Jennifer Heil wins silver and remains at the top of standings.

INAWASHIRO, Japan - Jennifer Heil of Spruce Grove, Alta., took a big step toward clinching the 2004 Suzuki FIS Freestyle World Cup overall women's moguls' title by capturing a silver medal Sunday.

In bizarre weather conditions, Margarita Marbler of Austria won for the second straight day, but Heil remained atop the standings with her second silver medal of the weekend. Only Kari Traa of Norway stayed within striking distance, with five of 15 events remaining in the season, by finishing third.

"It was a really weird day," said Heil. Gusting winds, fog and heavy snowfall nearly forced cancellation of the event, which was switched from dual moguls to single moguls. The qualification round was also cancelled and the straight final started several hours late, but one final practice run about 2:30 p.m. made the difference for Heil.

She had been struggling with her mute grab, or helicopter-mute jump. But she nailed it in practice and then again in a foggy final, en route to her seventh medal in ten World Cup starts this season. "I don't think I've ever skied on snow that slick, so I wasn't prepared," said Heil, who had trained during the day in powdery snow conditions. "That's probably why I didn't win, but I'm very happy because it's the worst conditions I've ever skied in."

There were no qualifications for the traditional 12-skier finals, but two other Canadian women posted top-12 scores. Stéphanie St-Pierre of Victoriaville, Que., who went off course Saturday, finished seventh and Sylvia Kerfoot of Vancouver was 12th. Jennifer Simm of Prince George, B.C., finished 17th.

Pierre-Alexandre Rousseau of Drummondville, Que., was the top Canadian male, equalling his season-high of fifth place. Jim Schiman of Cranbrook, B.C. -- a silver medallist Saturday -- was seventh and sits eighth in the men's overall moguls' standings. Warren Tanner of Grimsby, Ont., was 18th and Marc-André Moreau of Chambly, Que., 40th after crashing.

Wotherspoon adds silver to medal collection at World Cup speed skating competition.
(Canadian Sport News)

COLLALBO, Italy- Jeremy Wotherspoon of Red Deer, Alta., continued to build his lead in the 500-metre long track speed skating World Cup standings on Sunday with a silver medal performance at the outdoor venue.

Masaaki Kobayashi of Japan took the gold medal with Wotherspoon second and Ryohei Shimizu of Japan third. A slight wind and warm weather made times a bit slower than on Saturday. "The ice was still pretty good and I was happy with my race," said Wotherspoon, who won the 500 and 1,000
metre races on Saturday. "I thought I had posted a faster time. It was a good weekend for me and great way to start the final stretch of the season. Being outdoors was a refreshing change at this point of the year and this venue was very different. It was pretty neat to be here.’’

Mike Ireland of Winnipeg fell on the second turn and did not finish. In the B group race, Mark Nielsen of Calgary was first, the 14th best time of the day, Brock Miron of Cornwall, Ont., second and James Monson of Calgary fourth.

In the 500 World Cup standings, Wotherspoon has 730 points after eight of 12 races. Dmitri Lobkov of Russia is the closest pursuer at 468 and Ireland is third at 435. Wotherspoon has held the 500 World Cup crown five of the last six seasons including the last two.

The second of three World Cup 100-metre races this season was held Sunday with China’s Fengton Yu taking the men’s gold. Nielsen was seventh, Wotherspoon 11th, Monson 24th and Miron 28th. Ireland hurt his knee in the 500 and chose not to race but should be ready next weekend.

In women’s competition, Monique Garbrecht-Enfeldt of Germany won the 500 with Krisy Myers of Calgary, the top Canadian in 20th. In the B group,
Kim Weger of Regina was second, Kerry Simpson of Melville, Sask., sixth and Danielle Wotherspoon of Red Deer seventh.

The women’s 100 was won by Shihomi Shinya of Japan with Myers 10th, Simpson 14th and Wotherspoon 21st.

The next stop on the World Cup for both the sprinters and all around skaters is this Friday to Sunday in Inzell, Germany, also an outdoor venue. Also the world junior long track championships are Friday to Sunday in Roseville, Minnesota. Shannon Rempel of Winnipeg is the defending women’s champion.

Canada ends luge season at World Championships in Japan with top 10 finishes.
(CODA Release)

Nagano, JPN-Grant Albrecht and Eric Pothier closed out their season Saturday, with a top-10 result at the Luge World Championships in Nagano, Japan. Albrecht, of Red Deer, Alta., and Pothier, of Airdrie, Alta., have been fighting to improve their equipment all season, but put those frustrations aside and posted two solid runs to end the day in ninth place.

"Of course we would have liked to do better, but under the circumstances we had two clean runs and can't ask for much more against this level of competition," said Pothier, who along with partner Grant Albrecht, finished the World Cup season ranked seventh. "We'll take the off-season to work on getting our sled faster and catching up to the technology that the rest of the world is using."

Sam Edney and Gwyn Lewis, both of Calgary, are fresh off a silver medal finish at the Junior Luge World Championships, and were the other Canadian doubles team sliding on the 1998 Olympic Track in Nagano. They had trouble on their first run, but stormed back to finish 13th.

In women's singles action, 23-year-old Regan Lauscher, of Red Deer, Alta., was the fastest Canadian. She posted a two-run time good enough for 14th place. "I've had some ups and downs this season, and training this week didn't go as well as I wanted it to. My sliding was consistent enough, just not as fast as I know it can be," said Lauscher, who missed the first two races of the season to finish her semester in college. "Even taking the time off, it felt like a long season and after ten years of sliding, I don't think it really affected my performance."

Regina's Meaghan Simister, 17, was the only other woman wearing the maple leaf, and she ended the day in 16th place.

On Sunday, Jeff Christie was the fastest of four Canadian athletes, he earned his best result to date at a World Championship, finishing the season with a 16th-place finish. "I'm happy with my result today, when I look back over the season, its definitely a step forward for me. I was close to hitting the top-15, and it was a few mistakes at the top of my second run that cost me some time," said Christie, who at 21-years-old, has completed his first season dedicated to the senior World Cup. "I've now had the experience on every track in the world and with some more consistency I can really start to climb up the standings."

Other Canadians results from Sunday include: Ian Cockerline, who was 19th down the track, Sam Edney and Gwyn Lewis, who are used to competing in the men's doubles event, finished 25th and 35th respectively.

This season marks a successful campaign for the Canadian squad, which is the youngest team in the world. "Were definitely on the right track to making this young team one of the best luge teams in the world," said Walter Corey, who has completed his first season as head coach, Canadian Luge Team. "We've seen some impressive senior results from athletes who are among the best at their age. It is an exciting time for this program."

Canadian Cross Country Skiers climb like crazy to top of international podiums.
(CODA Release)

Soldier Hollow, UTAH - The Canadian flag was raised above the podium at international cross-country ski events for the 12th time in a week on Saturday as Canadian athletes captured three more medals at the Under-23 World Championships, Disabled World Cup and World Cup events.

While Brian McKeever, of Canmore, Alta., earned a silver medal at the Disabled Cross-Country Ski World Cup in Mont Orford, Que., his fourth medal of the week, and Sara Renner, also of Canmore, continued to bolt her way up the World Cup rankings after finishing 19th in a race to the wire in the World Cup 7.5-kilometre double pursuit, it was Canada's future Olympians that continued to stand tall amongst the world's best at the Under-23 Cross-Country Ski World Championships.

Canada's men and women's team - led by 22-year-old Drew Goldsack, of Red Deer, Alta., and 20-year-old Chandra Crawford, of Canmore, Alta., who won gold and silver in Thursday's individual sprints - both garnered bronze medals in the team sprint relay events at Soldier Hollow, Utah, the site of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. "This has been an awesome week for us and I am so happy for the entire team," said 21-year-old Devon Kershaw, of Sudbury, Ont., who teamed up with Goldsack in the men's team sprint. "Drew and I led the whole race until the finish when we lost the final dash to the line between us, Norway and Italy. We couldn't have expected anything better this week."

While the Canadian men failed to win the final sprint to the line, the female Canucks held their ground with the Italians and Swiss teams who finished one-two respectively. Crawford was teamed up with Montreal's Dasha Gaiazova. The two-man team sprint relay forces each athlete to complete the 1.3-kilometre track before handing off to his/her teammate. The exchange is repeated three times.

Meanwhile in Europe, the 27-year-old Sara Renner continues to plug her way into the elite class on the Viessmann Cross-Country Ski World Cup in Oberstdorf, Germany, the site of the 2005 World Championships. Renner posted one of her strongest results of the year in the double pursuit, which combines 7.5 kilometres of classic skiing and an additional 7.5 kilometres of skate skiing after hitting the transition area to exchange skis.

"I am very happy with today's race because it was a difficult, tough course that makes you climb like crazy," said Renner, who added she is steadily improving on the difficult mass starts, but still needs work in the transition areas of these unique races. "The hills out here are like walls but it is good to get a race in at the World Championship site. I'm gaining more confidence, doing better every race and feeling strong."

With Renner's usual World Cup mate, Beckie Scott, of Vermilion, Alta., back in Canada competing in Ottawa's Keskinada cross-country ski festival, she was joined by another Beckie - Becky Laakso, of Thunder Bay, Ont., who was making her World Cup debut. The 25-year-old Laakso finished 53rd in the event, but gained a wealth of international experience.

While the Disabled Cross-Country World Cup wrapped up in Mont Orford, Que., with Canada winning a total of eight medals for the week, the Under-23 World Championships will continue on Sunday with distance races, while Renner and Laakso will team up for a sprint competition in Germany. Canada will also field two men's relay teams in Sunday's World Cup competition.

Canada’s Pierre Lueders misses 2-man Bobsleigh World Cup title by .02 seconds.
(CODA Release)

February 14, 2004 – A mere .02 seconds is all that separated Canada’s Pierre Lueders from winning his sixth 2-man Bobsleigh World Cup title today in Igls, Austria. Lueders, who led Germany’s Christoph Langen by four points in the World Cup standings entering today’s race, needed a fourth place finish to win his sixth World Cup title. Lueders’ fifth place finish in today’s race left him two points behind Langen for the overall 2-man World Cup title. Langen, who had trailed Lueders all season, won the silver medal in today’s race to take the overall 2-man World Cup title in the last race of the season.

Brakeman Giulio Zardo, 23, of Montreal gave Lueders some of the best push starts of the day. In the first heat, Zardo had the second fastest push start while In the second heat, he had the fastest push start overall. Despite the fast starts, the Canada 2 sled posted times good enough only for 5th place in today’s race.

“Our starts were excellent today,” said Canada 1 pilot Pierre Lueders. “There was no problem with that. And I felt that the driving was good enough to win as well. I think I just used the wrong runners today. I was fooled by the conditions and I thought that the ice was colder than it was.”

André Lange of Germany 1 won the gold medal. Christoph Langen won the silver medal and the overall 2-man title. Martin Annen of Switzerland won the bronze medal. Langen finished the season with 231 points, followed by Lueders with 229 points and Lange with 219.

“Giulio and I are happy with the results,” added Lueders. “It would have been nice to win the World Cup title, but we did everything we could to win but it just wasn’t enough. That’s sports and just the way it goes sometimes. I don’t look at this being a disappointment at all – winning three World Cups and finishing in second place. And we still have the World Bobsleigh Championships coming up in Königssee to look forward to.” (The 2-man World Bobsleigh Championships will be held Friday, February 21 and Saturday, February 22 in Königssee, Germany.)

Canada's ski jumping team leaps into top-10 at first world cup in a decade.
(CODA Release)

Willingen, GER-Canada's ski jumping team made their mark on the World Cup circuit Sunday, placing 10th in the team event on the K130 tower in Willingen, Germany.

Four teenage athletes, who have been training intensely for up to nine years, starting at the age of seven at CODA's Canada Olympic Park, matched their skills against the world's best, and athletes nearly twice their age, while 40,000 screaming spectators looked on.

Canada scored a collective total of 203.7 points in the event, with contributions from 16-year-old Stefan Read, Gregory Baxter, 14, Andrew Osadetz, 16 and Dominik Bafia, 15, who rounded out the foursome. "These high-potential Canadians gained a wealth of experience competing, observing and training against the best in the world," said Ron Read, past-chair, Ski Jumping Canada. "This is the first successful step on a long road towards bringing our nation back to the Olympic Winter Games. These teenagers made history this weekend, and have proven they are up for the challenge ahead."

The average age of a World Cup ski jumping athlete is 23. The Canadian teenagers will reach their prime by the 2010 Games in Vancouver, part of Ski Jumping Canada's long-term vision. The event was won by Norway, Finland was second and Germany took home the bronze.

The youngsters are coming off a stop at the World Junior Nordic Ski Championships and have also competed at a Continental Cup, on a trip that marks Canada's return to the international ski jumping scene. The Canadian squad will return home to Calgary for the Canadian Ski Jumping Championships, to be held at Canada Olympic Park, February 21-22, 2004.

Vancouver 2010 celebrates six-year countdown to the Games.

13 February 2004 - Six years from today, 12 February 2004, the XXI Olympic Winter Games will officially begin in Vancouver, Canada! For this occasion the Organising Committee for the Games is launching a new web site address: www.vancouver2010.com will be the official site of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

World's source of information on the Games
This web site will become the world's source of information on all things
related to the Games - including employment opportunities, volunteering,
venue updates, procurement, schedules, ticketing and much, much more!
Today's change to www.vancouver2010.com is the first step.

Unbelievably exciting six years
“With an unbelievably exciting six years to go, we have a lot to look
forward to! So stay tuned and keep visiting our web site to find out the
latest Vancouver 2010 news,” said the Vancouver 2006 communication team.

To mark the six-year countdown to the 2010 Winter Games, the Mayor of Vancouver, Larry Campbell, has unveiled on 12 February 2004, the "Vancouver 2010 Host City sign". The sign is posted in front of the City Hall.

Sport, art and culture
In the evening a presentation was staged in Whistler which celebrated sport, art and culture. The programme included music and dance performances, and Olympians discussing their cultural experiences at previous Games.

2,200 days to go
With 2,200 days to go before the Games, the Vancouver 2010 Organising
Committee is currently preparing plans and schedules in areas such as sports venue construction, accommodation, budgeting and marketing.

17 days of competition in 15 sports
The Olympic Winter Games Opening Ceremony is scheduled to take place on 12 February 2010, kicking off 17 days of competition in 15 sports. The
competition will be staged in Vancouver and Whistler. Vancouver is hosting
freestyle skiing, snowboard, hockey, figure skating, curling, speed skating
and short-track speed skating.

Paralympic sports in Whistler
Whistler will stage Alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, ski jumping,
biathlon, bobsleigh, luge, skeleton and all Paralympic sports. The 10-day
Paralympic Winter Games start on 12 March 2010 with a programme of five
sports for athletes with disabilities.

17 February 2004 - The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is pleased that the venues for the Paralympic Games in Athens will be accessible to all athletes. This conclusion was drawn after a tour of several venues for the Athens 2004 Paralympics. Furthermore, the IPC announced that a record number of 146 National Paralympic Committees will participate in Athens.

300 accessible buses
On the occasion of the 5th Paralympic Games Liaison Committee meeting, the IPC saw also the progress accomplished in the area of transport. A well
worked out plan was put forward with 300 accessible buses to be used during the Paralympics for athletes, team officials, media and the Paralympic
Family.

Same level of security
Furthermore, the IPC congratulated Athens 2004 on its concept for the Torch Relay, which was presented to the Games Liaison members during the meeting. It was also announced that the same level of security is planned during the Paralympic and Olympic Games.

670 doping tests
A total of 670 doping tests will be carried out prior and during competitions, using the same equipment, laboratory and standards as the Olympic Games. The IPC signed the World Anti-Doping Code in March 2003 and has since then revised the IPC Anti-Doping Code to comply with the World Anti-Doping Agency's standards and Code.

Athens 2004: six months to go and 35,230 tickets available.

On Friday 13 February 2004, from 8 a.m (GMT + 2)., six months before the
Olympic Games, a significant number of tickets will be made available to the
public for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and for sports competition
sessions, which were until now unavailable. Order from www.athens2004.com/tickets

In total, an additional 35,230 tickets will be made available for purchase,
as follows:

· 1,000 tickets for the Opening Ceremony.

· 4,000 tickets for the Closing Ceremony.

· 11,700 tickets for athletics finals, for four competition sessions on 22,
26, 27 and 28 August.

· 5,150 basketball tickets for six competition sessions: three preliminaries
(15, 17, 21 August) in which the Greek national team is competing, and the
men’s quarterfinals, semi-finals and finals (26, 27, 28 August).

· 1,400 tickets for all rhythmic gymnastics events (26, 27, 28 and 29
August).

· 4,550 tickets for 11 swimming competition sessions (between 14 and 21
August).

· 1,150 tickets for weightlifting, for Group A, men’s 69kg, 77kg, 85kg and
94kg categories.

· 6,280 tickets for another twelve sports: diving, artistic gymnastics,
synchronised swimming, etc.

Ticket purchases can be made at the official ticketing webpage:
www.athens2004.com/tickets

First-come, first-served basis
It should be noted that ticket purchases take place in real time, on a
first-come, first-served basis and until supplies last. Relevant information
is available at the ticketing points of sale, given that tickets are being
sold on-line and that availability is continuously changing.