Canadian fencer captures bronze at World Cup.
(CBC SPORTS ONLINE with files from Canadian Press )

Canada's Sherraine MacKay won a bronze medal in women's epee at a World Cup fencing event Saturday in Italy.

The native of Brooks, Alta., was defeated 15-12 by the eventual gold medallist Li Na of China in the semifinals. MacKay eliminated Hiroko Narita of Japan, Kathrin Holz from Germany and Tiffany Geroudet of Switzerland, all by scores of 15-12 before downing Italy's Bianca Del Carretto 15-13 in the quarter-finals.

"I'm pretty pleased with the result," said MacKay, a medal hopeful for this summer's Athens Olympic Games. "I feel a lot better physically with all the training we've been doing but I'm still missing a little bit of rhythm which was the difference between gold and bronze."

Li defeated Emese Szasz of Hungary 15-11 in the final while Imke Duplitzer of Germany and MacKay shared bronze. Montreal's Julie Leprohon finished 40th while Marie-Eve Pelletier of Quebec City was 54th.

MacKay, who competed in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and Catherine Dunnette of Calgary have already qualified for the Olympic team by being ranked first and second in Canada. Pelletier, Leprohon and Monique Kavelaars of Toronto are competing for the third and final spot on the epee team. The Canadian Olympic men's fencing team includes Michel Boulos in sabre and Josh McGuire in foil. with files from Canadian Press

Malar, Knabe tops at Mel Zajac Jr. swim meet.
(CBC SPORTS ONLINE)

Calgary-based swimmers Joanne Malar, Morgan Knabe and Lauren Van Oosten all lowered meet records and each won their second gold medals in two days on Saturday at the Mel Zajac Jr., International swim meet.

In the women's 200-metre individual medley, Malar produced yet another strong swim as she tunes up for the Olympic trials in July clocking 2:16.10,
nearly a second faster than earlier this month at a Grand Prix meet in the
U.S. That eclipsed the previous meet mark of 2:16.67 set by American Gabrielle Rose last year. Malar, the 400 IM winner on Friday, is vying for a fourth straight trip to the Olympics. She had retired after Sydney in 2000 but announced a return to competition last year with the goal of making the Athens Summer Games.

In the men's 200 breaststroke, Knabe notched a second gold clocking 2:16.09 which beat the previous meet record on 2:16.31 set by American Tom Wilkens in 2001. Mike Brown of Perth, Ont., was second in 2:18.69 and Matthew Huang of Vancouver third in 2:21.17.

In the women's 200 breaststroke, Van Oosten took the gold in 2:30.26 after winning the 100 breaststroke on Friday. She lowered the previous meet mark of 2:32.04 set by Penny Heyns of South Africa in 1997. Rhiannon Leier of Winnipeg was second in 2:32.57 and Annamay Pierse of Vancouver third in 2:33.04.

Meanwhile, 16-year-old Brittany Reimer of Surrey, B.C., won her third gold of the meet taking the 400 freestyle in 4:16.27 more than three seconds ahead of Taryn Lencoe of Vancouver in second place.

Other Canadians earning a second gold were Mike Mintenko of Vancouver in the men's 100 butterfly, Mark Johnston of Vancouver in the men's 400 freestyle and Kelly Stefanyshyn of Vancouver in the women's 100 butterfly. Also with wins Saturday were Yannick Lupien of Beauport, Que., in the men's
50 freestyle and Erin Gammel of Calgary in the women's 50 backstroke.

Caroline Brunet, Steve Giles and Adam Van Koeverden all earn Olympic nominations at paddling trials.
(Canadian Sport News)

MONTREAL- Caroline Brunet of Lac-Beauport, Que., and Adam Van Koeverden of Oakville, Ont., earned Olympic nominations in two events each this weekend at the Canadian team trials in sprint flatwater canoe and kayak. In total eight paddlers earned nominations with more names to be added next month following World Cup events in Europe.

Van Koeverden, a silver medallist last year at the world championships in the K-1 1,000, earned nominations in both the K-1 1,000 and K-1 500 with victories in both races. ‘’Going to the Olympics has been my goal the last four years,’’ said Van Koeverden, 22. ‘’It feels good to get this part done. My main focus is the 1,000 and I think at the Olympics the final will come down to the last 200 metres. It’s a pretty open field right now.’’

In the women’s K-1 500, Brunet, a two-time Olympic silver medallist, won her race to earn a nomination for a fifth consecutive Olympic Games. She beat out Karen Furneaux of Waverley, N.S. ‘’It’s five Olympics but it’s gone by so fast,’’ said Brunet, 35, in her 17th season on the national team. ‘’I’m pretty satisfied with my weekend. My preparations are going well. The trials are never easy because there is so much on the line.’’

In the women’s K-2 500, Brunet and Mylanie Barré of Lac-Beauport secured a nomination with a victory. ‘’My partnership with Mylanie has been a great experience for me,’’ said Brunet. ‘’That’s why I decided to pursue it this year. We have a great chemistry, I like the way we work together.’’

In the men’s C-2 500, Attila and Tamas Buday of Mississauga, Ont., gained a nomination with a victory. It’s a third consecutive nomination for the brothers, whose father paddled for Hungary at the 1976 and 1980 Games.

In the men’s C-1 1,000, Giles, third at the Sydney Games in 2000, won easily to earn a nomination for a fourth Olympic Games. In the men’s K-2 500, Steve Jorens of Aurora, Ont., and Richard Dober Jr., of Trois-Rivieres, Que., won their race to each gain a first Olympic nomination. Canada also qualified for the Olympics in the women’s K-4 500 and men’s K-4 1,000. Crews for those boats will be finalized after the European tour in June. In total Canada has berths in 10 of 12 Olympic events compared to seven four years ago in Sydney.

Canadian Sport Centre Dietitian Andrea Holwegner wins Nationwide Contest.

Toronto, May 6, 2004 – The Peanut Bureau of Canada announced three winning recipes from the nationwide search for Canada’s Nuttiest Peanut Lover today. Calgary’s Andrea Holwegner was crowned the nuttiest of them all with her recipe for Cocoa Energy Bars – a healthy, peanut-filled take on the traditional granola bar.

“Our judging panel of culinary professionals was overwhelmed with the quality of the recipes submitted from coast to coast,” says Patrick Archer, President, Peanut Bureau of Canada. “Without a doubt Canadians are passionate for peanuts and it was a challenge to choose one winner from such a creative bunch.”

From the novice to the seasoned chef, participants entered peanutty appetizer, entrée and dessert recipes in a competition for the newly coveted title of Canada’s Nuttiest Peanut Lover.

Andrea’s Cocoa Energy Bars won her the honourary title. As a registered dietitian and peanut lover, Andrea tells her clients to go nuts for peanuts because they are heart healthy and a great source of protein. The desire for a healthy snack that was not only easy to make but tasted great, led Andrea to create this sweet treat that requires no baking and very few ingredients, and is a hit with all of her clients.

Cocoa Energy Bars
By Andrea Holwegner,
President, Health Stand Nutrition Consulting Inc.
Canada’s Nuttiest Peanut Lover

Ingredients:
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter 175 mL
3/4 cup liquid honey 175 mL
3/4 cup packed brown sugar 175 mL
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 125 mL
1-1/2 cups quick cooking oatmeal (not instant) 375 mL
1-1/4 cups crispy rice cereal 300 mL
1 cup dried cranberries, raisins or chopped 250 mL
dried apricots
1 cup coarsely chopped unsalted peanuts 250 mL

Directions:

Spray 13 X 9-inch (3 L) cake pan with cooking spray.

In saucepan, combine peanut butter, honey, brown sugar and cocoa. Cook over medium heat for 6 minutes, stirring often, or until smooth.

Remove saucepan from heat. Stir in oatmeal, cereal, dried cranberries and peanuts. Press batter firmly into prepared pan. Cool before cutting into 32 bars.

Makes 32 servings

Approximate values per serving: 150 calories, 3.5 g protein, 5.8 g total fat (of which 2.7 g is monounsaturated), 21 g carbohydrates

Time Saver: Double the recipe! Cut into bars and wrap in plastic wrap and freeze for snacks when needed.

Media more worried than athletes about Athens readiness.
(CBC Sports Online - Clara Hughes)

May 12, 2004 - A sure sign the Olympics are approaching is when the media begin their usual reports of unfinished facilities and missed deadlines. The host city of the Games is far more prevalent in the news than athletes hoping to compete there.

It's always the same story. As an athlete, I’ve had more queries into the status of host-country construction than about my preparation all three times I’ve competed. With a few exceptions, the media seeks controversy and negativity instead of embracing the spirit of the Games and the fascinating stories of the competitors.

The facility is important is important to the athletes, but it is certainly not of primary importance leading up to the Games. Training, fitness, fatigue, nutrition, qualification, competition and many more elements are the athlete's focus. Athletes learn to distinguish between what's in their control and what's not, focusing exclusively on the former and not wasting an ounce of precious energy on the latter.

As the Olympics return to their place of origin this summer, to mythical Athens, Greece, and athletes prepare for competition, so does the host country, step by step, brick by brick. But in the current climate of the Olympics, the feeling seems to be that only countries wealthy enough to build state of the art facilities and as close to the western ideal of efficient transportation should be allowed to host an event of this magnitude.

Same goes for the athletes allowed to compete. Each quadrennial it grows more difficult for athletes to meet the standards set by the International Olympic Committee. In countries like Canada the national standards are often more difficult than those set by the IOC.

The Olympics are, as a result, becoming more elitist. Countries that cannot support the growing needs of technology in training venues and equipment are swiftly left behind. Athletes are forced to leave their native countries to seek better training environs for the possible edge, not only for the elusive possibility of winning; it is sometimes only to qualify.

Before the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympic Games, the media was full of talk of an "Olympic backlash." There were stories that Australians in the coastal city were not supporting the Games, and that many residents would take their yearly vacations at this time and vacate the city.

Quite to the contrary, the warm welcome and hospitality Sydneysiders offered to the world became the highlight of the Games. I remember trying to get to the beach after my last race, unable to find a bus or a taxi, a young couple stopped and asked where my teammate and I were trying to go, offering us a ride even though it made an hour detour from their home, which was just around the corner.

At the Pan American Games in the Dominican Republic, athletes prepared for the worst after warnings that incomplete venues would not be ready, sketchy food and uncomfortable lodging. But those staff and athletes with prior Games experience agreed it was one of the better villages: comfortable and safe. The food was fine and fewer illnesses were diagnosed than in other Games. In the cycling races, although they were cleaning garbage off the streets the morning of the events, much of which remained on the course for the duration of the races, the races came and went with new champions crowned.

Whatever the situation, it is usually the same for everyone. As an athlete one becomes capable of dealing with pretty much anything, even at something like the Olympics.

The year before the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, part of the roof collapsed on the speed skating oval. A new roof was necessary and competitions cancelled the year prior to the Games. Rumours spread that long track events would be relocated to Calgary, and the entire US Olympic speed skating team had to relocate to Wisconsin in order to train.

In Italy, construction has yet to commence on the oval, and contrary to tradition, there will be no competitions the year before the Games in the new venue.

When criticizing Greece, one forgets stories of athletes missing their races because of misguided transportation in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, the same year the Centennial Games were denied the country where they began a hundred years before: Greece. I went into those Games with a silver medal from the prior year's cycling world championships, and was deemed a "surprise" after earning the first of two bronze medals.

Athletes preparing for the Games, shouldn't worry about the politics and, quite often, misleading information, by the media.

If more time was spent covering sport leading up to the Games than sensationalizing all that is going wrong in the build up, perhaps the public would be better informed, more motivated and more genuinely interested in the multitude of world-class athletes and fine individuals that were preparing with passion and desire to represent them, the public, on the playing field of sport at their ultimate event, the Olympic Games.

ABOUT CLARA HUGHES
Clara Hughes is truly an athlete for all seasons: an Olympic medallist in both the Summer and Winter Games. She won two cycling bronze medals in road racing at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and followed that up with a bronze medal in speed skating at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics -- little more than a year after she took up competing at elite levels in speed skating.

Since then, she's become one of the world's premier distance skaters, culminating in a gold medal in the 5,000m at the world championships last March. She also holds the Canadian record in the 5,000m.

Clara will be writing a series of columns for CBC Sports Online as the Olympics approach, weighing in with her insights into the meaning of sport and the Olympics in the lives of Canadians.

Feds allocate another $20 million for high performance athletes.
(The Times-Herald - Moose Jaw)

OTTAWA (CanWest) -- Federal government funding for amateur sport reached its highest point ever with an announcement Friday that Ottawa was investing $20 million in high performance athletes.

But the news, coming a week before an expected election call, was met with skepticism about the government's timing and its motives. "You can't expect a return on money like this at least until Beijing,'' said Kevin Wamsley, director of the International centre for Olympic Studies at the University of Western Ontario in London, referring to the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.

Given the effects of the government's announcement couldn't be measured until well into this decade, Wamsley was puzzled that it was made thisweek,
calling the timing "questionable.'' "Why are they doing it?'' he added. "An election around the corner is something that has to be considered.''

The $20 million announced Friday will be added to Sport Canada's budget, bringing it to $120 million for 2004-05, the highest total ever. The latest funds will go to athletes who have the greatest chance to reach the podium in international events. It will fund coaches, sports organizations, training centres and other elements of high performance training, including travel costs.

A spokeswoman for the Canadian Olympic Committee, the umbrella group that puts together Canada's Olympic teams, welcomed Friday's announcement. "We totally support it,'' said Jackie DeSouza, the COC's director of communications, adding the organization would be advising the government on how to allocate the funds, preferring to direct it first to athletes, then to coaches.

The money could help at least several hundred elite "carded" athletes, DeSouza said. Such athletes earn about $1,100 monthly from Ottawa, and groups such as the COC have long argued such amounts are insufficient for people living in major cities.

High-performance athlete programs in Germany receive about $230 million annually by comparison, Wamsley said. In Australia, in the years leading up to the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the government there bumped elite funding to
about $275 million. The United Kingdom currently allocates $300 million to $400 million to its high-performance athletes, Wamsley said.

Fund and Games: Are We Willing to Pay for Success? A half-million bucks for table tennis?
(The Toronto Sun - Jason Paul)
Series: Part 3 of 3

With the Athens Olympics just four months away, the debate over funding for amateur sports in Canada will intensify. In this three-part series, The Sun's Jason Paul looks at Canada's commitment to gold:

--
Sport Canada gives about $36 million to 54 national sports organizations. The Canadian Table Tennis Association received $523,000 for the calendar year ending April 1, 2003 -- more than boxing, snowboarding, weightlifting, squash and triathlon; and more than lacrosse, archery, football, ringette and bowling combined.

How does table tennis qualify for that much taxpayers money and where does it all go for a sport that one would think consists of a paddle, plastic ball and table?

"Some people and the press don't get why we get the amount we do, but then they don't do the research or look at the progress we've made," Tony Kiesenhofer, executive director of the Canadian Table Tennis Association, said. "We're in good international standing, but perhaps we're not being the best advocates for ourselves that we should be."

At last year's world championships, the Canadian men finished 28th and the women 12th out of 193 countries. Kiesenhofer says table tennis has the second-most national federations behind soccer.

"Table tennis may not be as known as hockey in comparable terms," Roger Ouellette, the program director for Sport Canada, said. "But they rank on how they've performed and it is taken into consideration the level of competition."

The CTTA's major costs are running the national teams for 32 athletes ($212,000), salaries for 10 coaches ($204,500) and other staff salaries ($165,000). Part of that goes to operate five sports centres across the country. And equipment isn't as cheap as you'd think: Racquets cost $200 and the rubber facing, which wears out after a week, is another $50.

The CTTA, which charges a $300 participation fee to play in the Canada Cup series and national championships, got a $15,000 government grant in August to run the Canadian Junior Open. The tournament had a budget of $100,000, attracted 130 competitors and wound up making $6,000, according to Kiesenhofer.

"The $15,000 may have raised some eyebrows but it was a pittance if you don't make the connection to the economic impact it had as well," said Kiesenhofer, who has had fund-raising help from the Canadian Chinese Table Tennis Federation, comprised of B.C. business people, worth $30,000.

Below is a look at how the costs of running table tennis compare with Hockey Canada.

REVENUE TABLE TENNIS vs. HOCKEY
Sport Canada $625,000 vs. $1,648,000
Sponsorship-licences-merch. 50,000 vs. 6,515,000
Programs-events-member fees 463,500 vs. 9,678,000
Other 37,950 vs. 2,798,000
Total 1,176,450 vs. 20,640,000

EXPENSES TABLE TENNIS vs. HOCKEY
Operations $453,500 vs. $3,548,000
Programs 593,500 vs. 13,172,000
Events-marketing-licensing 117,350 vs. 3,545,000
Total 1,164,350 vs. 20,265,000
SURPLUS $12,100 vs. $375,000

Note: Hockey Canada numbers based on 2001-02 budget.

Search for new Vancouver 2010 Games logo begins June 10th - Canadian designers invited to participate.

Vancouver - The Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) is launching a nation-wide competition for a new emblem to symbolize the magic of Canada's 2010 Winter Games.

VANOC is inviting professional designers and design students from across the country to a conference in Vancouver on June 9 and10. The event marks the start of a competition to design the 2010 Olympic Winter Games emblem - destined to become one of the most recognized logos in the world over the next six years and beyond. The conference will thoroughly detail the unique history and significance of Olympic design and the values behind it, and outline the vision and logo design expectations for the 2010 Games.

"The Olympic brand is the most recognized and enduring of any in the world," said VANOC Chief Executive Officer John Furlong. "For athletes and volunteers, the Olympic Games are a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. That's exactly how a designer must feel about creating an Olympic Games emblem. After all, no other piece of work in a design portfolio will get the sort of international attention that comes from designing a logo for the world's greatest sporting event. This is an extraordinary opportunity."

Design experts from previous and future Olympic Games - including Sydney 2000, Salt Lake 2002, Athens 2004, Torino 2006 and Beijing 2008 - have been invited to share their experiences at the workshop.

The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Emblem Design Competition is open to Canadian designers, creative professionals and design students. An international design panel will be set up to review submissions: VANOC and the International Olympic Committee will choose the winning design. VANOC expects to unveil its new logo in early 2005. The design competition process has been part of the emblem development for three other Olympic Games (2004, 2006 and 2008).

Complete conference details are available online at www.vancouver2010.com/design. Further design competition details and rules will be announced at the conference and will be available on the VANOC website.

Athens: an ancient rite, wronged.
(By DICK POUND - Globe and Mail)

The critics have it wrong. It's no surprise that preparations for the XXVIII Olympiad in Athens will be a last-minute effort. With less than 100 days to go until the opening ceremonies, Athens was, and continues to be, the right choice to act as host for the Summer Games.

We knew it would be a "stretch" for Greece when the International Olympic Committee, in 1997, decided to award the Games to Athens. As we know from Montreal, Moscow, Los Angeles, Seoul, Barcelona, Atlanta and Sydney, it is in the nature of the Olympics that there is just-on-time delivery of all the facilities, transport, systems and security. Even so, the Athens project was known to have its special problems, and we are in the usual nail-biting phase of hoping nothing goes wrong with the preparations in the final three months.

Questions have been raised about security preparedness. Security issues in 1997 were much different from those in the post-9/11 era. Whether Greece is any more problematic today than its competitors, including Rome, Cape Town and Stockholm would have been, is speculation. Terrorism is auniversal threat, not confined to the Olympic Games.
The Greeks have made every effort to consult widely in their security preparations, to avail themselves of the best expertise available and to present a plan that is second to none. They have a big interest in making sure they can deliver safe Games. Nor should it be a matter of great surprise that teams will have contingency plans in case something goes wrong, including Canada. It would be reckless not to have such a plan.

There are suggestions that past choices of Olympic host cities have been tainted, that decisions have been made for the wrong reasons. The bribery scandal attaching to the selection of Salt Lake City as the choice for 2002 did not affect the outcome of that contest, which was all but predetermined in advance. (The Salt Lake City case was so weak that it was never put to the jury, and the prosecution was excoriated by the presiding judge for having brought a case so devoid of criminality. For its part, the IOC dealt with and expelled its members whose conduct was disgraceful, but not criminal.)

Nagano beat out Salt Lake City for 1998 because the IOC did not want two successive Games in the United States (Atlanta in 1996, followed by another U.S. city). And Atlanta beat out Athens for 1996 because a majority of the IOC members, justifiably, had no confidence that Athens could be ready, even for something as significant as the centennial anniversary of the first Games in 1896. Atlanta was a far better choice than Athens on that occasion and delivered perfectly adequate Games. Sydney beat Beijing in 1993 for the 2000 Games on a close decision that split along the risk-reward analysis, so soon after Tiananmen Square.

The changes the IOC has engineered in the economic model for the Games now make it possible for small countries to consider bidding. The IOC brings to host cities close to $2-billion of non-tax-base revenues, which means the host can easily cover the organizational costs and make a profit.

The IOC discourages cities from building infrastructure that has no use after the Games, so that the countries can plan in a way that will provide a valuable legacy. Small countries are marginally more risky than large ones, but not so much more that we should never consider them.

It is simply not possible to change sites within the last two years before the Games. There is no city in the world that could take on a project of the magnitude of a modern Olympic Games in just two years. So we are partners with Athens and must work in close co-operation with the Greeks to make the best of the situation.

Going back to the roots of the Olympics in Greece is important for the Olympic movement. In a world that seems to have lost its moral compass, in business, in the professions, in organized religion, in the media, in academia, and even in sport, a renewal of our commitment to ethical sport is well worth the risk that one or two facilities may not be ready and that traffic flows in an ancient city may be less than optimal.

Maybe we can go home again.

Dick Pound, a former vice-president of the International Olympic Committee executive, is author of Inside the Olympics, published this month.