germany is finally producing,” Coates said.“It has taken a long time. We’ll be fighting it out for fifth on the tally. “Japan recently won six medals at the world judo championships so they’re very close to us now."

Ladies come aboard; Barenaked Ladies, Bell give Olympic effort a boost.
The Toronto Sun

Ed Robertson of the Barenaked Ladies remembers playing a set with the band for Canadian Olympic athletes during the Salt Lake City Winter Games in 2002, a hand-length away from the emotion and electricity of athletes whose competitive drive is founded on a raw will to compete and win against the best in the world, not on the need to justify large paycheques and Cadillac Escalades.

That’s why he is such a huge fan of amateur athletics, he said. That’s why when he’s on tour with the band, or at home in Toronto and he gets some free time, he’ll take in a high school basketball game, or make sure he catches the national junior hockey team on television, because most of them are in it for the right reasons.

“Canadians are often disappointed with medal performance (at Olympic Games), but it’s clearly a direct result of the support and funding we give our athletes,” Robertson said yesterday, shortly after a news conference at the Pantages Hotel to announce a partnership between the Barenaked Ladies and Bell Canada, where 50 cents from every ticket sold during the band’s upcoming cross-Canada BLAM tour will be funneled into the Own the Podium 2010 program.

That program channels corporate, government and other monies toward helping place Canada at the top of the medal podium at the coming Winter Games in Vancouver. The objective on the Paralympics side is a third-place overall medal finish.

The program sets the medal goal for those 2010 Olympics at 35, more than double what the Canadian team took home in 2002 (we took home 24 at Torino 2006). To do that, the program requires a focus on the sports deemed most likely to produce medals, and new funding of $110 million in the five years between when the program was announced and 2010, from government, corporate and other sources, to meet medal targets.

“Everyone gets excited when an athlete pulls it off,” Robertson said. “But the truth is our bronze medalists could be silver medalists, and our silver medalists could be gold medalists. Hopefully (this program) will give our athletes a little edge. Anything will help.”

Deidra Dionne, the 2002 Olympic medalist in freestyle skiing, was on hand yesterday as MC, and said her training and those of her peers has benefited from a financial boost in recent years, especially since Own the Podium really started cranking it out.

Dionne said she notices it most in the behind-the-scenes support that outsiders don’t see, like the freedom to hire strength trainers, sports psychologists and nutritionists to accompany the athletes to international events now, where in past years one had to borrow such resources from another team.

Dionne has really noticed the difference while rehabbing from a broken neck suffered while training in Australia in September 2005. In her case, for example, the additional money coming in has allowed her to hire a trampoline coach in Kelowna, B.C., where she trains.

“Now I don’t have to live at home, and mom doesn’t have to pay for the groceries,” she said. “I can go to where the facilities are.”

The Barenaked Ladies start their tour Jan. 31 in Victoria.