Sport Performance Weekly

April 16th, 2007

Wickenheiser dominates as Canada reclaims title lost in 2005.
The Toronto Star

Team Canada had a motto going into last night’s gold medal final against the Americans: Safe is death.

It was borne out of their loss to the U.S. at the last women’s world hockey championship in Sweden two years ago, the only blemish on their record since the first worlds in 1990.

“The thing I’m most proud of is I think in Sweden we played a little bit afraid to lose,” said Team Canada captain Hayley Wickenheiser, MVP of the tournament. “Tonight we threw that out the window. We talked about it as a team and we decided safe is death - safe is death.”

The Canadians were dominant in a 5-1 rout of the Yanks before 15,003 delirious, placard-waving fans decked out in red and white at the MTS Centre. They embraced in a huge group hug when it was over to celebrate their ninth world title in 10 tries.

“This is what we live for,” said Wickenheiser. “It’s the pinnacle of women’s hockey. I think 15,000 people rode the wave with us tonight and really enjoyed it. I’m just really proud of our team. I’m proud we could win in Canada and for the people here in Winnipeg.

“(Winnipeg-born backup goalie) Sami Jo Small said when she started to play hockey, nobody thought that a girl should be playing hockey and now there’s 15, 000 people in the rink. The game’s come a long way across the country and it’s nice to see the emotion there tonight.”

The Canadians had not looked particularly impressive in their round-robin playoff wins, a 5-4 shootout victory on Saturday over the Americans and a 5-0 win over Finland on Monday.
“We saved our best game for the final. I was really happy,” said Wickenheiser.

“It was a team effort, a great goal to get us going. I think we really dominated them tonight.” Wickenheiser thought it was a good stepping stone en route to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. “We have to get used to it, being able to play relaxed and composed hockey. As the years go on, we head to the biggest Olympics of our careers.”

Botterill opened the scoring 58 seconds into the second period when her shot from a sharp angle to the left of American netminder Chanda Gunn caromed off the inside of defenceman Caitlin Cahow’s skate past the stunned goalie.

Hefford then notched her second goal of the tournament at 11: 33 when she stuffed a backhander past Gunn during a goalmouth scramble off a feed from Vicky Sunohara. The Americans protested the goal, claiming it didn’t cross the line, but the goal stood after a review, sending the crowd into a frenzy.

Earlier in the day, Sweden captured the bronze medal with a 1-0 victory over Finland. The Swedes captured a surprise silver at the 2006 Turin Olympics.

Zelinka plays it by the books.
The Calgary Herald

World domination isn’t Jessica Zelinka’s immediate quest at hand.

The fifth-year University of Calgary track and field standout is en route to accomplishing that feat, currently ranked No. 9 on the planet by the International Association Athletics Federation for heptathlon and pentathlon.

Zelinka, the U of C’s 2007 female athlete of the year, earns the BLG award nomination during her final semester of communications and culture, and the start of her outdoor track and field season.

At the 2007 CIS national track and field championships at McGill University in March, she nabbed gold medals in the long jump, shot put, 60-metre hurdles and 4x200m events and a silver in the 4x400m—helping earn the Dino women’s track and field team its first CIS banner since 1991.

“During the competitions, I’d always think ‘OK, what am I going to take from this when I go compete outdoors, Pan Ams, worlds,’ “ said the native of London, Ont. “It was a lot of refocusing and took a lot of mental energy to do that.”

Zelinka wrapped up her indoor varsity track career reeling in 17 CIS medals (13 gold, three silver, one bronze). “I found school was a great balance with my training,” she said. “Next year, I won’t have school but it’ll be good because Beijing (2008 Olympics) will be an extreme focus of mine.”

On the horizon for the Canadian national team member are the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 13 to 29 and the IAAF championships in Osaka, Japan, from Aug. 25 through Sept. 2.

“I always say, ‘OK if you do minate here (at the university level) -- which she was—then there’s a chance that you can be very good at the world level,’ “ said Les Gramantik, Zelinka’s coach. “I’ll tell you right now, it’ll be a long time—never say never—before anyone’s going to break her (CIS) pentathlon record or hurdle record. They’re world class performances.”

The winners will be announced on April 30 in Calgary and receive a gold ring, trophy and a $10,000 scholarship.

 

Whitfield leads Canadian contingent.
Canadian Press

Ishigaki, Japan—Victoria’s Simon Whitfield was back in familiar position in Japan—leading the Canadian men in a triathlon World Cup race.

The 2000 Olympic gold medalist opened his 2007 season yesterday with an eighth-place finish in a race won by Australia’s Courtney Atkinson. It was the 18th time Whitfield has finished in the top 10 in a World Cup event. Brent McMahon of Victoria was ninth.

On the women’s side, Jill Savege of Penticton, B.C., placed 11th. Portugal’s Vanessa Fernandes won the race.

Canadian duo get synchro diving silver.
Globe and Mail Update

Getting a handle on Chinese crowd reactions and the judging for the Beijing Olympics, Alexandre Despatie of Laval, Que., and Arturo Miranda of Pointe-Claire, Que., captured a silver medal in three-metre synchronized diving at the season opening competition on the diving Grand Prix circuit in Zuhai, China.

Luo Yutong and He Chong of China took the gold medal with 451.98 points. Despatie and Miranda, followed at 423.60 which was five points better than their silver medal wining score at last month’s world championships in Melbourne, Australia. A Malaysian pair was a distant third at 387.84.

“We plan to compete a lot from here until the Olympics and we feel we’re right on track in our preparation for the Games,” Despatie said in a statement issued by Diving Canada. “It was really important for us to come to China and compete especially right after the worlds. Chinese divers are our biggest challenge and we came here and posted a great score.”

Despatie also won a bronze medal  in the men’s three-metre springboard at the season-opening Grand Prix event.

He Chong of China won the gold, earning a perfect 10 on three of his six dives and Wang Feng of China took the silver.

 “It was a very positive performance for me,” said Despatie. “When you compete in China, the quality of your dives has to be nearly perfect to win. I learned a lot from this competition and I know what I need to work on when I get home.”

 

Win bigger than Brier, Martin declares.
The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)
 
CALGARY— Kevin Martin’s curling priorities are simple.
Topping the Albertan skip’s to-do list will always be an Olympic gold medal—he fell just short five years ago in Salt Lake City.

The title he covets more than any other, outside of the Olympics, is the best-against-best shootout known as the Tylenol Grand Slam players’ championship.

And Sunday afternoon before a national television audience, and a few hundred onlookers at the Calgary Corral, Martin proved it once again.

“I was actually shaking after it was done,” Martin said moments after a 6-4 win over Kevin Koe’s Edmonton foursome that gave him his fifth players’ championship crown and a $26,000 cheque.

“If we won the Brier, I wouldn’t be shaking like this. No chance. But I’ve said this all along -- 20 or 30 years from now, these are the events that will be the yardstick for curling.”
Martin moved a step closer to securing a berth in the sweet 16 qualifying pool for the 2009 Olympic Trials.

It capped a fairly dominating performance for the Martin quartet—rounded out by Calgary-based third John Morris and lead Ben Hebert, along with second Marc Kennedy of Edmonton.

“How are we ever going to match this season?” said Kennedy. “It’s been unbelievable. Fourteen finals. Eleven victories. Unbelievable. The best year I’ve ever had curling, and with a great team that’s just going to get better. I hit the jackpot.”

Wotherspoon’s retreat; Speed skater finds new resolve on a tiny Norwegian island.
The Toronto Star  

Jeremy Wotherspoon wanted to be alone to think, so he planted himself on a tiny, windswept, remote Norwegian island near the Arctic Circle.

The Canadian speed skater, who didn’t compete this season after a disappointing 2006 Turin Olympics, recently returned from a two-month soul- searching journey in Norway which included three days on a commercial fishing trawler on a turbulent Atlantic Ocean that left even the seasoned seafarers on board nauseous.

“It was pretty rough. I was pretty sick. It’s not a fun feeling,” said Wotherspoon from Calgary this week. “But it was good for me. After that, I was ready to come here and start training again.”

His sea legs may have been wobbly, but Wotherspoon is ready to get his skating legs churning again. After a second straight disastrous Winter Olympics performance last year in Turin, the 30-year-old is committed to making things right at the 2010 Vancouver Games.

“I realized I wanted to come back here and skate again and be my best by Vancouver in 2010,” said Wotherspoon. “I’m trying not to think of this as my last chance, but thinking of it more like ‘I’ve got another chance,’ you know.

“I know I can do better and I’m thinking about, ‘What are the things I can do to optimize myself for those days in the Olympics in three years’ time?’”

One thing the Red Deer, Alta., native plans to do is speak up more about things he believes need to be changed to create the best training conditions. He believes the environment in his training group deteriorated under poor leadership. He felt he was in a rut the two years leading up to Turin despite some good results, but that he didn’t do enough to control his destiny.

“This isn’t something that came to me overnight,” he said. “I thought about it a lot. I have a plan for the type of situation I want around me, the type of people I want to work with, the type of training I want to do. I have everything in my head, to some degree. I want to have the best people that I can find around me, not just for me but for the team. You want to feel that together you’re out to beat the best in the world.”

 “I wouldn’t say I’m anxious,” said Wotherspoon. “I’d say I’m more interested to see how quickly I can get back up there. Because after a season off, I feel a little lighter on my feet, a little more sort of ready to go, more motivated than I have been in the past couple of years.”
 

The Alberta Youth Olympic Symposium.

There is still time to apply! The Alberta Youth Olympic Symposium (AYOS) is an exciting leadership development program for Alberta high school students. The program will be May 10 - 13 at the University of Calgary.  The application deadline has passed - but we still have a few spots left, so there is still time to apply. The application information is available at www.ayos.ca and the cost is only $150.00.

AYOS delegates are enthusiastic students from grade 10-12 who are leaders in sport and in their communities but do not need to be outstanding athletes. We look for young leadership-orientated individuals with positive attitudes and a curiosity about the Olympic Movement and sport.

Please help us spread the word! If you are a high school student, please consider applying. Do you know a high school student who would be a good candidate? Please encourage them to apply.
 
"Doubt whom you will, but never yourself."
 
~ Christine Bovee