Kirby Cote wins swimming gold at Paralympics.

(CBC SPORTS ONLINE/Canadian Sport News) Swimmer Kirby Cote won Canada's first medal at the Paralympic Games in Athens on Sunday with a golden performance in the women's 100-metre butterfly for the visually impaired.

The victory highlighted a great day for Canadian swimmers who earned four medals overall.

Donovan Tildesley of Vancouver added silver in the men's 400 freestyle, Stephanie Dixon of Victoria was also second in a women's 100 butterfly and Andrea Cole of Thunder Bay, Ont., won bronze in another 100 butterfly.

In the women's 100 butterfly for the visually impaired, Cote, a 20-year-old native of Winnipeg, clocked a Canadian record of one minute, 7.44 seconds, a personal best by more than a second. "I was really nervous because going into it I was expecting a much closer race," said Cote, a double Paralympic champion in 2000. "But once I dove right in, it was automatic for me. My goal here is to win all of my five races and this is the kind of start I needed."

In the women's 100 butterfly in the S9 category, Natalie du Toit of South Africa lowered her world record for the gold medal. Dixon, a leg amputee, broke a 12-year-old Canadian record while Kate Bailey of Australia was third. "I'm so happy," said Dixon, 20, who won four gold medals at the 2000 Games. "I've been working a lot on my starts and that came through for me. I just made sure I kept focused on my lane. It's a big challenge to catch Natalie but I'm very happy for her and she's really helping our sport."

In the men's 400 freestyle for visually impaired, Viktor Smyrnov of the Ukraine fooled everybody by cruising to the gold. Tildesley didn't recover from a slow start and took the silver with Enhamed Mohamed of Spain in third. "I had no idea Smyrnov could go that fast," said Tildesley. "But he showed a lot of power in the final after a pretty slow preliminary. I was hoping for a gold but it's a medal at the Paralympic Games and I couldn't be happier. I went into it very focused and I knew I could do the job. I was ready."

This year, CBC has increased the broadcasting coverage of the Paralympic Games for all Canadians. Below is the TV schedule:

Canada wins thriller in wheelchair rugby opener at Paralympic Games. Full sport update:

ATHENS-Canada received a wake-up call in its opening round robin game in wheelchair rugby on Sunday in a closer than expected 33-30 overtime victory over Germany at the 2004 Paralympic Games.

David Willsie of Belmont, Que., led the Canadian offence with 10 goals while Ian Chan of Winnipeg and Michael Whitehead of London, Ont., added six apiece. The Canadians are the reigning world champions and seeded second here while Germany is ranked fifth.

‘’The Germans made some bad mistakes at the end of regulation time and we never gave up,’’ said Canadian player Fabien Lavoie of Quebec City. ‘’But we really paid the price for not following our game plan. We made mistakes that are inexcusable at a tournament like this.’’

In judo for visually impaired, Bill Morgan of Brantford, Ont., finished fifth earning two victories in four bouts. Morgan lost the bronze medal match to Gabor Vincze of Hungary. Vincze scored a bout-ending Ippon at the 0:59 second mark.

‘’I’m disappointed my goal was to win a medal,’’ said Morgan, 30, an educational assistant at the Ross Macdonald School for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Brantford. ‘’This was the third time I faced Vincze and I still haven’t been able to beat him. But I threw him for a point for the first time in my career so I’m happy about that.’’

In women’s air pistol, Karen Van Nest of Mississauga, Ont., was fifth in the final with 451.6 points. Isabel Newstead of Britain won the gold medal with 466.8.

In wheelchair basketball, the Canadian men, the reigning world champions, moved to two wins and no losses with an 83-54 romp over Italy. Patrick Anderson of Fergus, Ont., scored 24 points for Canada and Dave Durepos of Fredericton added 21.

The Canadian women got their tournament underway with a 63-34 victory over Mexico. Danielle Peers of Edmonton led the Canadian attack with 14 points, Chantal Benoit of Orleans, Ont., Canada’s flag bearer, added 12 and Sabrina Pettinicchi of Montreal 10. The Canadians, three-time defending Games champions, led 36-12 at the half.

‘’I was feeling pretty nervous because that was my first Paralympic game,’’ said Peers, an investment advisor who was a star college player before she was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. ‘’But we have players on the team at their sixth Paralympics so it was just another game for them. I know my role is to score points especially with my height advantage.’’

In track cycling, Shawn Marsolais of New Westminster, B.C., and her pilot Lisa Sweeney of Langley, B.C., placed fifth in the women’s visually impaired tandem sprint qualifying round and were eliminated. Lindy Hou and Janelle Lindsay of Australia broke the world record clocking 11.675 seconds.

In the men’s visually impaired individual pursuit both Canadian tandems were lapped in their quarterfinal races. Brian Cowie of Burnaby, B.C., and his pilot Murray Solem of Vancouver placed seventh overall and Stephane Cote of Quebec City and his pilot Pierre-Olivier Boily of LaSalle, Que., eighth.

In men’s individual pursuit for cerebral palsy, Jean Quévillon of Ste-Adele, Que., was disqualified after beating his personal best by 12 seconds. He was disqualified for passing a rider who had already lapped him.

In wheelchair tennis, Helene Simard of Charlesbourg, Que., and Yuka Chokyu of Vancouver lost their opening match in women’s doubles 6-1, 6-1 to Sakhorn Khanthasit and Ratana Techamaneewat of Thailand.

‘’On paper we were stronger than them,’’ said Simard, who’ll compete in women’s singles beginning Monday ‘’But we got caught up in their game. It’s really disappointing.’’

In sailing, the Canadian crew of Brian MacDonald of West Vancouver, Brian Mackie of Victoria and Paul Tingley of Halifax won Sunday’s third race in the
Sonar Class then slipped to ninthth in the fourth race to end the day sixth overall with five races remaining.

In the 2.4mr craft, Bruce Millar of Toronto was 12th and ninth on Sunday to stand ninth overall after four of nine races.

Germany (four gold, four silver and six bronze) and Spain (5-5-4) the medal parade with 14 medals each, followed by China with 13 (5-6-2). Canada is 13th with four (1-2-1) all won in swimming on Sunday.

Competition continues today with TV coverage tonight at 7:00 pm ET.

How much does Premier Klein know about sport in Alberta? The answer may shock you.

On September 3rd, 2004, a young radio broadcaster named Josh Groberman took the oppourtunity to interview Ralph Klein, the premier of Alberta, on the state of sport in our province. The interview found at the link below is both shocking and disappointing - and worth the 10 minutes to listen to what Mr. Klein had to say. It is also very strong evidence that Albertans need to be providing more information to the Provincial Government on the importance of sport in our province.

http://joshonsports.com/klein/klein.wmv

Over the next few weeks the province is consulting with Albertans on public spending priorities, providing a shared opportunity for us to reinforce the message that investing in sport is key to Alberta’s prosperity. The province has asked Albertans to complete a survey and return it by September 24. In conjunction with the reinvestment survey, we need to show a loud, professional and unified voice on behalf of sport.

We need to get the message to the Government that sport makes a difference. Take the time to fill out this survey called "Its' your Future".

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.

Team Canada beats Finland to win the World Cup of hockey 2004.

TORONTO, ON – Team Canada won the World Cup of Hockey 2004 on Tuesday night after beating Team Finland 3-2. Canada finished the World Cup of Hockey with a perfect record of 6-0-0, going undefeated during the entire championship.

With Canada’s World Cup victory on Tuesday, Canada has won four of the last five major senior men’s international hockey tournaments since 2002, and holds a record of 30-4-3 during that time (gold - 2002 Winter Olympics, 6th – 2002 World Championship, gold- 2003 World Championship, gold - 2004 World Championship, 1st - World Cup of Hockey 2004).

Canada’s men’s senior team has advanced to the Semifinals in 14 of the 17 major international tournaments (Canada Cup/World Cup, Olympics, World Championships) since 1993, qualifying for the Finals seven times.

Canada’s Martin Brodeur faced 29 shots in the final, while Finland’s goalie Mikka Kiprusoff faced 33 shots. Joe Thornton recorded two assists to lead Canada to victory over Finland. Joe Sakic, Scott Niedermeyer and Shane Doan scored for Canada, while MIkko Eloranta and Tuomo Ruutu scored for Finland.

The World Cup of Hockey handed out its awards for the ‘All tournament team’ and ‘Player of the tournament’ at the conclusion of Tuesday’s final game:

World Cup of Hockey 2004 - All Tournament Team:
Goaltender: Martin Brodeur (CAN)
Défenseurs : Adam Foote (CAN) and Kimmo Timonen (FIN),
Forwards: Fredrik Modin (SWE), Vincent Lecavalier (CAN) and Saku Koivu (FIN)
World Cup of Hockey 2004 – Player of the Tournament:
Vincent Lecavalier (CAN)

The Big Picture with Dale Henwood: Throwing dollars is not the solution.

In the aftermath of the Olympic Summer Games in Athens, there has been a chorus of voices calling for fundamental changes in the way we fund, prepare, coach and reward our best athletes. Four years ago following the Sydney Olympics, there was a similar request for action to reverse the continuing downward trend in Canadian performances.

Last week Sport Canada provided an “across the board” increase in direct monthly athlete assistance. Although I strongly support increased funding for Canadian athletes, the recent announcement is flawed and will not result in any appreciable change in performances. An attitude adjustment is seriously needed; we must place greater emphasis on the pursuit of excellence (yes - on winning). In addition, more long term and consistent investment in coaching and more personal accountability among athletes for their performances is essential.

As outlined by the recent increase, there was no recognition or incentive for those athletes who have consistently achieved top results at major international competitions. Instead, there was an equal increase to all. The increased support to development level athletes (up to $10,800) should be applauded, but an 80% increase for development athletes and a 36% increase for senior carded athletes (up to $18,000) is, once again, a de-motivator and a de-incentive to our top performers.

Why are the Canadian athletes that are top in the world rewarded the same as the 38th in the world? This new investment fails to get at the core of the performance issue. Regrettably, a “dependent state” is being created, one that rewards “making the team” rather than one that provides support based on performance. In business, the capital goes to the performer; incentives are available to those who perform or produce. If we are to see success in the sport business, the support structure must be better aligned with performance.

A few suggestions:

1. Incorporate better accountability measures into the system – measures that involve a timely and systematic monitoring of preparation and competition plans, declaration of performance criteria and a comparison of results versus plans.

2. Increase the funding to medalists – create a “medalist” card - this offers a performance incentive, recognizes their performance and the increased costs associated with being at, or staying at, the top of the world.

3. Commit to address other components of the system in an integrated manner – coaches, facilities, research and development, sport science/medicine services etc. Where do these rate in our Plan for future performances?

The new injection of funds is a short term solution and one where the status quo is pursued. We need to “unfreeze the status quo” and make fundamental changes to the system before we can expect to see improved results by Canadian athletes on a consistent basis.

Dale Henwood
President
Canadian Sport Centre Calgary

Canada's Shewfelt appeals 4th-place finish in Athens.

(CBC SPORTS ONLINE) Canadian gymnast Kyle Shewfelt's fight for an Olympic bronze medal in the vault isn't over yet.

Canadian gymnastics officials have submitted an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, challenging the results of the competition in Athens in which Shewfelt finished fourth. Marian Dragulescu of Romania won bronze despite landing awkwardly on his second of two vaults. Shewfelt, 22, won gold on the floor exercise earlier in the competition. It was Canada's first-ever medal in artistic gymnastics.

Canadian officials attempted to protest the result in Athens, arguing it was mathematically impossible for Dragulescu to receive the score he was awarded on his second vault and adding the marks for Dragulescu's vault were improperly tabulated.

The Canadians were further incensed when Romanian Adrian Stoica of the International Gymnastics Federation refused to hear their protest. Stoica was the technical director for the Olympic meet. No hearing date was announced for Shewfelt's case.

In August's Olympic vault competition, Dragulescu left the crowd in awe with his opening vault, which earned him a score of 9.900, the highest score of the competition. But just when it seemed like the Romanian had the gold medal wrapped up, he stunned onlookers by landing awkwardly on his second vault, stumbling sideways and putting two hands down to prevent him from falling off the mat.

Dragulescu was still able to score 9.325 with the botched landing. For a time, it looked like Shewfelt might stand on the medal podium for the second time in Athens. However, Dragulescu's average score of 9.612 was enough to edge the Canadian off the podium.

Shewfelt scored 9.687 on his first vault and 9.512 on his second for an average mark of 9.599. He had small hops on both of his landings.

Meanwhile, another gymnastics case is pending in the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland. South Korea's Yang Tae-young appealed on the last day of the Athens Games, saying he should have been awarded gold in the men's all-around gymnastics instead of Paul Hamm of the United States. The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) has acknowledged that a scoring error cost the Korean the gold.

Welcome to the Canadian Olympic Committee’s Newsletter!

PODIUM is a monthly electronic newsletter aimed at keeping athletes, the sport community, our members and our partners informed about our activities and initiatives.

Our online newsletter features:

· Gold Medal Plates - A Celebration of Excellence in Ottawa
· Dairy Farmers of Canada's Pure Determination Fund
· Farewell from Athens - a look back and to the future
· Bell Canada Spreads the Olympic Spirit to all Canadians
· Olympians and Canadian Armed Forces peace keepers connect
· Wish Child's Dream Comes True
· How the Canadian Team Fared in Athens
· RBC helps Canadians cheer on Canada's Olympic Athletes
· Canadian Medallists in Athens