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The Athens Games
are over and the reaction is unanimous - it
was a tremendous success all around.
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Athens
2004 Reaction: "You have won"
IOC NEWS
- Since the Closing Ceremony of the Athens 2004 Olympic
Games, congratulations have been expressed many times
to the thousands of volunteers who made the Games happen.
At a recognition ceremony, the President of the Organising
Committee, Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, expressed
her gratitude with the following words: “You have
won. You – the volunteers of the Athens 2004 Olympic
Games- have shown everyone that a volunteer movement
exists in Greece, that there is a willingness to offer
as long as there is inspiration and a goal.”
Heart
and the soul of the Olympic Games
According to Angelopoulos, the volunteers were the heart
and soul, the smile and face of the Games. She told
the volunteers that “the experience of participation
in this major undertaking, in this successful effort,
will bind us all together forever. Because all together
we organised ‘unforgettable, dream Games’.
And now we shall all be able to tell everyone about
this magical experience and be able to say ‘ I
was there too’”.
Next
volunteer possibility in Turin
In 2006, the spotlight of the entire world will be on
Turin. The eyes of millions of people will follow the
greatest sports event in the history of Italy and the
people who will make it possible: the volunteers of
the Noi2006 Team. Those people who accept the opportunity
to be there; those, who with passion and enthusiasm,
will make the Games of Turin unforgettable.
"NOI
2006": 350 activities
The volunteers of the Noi2006 Team will be the heart
of the Games. Hosts and hostesses of the event, they
will perform more than 350 activities: they will handle
the reception, accreditation and ticketing; they will
prepare
the tracks, drive the official cars, provide services
for the press, the athletes and the sponsors, and much
more. |
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Federal Sports
Minister Stephen Owen seems to have had a
change of mind in terms of medal importance
now the Games are over.
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Finding
the Goal
The
Calgary Sun - Federal Sports Minister Stephen Owen declared
the Olympics Games were not about winning medals. Which
to us demonstrated Owen knew nothing about the Olympics
and not very much about sports, either.
Ask
anyone who competed at the Olympics or anyone who competes
in any other sporting event and they'll tell you it's
all about winning. No one enters a contest or a competition
hoping to lose.
After
Owen -- yes, we do realize he is a Liberal -- made his
utterly senseless comments we said one of Ottawa's priorities
should be to give a hefty increase to federal sport
funding. But the Liberal government's reaction to Canada
winning just 12 medals in Athens was that, even as our
athletes now have their eyes on the 2008 Beijing Olympics,
more money wasn't the answer.
We vehemently
disagreed.
Our
athletes deserve the best training facilities and they
shouldn't have to worry about where the next nickel
and dime is coming from. As we said at the time, if
the Liberal government had spent the $1 billion it wasted
on the gun registry, or the $1 billion on the equally
bogus human resources job creation program, on amateur
sports our nation would be far better off.
Such
suggestions were naturally met with the usual scorn
in Ottawa. Owen now seems to have had a change of mind
-- if not a change of heart. He now says Ottawa is about
to announce a major boost in the measly $1,100
monthly stipend 'elite' athletes receive. We say even
tripling that $1,100 a month stipend would not be out
of order.
In fact,
let's scrap a lot of other useless federal programs
and divert the money into other areas of sports. Yet
we're relieved funding for amateur sports has now apparently
become a "hot button" issue in Ottawa. Someone
has finally woken up in our nation's capital. Perhaps
some Liberal cabinet ministers and MPs have been watching
newsreel shots of how ferociously athletes on Mainland
China are already training for the 2008 Olympics. To
Beijing, winning as many medals as possible is a matter
of national pride.
It should
be to us, too. |
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"I'd
been jumping awesomely in training all week,"
said Dionne of her fifth trip to Australia
to compete.
(CP Photo)
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Dionne captures
silver!
Freestyle Release
- MT. BULLER , Australia -- Deidra Dionne of Red Deer,
Alta., rebounded from a disappointing day on the slopes
Saturday to capture a silver medal in World Cup freestyle
ski action Sunday. She reached the podium as Lydia
Ierodiaconou of Australia ran away from the competition
with a near world record, and Ales Valenta of the
Czech Republic set a world record in men's aerials.
After placing 14th
the previous day, Dionne, 22, came back with her best-ever
score for the two jumps she performed in the season-opening
weekend of the 2004-2005 season. "I'd been jumping
awesomely in training all week," said Dionne
of her fifth trip to Australia to compete. "But
(Saturday) I tried controlling things too much instead
of just going for it. I decided to go out and not
have any regrets."
Dionne sat fifth after
the first round, but scored 97 points with a triple-twisting
double somersault in the second round to vault into
second place.
"Lydia was pretty well untouchable with her triple-twisting
doubles," said Dionne of Ierodiaconou's winning
score, which just missed Australian Alisa Camplin's
record set at the 2003 world championships.
Veronika Bauer of
Toronto , who was second at those 2003 Worlds, placed
10th on Sunday. She is now 10th in the women's World
Cup overall aerials standings, while Dionne is fifth.
It was a stronger
day for the Canadian men than Saturday, with three
more top-10 finishes, including a fourth for Kyle
Nissen of Calgary . He was a whisker behind third-place
Dmitri Dashinski of Belarus. Jeret Peterson of the
U.S. was second and Valenta established a world record
of 262.76 points. A perfect score for his pair of
different quad-twisting triple somersaults would have
been 267.
Defending World Cup
men's aerials champion Steve Omischl of North Bay
, Ont., was ninth. Warren Shouldice of Calgary was
10th and Ryan Snow of Calgary finished 19th. The World
Cup season doesn't resume until mid-December in Europe.
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‘’This
is something I’ve dreamed of for a very
long time,’’ said Whitney McClintock.
‘’I knew it was possible and I
skied really well."
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Siblings
Whitney and Jason McClintock win world junior water
skiing titles.
OKAHUMPKA,
Florida- Whitney McClintock and her brother Jason McClintock
of Cambridge, Ont., won the overall titles and helped
Canada to the team crown as well for the first time
in 18 years on Friday to conclude the 20-country world
junior water skiing championships.
It’s
the first time a brother-sister combination have swept
the world junior titles.
In women’s
overall competition, Whitney McClintock, 14, placed
second in tricks, thrid in slalom and sixth in jump.
Danyelle Bennett of the U.S., was second and Jenna Mielzynski
of Cambridge third placing fourth in slalom and jump
and sixth in tricks. There were 27 entries.
‘’This
is something I’ve dreamed of for a very long time,’’
said Whitney McClintock. ‘’I knew it was
possible and I skied really well. I was most pleased
with my tricks today and of course with my jumping yesterday
which seemed to blow everybody away.’’
‘’I’ve
gained a lot of experience since the last world juniors
and that has really helped,’’ she said.
‘’Oddly enough for the finals today I didn’t
really feel nervous or pressured. And it’s just
incredible to have my brother win the men’s title
on the same day. We train together every day.’’
Canadian
national team head coach Steve Bush was elated with
McClintock’s performance as well as Mielzynski’s
showing. ‘’Jenna
doesn’t train as much as the other girls so what
she did today was amazing,’’ said Bush.
‘’She was very steady.’’
In the
men’s overall standings, Jason McClintock took
the gold winning in tricks and slalom and placing sixth
in jump. Adam Seldmajer of the Czech Republic was second
and Kevin Melnuk of Toronto third out of 41 entries
after placing 11th in slalom and tricks and ninth in
jump.
Bryan
Melnuk of Toronto won the jump competition, the only
event he entered, leaping a Canadian junior and meet
record 55.3 metres.
The McClintock
siblings continue an amazing family tradition in the
sport. Their father Jeff McClintock and their aunt and
uncle Joel and Judy McClintock were all national and
international stars in the sport winning world titles.
In the
team standings (men and women combined), the Canadians
took the gold for the first time since 1986 . The U.S.,
the defending champions, were second and Australia third.
‘’Our training had been inconsistent leading
in but I knew nobody could touch us if we all performed
to our capabilities,’’ said Bush. |
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Call
to Action - it's your future: Alberta Government wants
your feedback.
The Alberta government
wants to hear from you on a debt-free future. The
provincial government has launched a public consultation
survey
called It’s Your Future. The survey
identifies several challenges and opportunities that
Alberta faces and asks you to rate your priorities
in various areas including health care, education,
the environment, or tax reductions, and to decide
what to do with any surpluses the government may receive
in coming years.
Investment in sport,
including our very needy recreation facility infrastructure,
is not specifically identified within the survey.
Additionally, the Alberta Sport Plan, where over 11,000
responses where provided, is not identified within
the "number of consultations" over the past
four years.
Please take the time
(and opportunity) to provide the Alberta government
with your opinion and encourage your friends, family
and colleagues to do the same. This is a rare chance
to put your concerns about our sporting future squarely
in front of the decision-makers in government. You
can make a difference by specifically addressing the
needs of the sport community at the end of Section
Two where you can enter a maximum of 300 characters
as "Other", with a simple, consistent message
of:
"Better health
through sport – implementation and funding of
the Alberta Sport Plan; its preventative health and
leads to many community benefits as well as podium
results."Additionally Section Three asks the
question "If there were three things your government
could do for Alberta's future, what would they be?"
Your response is limited
to 50 characters for each of the three responses.
A simple, consistent message is again recommended,
such as:
* Invest in sport as
preventative health care.
* Invest in sport as
preventative social services.
* Invest in sport as
preventative justice & policing.
* Invest in sport:
reduce juvenile crime.
* Invest in sport:
increase health & wellness.
* Invest in sport for
a true Alberta Advantage.
* Invest in community
sport for podium performances.
* Invest in sport:
for the health of it.
You have until September
24 to respond by mail and through the website.
Please forward this enews to everyone who supports
our concerns for the future of sport in Alberta.
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Kyle Shewfelt
had his day at COP last week in celebration
of his gold medal - the first ever for a Canadian
male gymnast.
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Calgary
Celebrates Olympic Gold Medalist Kyle Shewfelt, Olympic
Body Told 'Step up'.
The
Calgary Herald - It was Kyle Shewfelt Day at Canada
Olympic Park on Wednesday. And while the focus was on
the Olympic champion gymnast's gold-medal win, he couldn't
help levelling a critique at the Canada Olympic Committee's
public disappointment with the medal count from the
Athens Games. "Everybody at the Olympics made a
huge accomplishment by just getting there -- sometimes
you just have bad luck," said Shewfelt.
"They
(COC) really need to step up and help the programs and
help achieve excellence because it's one thing to criticize,
but it's another to jump in there and help make it better."
Shewfelt
caught a ride to COP on the HAWC1 police helicopter
just before noon and was given the red-carpet treatment,
replete with fireworks, a Dixieland band and huge chocolate
cake.
Mayor
Dave Bronconnier presented Shewfelt with a red street
sign emblazoned with "Gold Medal Way" and
an engraved glass sculpture of a flame, while Calgary
Flames president Ken King gave him a red jersey with
No. 1 and Shewfelt written across the back. "This
is the thing that dreams are made of and I feel so honoured,"
said Shewfelt.
The
gymnast trained at the Altadore Gymnastics Club since
he was six. In addition to his gold medal on the floor
routine, Shewfelt finished fourth in the vault, behind
Romanian gymnast Marian Dragulescu. Canada Gymnastics
claims Dragulescu should have received a lower score
because deductions it says should have been automatic
weren't taken off. Canada
launched a protest claiming Shewfelt should have won
the bronze.
Shewfelt
says he is taking a vacation to consider his options
and whether to compete in the 2008 Summer Olympics in
Beijing. "This is the pinnacle. This is the top.
It's what I've been working for my entire life. I'm
going to take some time, I'm going to make the right
choice." |
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Adam Van Koeverden
believes that not only does their need to
be more money - but a clear system of leadership
in delegating the athlete support. (CP Photo)
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Willing
to Pay the Price?
Woodstock Sentinel-Review
- The Olympic Games in Athens were a rollercoaster
ride for Canadian athletes and Canadians. In some
cases, we fell well below expectations and athletes
stumbled, literally, when it mattered most. In other
cases, people who weren't supposed to win exceeded
all expectations and performed like never before.
That's sports and
if everyone who was supposed to win won, we wouldn't
bother playing (or watching) the Games. Canada has
never done really well at the Olympics. We've had
our moments when an athlete or two leads the world,
such as Donovan Bailey or Alex Baumann, but for the
most part those relatively rare phenomena usually
take place in the winter.
But there was a recurring
warning coming from Athens. Future showings by Canadian
athletes are not about to get better. In fact, according
to some people in the know, our showings will get
worse. Much worse. "The world is leaving us behind
at a very quick rate," Mark Lowry, executive
director of sport for the Canadian Olympic Committee
said Sunday.
We had hoped to win
14 medals in Athens. Instead we won 12. Of particular
concern was the failure of heavy favourites to perform
when the world was watching -- Perdita Felicien in
the 100-metre hurdles, Alexandre Despatie and Emilie
Heymans in 10-metre platform diving and the men's
eight rowers. Sometimes it seemed like the only Canadian
giving his or her all was the little blue cow in the
milk commercials.
On the other hand,
kayaker Adam van Koeverden made Canadians proud as
he won gold in the men's single 500 metres. He also
won bronze in the 1,000 metres.
Lori-Ann Muenzer of
Edmonton earned Canada's first ever gold medal in
cycling and Kyle Shewfelt of Calgary won gold in artistic
gymnastics. But van Koeverden's contribution to future
Olympics for Canada may go well beyond paddling his
heart out. After the Games he aired some valuable
observations. He said Canada's failure at the Games
can be traced to more than one cause.
He repeated what many
have already said -- that our infrastructure and system
of readying for the Olympics needs to be addressed.
For one thing, he said there was a real need for a
central training centre in Canada where we could pool
valuable resources. He was wise enough to go against
the grain and say that the simple solution of giving
more money to the athletes was not necessarily the
answer. There has to be more money but it has to be
spent more wisely.
And he talked about
a cultural problem. Many times we watched Canadians
being interviewed after losses and the attitude was
clear -- they were just glad to be in the Olympics.
If they won, great. If they didn't, that was OK too.
Improving our results
and changing a mindset takes time and money. That
would be taxpayers' money. That said, do we still
want to win more medals and, if so, are we as taxpayers
ready to pay the price?
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Call for Board
Nominations to the Canadian Paralympic Committee.
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Dear
Family & Friends of the Canadian Paralympic Movement:
The Canadian Paralympic Committee seeks five qualified
and passionate individuals who have a desire to empower
Canadians living with a physical disability, through
sport.
CPC will hold elections for five Board of Director positions
(two are new positions) at its 2004 Annual General Meeting
(Oct. 29, Winnipeg). An English and French version of
the Board Nominations Package explaining the nomination
procedure and Board position descriptions is attached.
Please feel free to forward the attached package to
anyone you feel may be interested in making a difference.
Deadline for nominations is September 29.
Please
visit the Canadian
Paralympic Committee Website for more information. |
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"It is the inspiration of the Olympic Games that
drives people not only to compete but to improve,
and to bring lasting spiritual and moral benefits
to the athlete and inspiration to those lucky enough
to witness the athletic dedication."
~Herb Elliott
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