Calgary’s Earle Connor wins gold in 100-metre sprint for amputees at Golden League meet.
Canadian Sport News

PARIS – Earle Connor’s quest to break the 12-second barrier later this summer appears on track after his impressive victory on Friday in the men’s 100-metre sprint for one-leg amputees, a demonstration event at the Golden League track and field competition.

The 31-year-old Calgary resident clocked 12.32 seconds, the third fastest time of his career for the win.  Clavel Kayitare of France was second and John McFall of Britain third.

‘’This was an unbelievable race for me,’’ said Connor, who lost his left leg below the knee at three months after he was born without a fibula.  ‘’I wasn’t expecting to go that fast.  But I was very relaxed.  Everything on this trip has gone according to schedule since we arrived here.  That really helps.’’

Connor, who has never lost a 100-metre race in his 10-year national team career, recycled an old foot after breaking the one on his prosthesis at a race two weeks ago in Germany.  The break occurred with about 15 metres to go and Connor was able to hold on for the victory.

‘’Luckily I have lots of feet in my basement,’’ said Connor.  ‘’I found one I liked and I trained on it and my coach (Les Gramantik) convinced me that I could win on this foot.  He really built my confidence.  My plan now is to keep that foot until it snaps.’’

The nationals in two weeks in Windsor, Ont., and a competition next month in Germany, are his last remaining meets this summer.  Connor is gunning to break the 12 second barrier.  He holds the world record at 12.14 seconds. ‘’My goal this year is to break the world record but I also have an overall goal to crack 12 seconds,’’ he said.  ‘’All signs are showing that I’m on pace for that to happen.’’

In the able-bodied competition, world championship bronze medallist Tyler Christopher of Edmonton earned the bronze in the men’s 400.  Perdita Felicien of Pickering, Ont., was fifth in the women’s 100 hurdles.

Noah Miller hopes experience helps in leading water polo team to Pan Ams.
The Leader-Post (Regina)

Regina’s Noah Miller will be chasing more than a medal in men’s water polo at the 2007 Pan-American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Pan-Am Games, which run July 13-29, are also a qualifying event for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The gold-medal winner from the men’s pool in water polo would advance to Beijing. The United States, Brazil and Canada are expected to be the three countries contending for the Olympic berth.

“We’ve been nipping at the United States for a while,” Miller said from Calgary, where he’s training with the Canadian senior men’s water polo team. “We’ve played the United States five times and four times we’ve been within two goals of them. Things are OK on that front. They also fired their coach, so things are a bit scrambled there. We feel pretty good about playing them.”

Miller was a member of Canada’s men’s water polo team that earned a bronze medal at the 2003 Pan-American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. “I went into my first Pan-Am Games not knowing what to expect,” Miller said. “With my experience, I’m prepared for all of the chaos and all of the transportation troubles that will probably happen. Everything is an experience to make myself a better player. It’s a good warmup for the Olympics because we intend to qualify for the Olympics.”

Canada assembles big contingent for Pan-Ams.
The Edmonton Journal

EDMONTON - Canada will send the second-largest contingent of athletes it has ever deployed for any multi-sport Games to Rio de Janeiro for the Pan-American Games this month, the Canadian Olympic Association announced Thursday.

The 470-athlete team for the Pan-Am Games, which run from July 13-29, is second only to the 618 athletes who competed for Canada at the 1999 Pan-Ams in Winnipeg. Overall, more than 5,500 athletes from 42 countries will compete in 33 sports at the Games.

“For many of Canada’s athletes, the 2007 Pan-American Games will provide an opportunity to compete at their first multi-sport competition,” said chef de mission Tricia Smith, a four-time Olympian as a member of Canada’s women’s basketball team.

In truth, Canada’s contingent is a mixed bag, with some sports—like track and field and women’s soccer—sending their best athletes. Others, like swimming and rowing, feature developmental athletes—the ‘B’ team, in other words.

Some disciplines, like baseball, men’s soccer, women’s volleyball and BMX cycling, won’t be represented at all. BMX will be on the program at the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, but Canada opted not to compete in Rio because the event conflicts with the world championship in Victoria, B.C. from July 26-29. The women’s national soccer team is using the Pan-Ams as a tune-up for the Women’s World Cup of Soccer in China in September.

At some point during the Games a Canadian athlete or team almost certainly will win Canada’s 1,500th Pan-Am medal since the inception of the hemispheric competition in 1951. With 1,439 medals, Canada stands third in the all-time standings behind the United States (3,679) and Cuba (1,658).

At Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, in 2003, Canada won 127 medals, including 29 gold, with a team of 422 athletes. This time around, the COC has not set a medal target.

The main focus, the COC said in a release, “is to support those sports and athletes that have an opportunity to qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games through their performance in Rio de Janeiro.”

The Pan-Ams also serve as a 2008 Summer Games qualification event for a cluster of sports, including equestrian, field hockey, shooting, synchronized swimming and water polo.

Even if the COC isn’t talking about an overall medal count out loud, individual sports do have a target in mind. Track and field, for example, expects to place 10 or 11 athletes on the podium from the 30-member ‘A’ team it is sending.

"Because we have such a close proximity to the world championships, it’s important for us to provide that type of international competition level for our top athletes,” Les Gramantik said of his team of 30 athletes. “Sometimes you perform well at home or different types of (smaller) meets but when you step into the international scene, the whole atmosphere is different." “It’s important to expose our top people to that kind of environment as frequently as possible.”

Gramantik said most of the Canadian medals may well come from the field events.“On the women’s side, high jumper Nicole Forrester is ranked No. 1 among Pan-Am athletes,” Gramantik said. “Dana Ellis (pole vaulter) is No. 2. “We have Zelinka in the heptathlon, who is No. 1. James Steacy is ranked No. 2 or 3 (hammer throw), Scott Russell (javelin) is No. 2 , Dylan Armstrong (shot putter is No. 4.”

Gramantik also expects big things from 400-metre runner Tyler Christopher, the native of Chilliwack, B.C., who trains in Edmonton.

For his part, Swimming Canada chief executive officer Pierre Lafontaine reckons he may coax 10-12 medals from his 28 athletes. He’s also expects five or six of these up-and-comers to earn 2008 Olympic team berths. It continues to be a busy year for the swim team, some of whom competed in Melbourne, Australia in March at the World Championships in Aquatics. The FISU Games (Universiade) are also on the schedule in August at Bangkok.

“There are several kids who didn’t make the World Championship (for Melbourne last March), who wound up being our best athletes (in their disciplines),” Lafontaine said. “One would be Matt Hawes (of Ottawa), who broke the Canadian record in the 200-backstroke.”

The Canadian team includes 60-year-old equestrian legend Ian Millar of Perth, Ont., participating in his eighth consecutive Pan-Am Games, as well as 13-year-old Charlotte Mackie of Coquitlam, B.C., who is a Games rookie. Dr. Susan Nattrass, the 56-year-old five-time Olympian and two-time Pan-Am shooting medallist, will carry the flag for Canada at the opening ceremonies on July 13.

Winter Olympics are headed to Russia, with love, in 2014.
The Toronto Star

Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi was awarded the 2014 Olympics yesterday, rewarding President Vladimir Putin and taking the Winter Games to his country for the first time.

Sochi defeated the South Korean city of Pyeongchang 51-47 in the final round of voting by the International Olympic Committee. The Austrian resort of Salzburg was eliminated in the first round of the secret ballot, setting up the decisive head-to-head contest between Sochi and Pyeongchang. Pyeongchang led the first round with 36 votes, followed by Sochi with 34 and Salzburg with 25. Sochi picked up 17 votes in the second round to secure the victory.

The result was a triumph for Putin, who put his international prestige on the line by going to Guatemala to lobby IOC members and lead Sochi’s final presentation to the assembly. Putin had left by the time the result was announced.

IOC president Jacques Rogge opened a sealed envelope and read the words:“The International Olympic Committee has the honour of announcing the 22nd Olympic Winter Games in 2014 are awarded to the city of Sochi.”

Russian delegates in the hall erupted in cheers and hugged each other. Korean delegates bowed their heads, some in tears. “It was a historic decision for all countries,” Sochi bid chief Dmitry Chernychenko said. “Russia will become even more open, more democratic.”

In Sochi, cheers erupted from the crowd of more than 15,000 that had gathered for a pop concert and the announcement in a main square. “It is great. I’ve never been so happy in my life,” said Marina Matveyeva, 23, who works in a bank. “It means that Russia has reached the level of Europe, and we can be proud of our country.”

Russia, an Olympic power which has won 293 Winter Games medals, has never hosted the Winter Games. That was a strong point in Sochi’s favour with the IOC, which likes to spread the Olympics to new host countries. Moscow hosted the 1980 Summer Games, which were hit by the U.S.-led boycott following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

IOC approves Youth Olympics for athletes aged 14-18; first set for 2010.
CP Wire

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) _ Olympic leaders voted Thursday to create a Youth Olympics meant to drag kids from computer screens and onto the playing fields. The first is planned for 2010 for 3,200 athletes, ages 14-18.

It would be the first major international sports festival created by the International Olympic Committee since the advent of the Winter Games in 1924. The program was approved unanimously by a show of hands. IOC president Jacques Rogge said the games would inspire young people around the world to take up sports.

Details must be worked out, but the first Youth Olympics would be a summer games. And with just 3,500 athletes, down from some 10,000 at the Summer Olympics, Rogge said the smaller scope would make it possible for smaller countries to host the competition.

The initial winter games in 2012 would draw 1,000 youth athletes. The 2010 site will be chosen in February, and Rogge said at least six countries already had expressed interest. The 2012 site will be picked by January 2009.

It wasn’t clear whether the games’ format would be based on an earlier proposal suggesting youths participate without flags or national uniforms _ an idea backed by Britain’s Princess Anne. Several IOC members questioned that plan Thursday, and Rogge indicated the question was open.

Without national identity, “the media may lose interest and the governments may lose interest and the athletes themselves may lose interest,” said Alex Gilady of Israel.

Rogge said all Olympic sports would be represented, but with fewer events. He also said some new, youth-oriented sports might be introduced. To hold down costs, Rogge insisted that the IOC would not allow any new infrastructure to be built for the event.

Even so, several IOC members said they were worried about costs.“There will be a lot of overhead here,” warned Montreal lawyer Dick Pound, who questioned whether the games would “get one more person” attracted to organized sport.
Rogge said the IOC could afford the cost, which he estimated at $30 million for the summer event and $15-20 million for winter.

Most IOC members agreed it’s worth a gamble. "Let’s try this one great thing, correct it as we go along,” Gilady said. And Patrick Hickey of Ireland noted that a European youth games _ also started by Rogge _ “have been a phenomenal success.” “You see young athletes before they get a big head, before they smell big money and get an agent, and before they begin doping,” Hickey added.

Most important, Rogge aims to transform youths around the globe into athletes.
“Today we observe a widespread decline in physical activity and an increase in obesity” among youth, Rogge said, citing fewer physical activities in schools and the disappearance of open spaces in cities.

He also blamed the rise of the computer culture. “One can speak of screen addiction,” Rogge said. “Multimedia, with its elaborate graphics ... is sometimes more appealing than sport.”

Olympics: Beijing to ban a million cars in clean-air test run.
Agence France Presse English

BEIJING, July 4, 2007 (AFP) - Beijing is planning to take one million cars off the streets next month as part of a two-week trial to ensure the city’s polluted air is clean during next year’s Olympics, officials said Wednesday. “The plan has been drawn up and is ready to go,” said Fan Yinlong, a city government spokesman, referring to a range of measures that will include the ban on one million cars from August 7-20.

That two-week period is crucial to Olympic planners as it roughly coincides with the time that the Games will be held next year, from August 8-24. Beijing will also host 11 Olympic test events during the test-run period, including cycling road races, wrestling, hockey and beach volleyball.

The city has already spent around 15 billion dollars on a massive pollution clean-up in the run up to the Olympics, which has included moving steel mills, power plants and coal-fired furnaces to the suburbs or beyond.

The government says the efforts are having an impact, with the city last year enjoying 241 “blue-sky” days, according to official statistics. A decade ago the city had fewer than 100 clear sky days a year.

However the official definition of “blue skies” often appears to be at odds with reality for the 15 million citizens of Beijing, who mostly see murky, grey horizons.
The city remains regularly shrouded in a chemical smog that carries serious health risks. Last month was the most polluted June in seven years, environment officials announced on the weekend.

Experts blame the growing problem partly on massive construction sites across Beijing that spew dust particles into the air, as well as coal-fired power plants and other heavy industries that continue to operate outside the city.

Beijing’s fast-rising car population is the other major factor. The city now has three million cars, and that number is rising by 1,200 every day. Despite assurances from the Chinese government that air quality will be fine for the Games, International Olympic Committee leaders have expressed deep concern and demanded “contingency measures” to contain the pollution threat.

Some of the 10,500 elite athletes expected in Beijing for the Games have also expressed deep concerns about the air quality guarantees offered by Beijing. The Australians and some of Britain’s Olympic athletes have said they will stay away from Beijing as long as possible and leave the city as soon as their events are over.

Olympic organising committee spokeswoman Zhu Jing confirmed that the traffic ban was being prepared as part of the one-year countdown test programme, saying a similar scheme worked well during a China-Africa summit in Beijing last year.

During the Africa summit, half a million government vehicles were left in the garage while a similar number of private cars were also kept off the roads. “Air quality was better, and traffic congestion improved,” she said. Zhu said the measures would be officially announced once they were approved by the city’s rubber-stamp People’s Congress on July 24.

TV sports networks ignore amateurs.
The Gazette (Montreal)

The water-polo tournament at Jean Drapeau Parc has provided furious action this weekend.

Team Canada’s women battled their way through three matches, edging Spain 9-8 on Thursday evening, getting past Greece Friday by a 12-11 score after winning the shootout 5-4, before losing to Australia 11-8 last night.

That means Canada will meet Greece again at 5:30 this evening for the bronze medal, ahead of Australia’s gold-medal match against the U.S. at 7 p.m. If tonight’s matches (beginning with the fifth-place game between Spain and China at 4 p.m.) are anything like the rest of the week, they will be tense, difficult and exciting, because water polo is a terrific sport, as anyone who caught the medal-round games during the World Aquatics Championships two years ago can tell you.

But you would never learn about any of it by tuning in to our national “sports” networks, TSN, RDS, Sportsnet or The Score, because when it comes to Canada’s amateur athletes, they don’t even hit the radar screen on the networks sanctioned by the CRTC.

For Canada’s women, this tough international tournament served as a tuneup for the Pan American Games, where they need to beat the Americans and win the gold medal in order to win an automatic berth at the Beijing Olympics next year.
If they make it to Beijing, stars such as powerhouse Krystina Alogbo and goalie Rachel Riddell will be deluged with requests for interviews from TSN, RDS and Sports-net. And woe be to them if they are not available around the clock. When they play in Beijing, they’ll confront a media scrum 40 or 50 reporters deep.

This week? I’ve made it out two of the four nights so far and I’ll go back again tonight. Once I was the only reporter, once I was joined by a reporter from CBC Radio. The only TV network to pay attention is, once again, Radio-Canada, which is why the Olympics should never be taken from our national broadcaster: the CBC and SRC care about amateur sport. No one else does.

Why does it matter? Because it’s a vicious circle. Without funding, athletes can’t succeed.

Never mind their own subsistence living, which if they reach a certain level is provided for carded athletes through the COC. Elite athletes in the 21st century also need coaches and assistant coaches, physical therapists and osteopaths and sports psychologists and technical wizards who know how to set up the best bicycle or the best bobsled.

In the buildup to the Vancouver Olympics, the Canadian government has provided improved levels of funding for the winter sports, but the summer Olympic sports, water polo included, are largely ignored, leaving athletes and federations to beat the bushes for private sponsorship.

But those sponsorships are hard to win when you have no profile. To most corporate sponsors, if you’re not on TV, you don’t exist. Then the athletes fail to medal at the next Olympic Games and you get the predictable outcry: “Our athletes suck!”

But our athletes don’t suck—the so-called “all-sports” networks that ought to be covering them do. The problem begins with the absence of TV coverage and snowballs from there.

Over and over, the story is the same: Our amateur athletes simply can’t get coverage from our so-called sports networks. The conclusion is simple: TSN, RDS, Sportsnet and The Score are not living up to their obligations to Canada’s amateur athletes.

Instead, they are serving up a steady diet of U.S. trash sports such as Ultimate Fighting and NASCAR, and non-sports like poker and the WWE. NASCAR might be a miracle of marketing, but it is about the crashes, not the driving. It’s not a sport. Ultimate Fighting is a mishmash that looks like a cross between a bar brawl and gay porn. It would not be accurate to say steroid use is endemic in the world of pro wrestling, because this form of rassling is based on steroid use, as the whole world ought to realize after the Chris Benoit tragedy. No one would say poker is a sport and the broadcasts help produce problem gamblers - but you can find poker on our sports networks any day of the week.

But try to find our freestyle skiers, cyclists, judokas, amateur boxers, swimmers, high jumpers and water-polo players on our sports networks: they aren’t there. It’s a disgrace. Worse, it’s a disgrace sanctioned by the CRTC. The CRTC is in the business of handing out licences to print money, because that’s what a commercial TV licence is in this country. Get a licence, recycle some American trash sports and you’re rich.

It’s time for some payback from TSN, Sportsnet and RDS. Cover amateur sports or lose your licences. The federations for swimming, water polo and freestyle skiing can’t go it alone, but with the backing of the COC, the Canadian taxpayers and some MPs willing to show a little courage, we can force these networks to give our athletes the coverage they deserve. Either that, or shut down the money machines.