IN THE NEWS....
TERRORIST
ATTACKS PUT SPOTLIGHT ON
OLYMPIC SECURITY
 |
The Evening News (New Glasgow)--Terrorist
attacks in the United States this week have some Canadian
Olympians wondering what security will be like at the Winter
Olympics in Salt Lake City next February. |
After a hostage-taking at the 1972
Games in Munich and a bomb going off in a crowded square in Atlanta
in 1996, security has become a major issue at each Games. The
safety of the world's top athletes in Salt Lake City will be an
even greater issue following Tuesday's attacks in New York and
Washington.
|
"We're still trying to deal with what's happened,''
said Pat Quinn, head coach of the Olympic men's hockey
team. "This has moved our heads into a different
territory.'' Quinn accepts that security in Salt Lake City
could be suffocating. "We all like to feel safe, so
whatever we have to do, we'll just have to put up with it,''
he said in Toronto.
|
Pat Quinn |
A large number of athletes from
all over the world in one place with a huge television audience
is an attractive target for terrorists. "I think everybody
is aware that the Olympics has always been a potential lightning
rod,'' Gerry Peckham, who is the team leader for the Canadian
Olympic curling teams, said from Ottawa. "We don't know
if this is a one-off. We don't know what we're going read in the
paper next Monday. And then we don't know what retaliation (there
will be) and where countries will position themselves politically.
Who knows? There might even be some kind of boycott.''
Le May Doan |
Catriona Le May
Doan, Canada's Olympic gold medallist in speed skating,
isn't fearful of competing at Salt Lake City. "With the
Winter Olympics, it seems so much smaller (than the Summer
Games) that people don't seem so concerned,'' said Doan, who
added she doesn't think there will be a boycott. "I can't
see it,'' she said from Calgary. |
The Canadian Olympic Association
has revamped its four-day seminar in Calgary this week with team
leaders and support staff to include an expanded session on security.
Safety issues will be discussed earlier and more time will be
spent on them. "We've put it in a different place, right
up front,'' said Canadian team chef de mission Sally Rehorick.
"I want to deal with what's on everybody's mind straight
off the bat.''
A high-ranking RCMP officer was
in Salt Lake City last week doing an assessment for the COA and
he is to give a report next week, Rehorick said. The Canadian
team is expected to be around 320 people, including 190 athletes.
The Canadian women's hockey team
took a four-day break last week and several players on the team
have been stranded since Tuesday when they tried to fly back to
Calgary. All planes were grounded that morning. The team will
discuss the terrorist attacks and talk about their fears after
the players reconvene Saturday, said head coach Daniele Sauvageau,
who was still in Montreal on Thursday. "We're going to have
a team meeting for sure and that will be one of the subjects that
will be discussed,'' she said. "Most of the players know
someone directly or indirectly who was involved in that catastrophe.
We have to come back as a group and talk about it.''
SHORT TRACKERS
CANCEL TRIP TO WORLD CUP
MONTREAL -- Last Tuesday's terrorist
attacks on New York and Washington have prompted the withdrawal
of a Canadian team from the first World Cup short-track speed
skating competition of this Olympic season, scheduled Friday through
Sunday in Changchun, China.
|
Speed Skating Canada, citing concerns of nervous
athletes and their families, pulled the plug Saturday night
on this country's entry in the Chinese meet that was expected
to attract 15-20 nations. It was to have been a key first
step on the team's road to next February's Olympic Winter
Games in Salt Lake City.
"We spent (yesterday) training at the Maurice Richard
Arena instead of flying,'' Montreal-based head coach
Guy Thibault said Sunday.
|
 |
"I've spoken with all of the
skaters the past few days, and the majority said they just weren't
comfortable travelling now. Some need the international racing
and said they'd go if everyone else went, but they expressed hope
that the whole thing would be cancelled and they could stay home.''
Alana Kraus |
A 14-member delegation, led
by Thibault, was scheduled to fly from Montreal to Chicago
last night and connect to a direct United Airlines flight
to Beijing. But Calgary-based skater Alana Kraus and
coach Yvon De Blois had their flight to Chicago cancelled,
and Thibault wasn't certain the plane carrying the others
would make it out of Montreal.
Kraus, a native of
Abbotsford, was the only non-Quebec skater headed to China.
She was to have been joined by 1992 Olympic champion Annie
Perreault, making her return to racing after she suffered
an accident last December.
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ATHLETE'S VOICE
Experiencing the World...Canadian
Style
By Georgette Reed
Canada played host to the world
this summer and did a great job. Competing in athletics, I got
a chance to compete for Canada at both the Francophone Games and
the World Championships.
| The summer began in Ottawa and
the Francophone Games, a multi-cultural Games for all francophone
speaking countries that mixes sport with the arts, music and
dance. Since it's beginnings in 1989, the games have grown
considerably in size and competitive nature. This year had
an interesting twist with the countries of Lithuania, Poland,
Romania and the Czech Republic being added as observing nations,
making the competition |
Marnie Temple & Georgette Reed |
fiercer than ever - especially
since many used these games, and the training facilities there,
to prepare for the Worlds.
This, my fourth Francophone Games,
was the best competition that I have faced in four years and I
was very proud to have been able to compete better than I have
in many years - just missing a medal in the shot put and putting
myself in a position for selection for the Worlds in Edmonton
later in the summer.
Our accomodations in Ottawa/Hull
left something to be desired, but throughout it all, the Canadian
teams represented themselves well and made the most of the situation
that we were dealt and came through representing Canada proudly.
With over two weeks spent in cramped
quarters, it was a true joy to come back to Calgary for a week's
preparation for the World Championships in Athletics.
Calgary was one of the training
and preparation centres used by many of the world's best en route
to Edmonton. The atmosphere in Calgary that week was quite festive
as there was a lot going on with the high performance meets with
many of the world's best competing and the 2001 Canadian Junior
Athletics Nationals, taking place at the same time. The organizers,
volunteers and officials all did themselves proud - they took
on a lot of responsibility, ran things extremely well and did
a great job! Going into the World's we had great preparation and
a good sense of "TEAM".
Reed with Tracker & Fielder -
Edmonton 2001 mascots |
Edmonton was simply amazing!
The city did a great job hosting the World Athletic Championships
... the end result, critical acclaim and financial success
that could provide a legacy and a boost for athletics in Canada.
Of course there was all of the hooey about medals and positive
drug tests but we never waivered from the vision of our head
coach Les Gramantik... We were a team of over 100 athletes,
coaches and medical staff who were in Edmonton to do the best
that we could against the world's best and represent Canada
proudly. |
Overall...we did that! Many of the
athletes did personal and seasonal bests and a few national records
were broken. I was able to compete well and come within 8cms of
my best and even though I would have liked to break the so-far
elusive Canadian shot put record, I was happy with the way that
I performed and represented the Canadian team.
The summer of 2001, was one of the
best I have had in a long time. Not so much because of the way
that I performed but more because of what I learned. At the beginning
of the summer, I almost gave up on competing because even though
I was training hard and doing what I needed to do, I wasn't performing
well and was ranked well below where I needed to be to make the
national team. There were a lot of outside distractions...a nagging
overuse problem with my back which restricted my motion was my
main detractor but also both my parents were recovering from major
surgeries and there were a lot of personal issues rearing up to
take up time and energy. I went into nationals not putting any
pressure on myself except to show up and enjoy the experience.
When the weekend was over, I won the shot put, (going in I was
ranked fourth) and placed second in the discus, with my best throw
in six years, an event where I was ranked sixth.
| I guess the bottom line is...no
matter what other people think, no matter how bad (or good)
things seem to be, no matter what has happened in the past...
ALWAYS SHOW UP and GIVE FULL ATTENTION TO YOUR INTENTION!
What I mean by that is always stay in the present moment,
not yesterday or tomorrow, and give a 100% of yourself at
that moment. Carrying this attitude into this summer, helped
me to appreciate the experiences so much more and made all
of my duties as team captain |
Reed's athletes view of the Closing
Ceremonies at the World Championships |
for both teams much more enjoyable
and the summer something to really be proud of and to remember.
The Future...hopefully a chance
to earn a spot on the Women's Bobsleigh team for Salt Lake City.
Being a part of the World Championships in Athletics has put me
behind in many doubters eyes, but I'm going to show up and go
for it, enjoying every moment and whatever the outcome ... no
regrets, just gratitude for having the ability to do what I do.
