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LE MAY DOAN LOWERS OWN WORLD RECORD AT SPEED SKATING WORLD CUP

CALGARY. CAN--Catriona Le May Doan tied her own world record in the 500m of 37.29 on Day one of the Essent ISU World Cup Speed Skating competition at the Olympic Oval in Calgary, but upped the ante on Day two and lowered that mark to 37.22.

Catriona Le May Doan races to a new World Record on Sunday. Reuters/Patrick Price

Le May Doan remains undefeated at this distance after two stops on the World Cup tour. "I'm doing what I love, and seeing what I can do," said Le May Doan after her world record race on Sunday. Jeremy Wotherspoon and Mike Ireland also won gold medals on Saturday. In Saturday's men's 500, Wotherspoon took the gold despite a slight slip on the final turn clocking 34.68 seconds. His pair, American Casey FitzRandolph, was second in 34.82 while Ireland took the bronze in 34.93. Wotherspoon finished a surprising third with a time of 34.93 on Sunday while Ireland finished fifth with a time of 35.090.

"Things are going pretty well," said Wotherspoon, who swept all four gold medals and set the world record in the 1,000 last weekend at the World Cup opener in Salt Lake City. "I lost a bit of speed on the last turn so I could have had a better race. Still it's a good building block for later this season. "I'm a bit surprised with my start. These events are not the ones we're fully focusing on this season. But to have good solid races like this is pretty exciting."

In the men's 1,000, Ireland snared the gold with a sizzling 1:07.99. At the 600-metre mark he was on world record pace but a bobble potentially cost him the mark. Still he has become only the second man to go under 1:08. Toyoki Takeda of Japan was second at 1:08.37, FitzRandolph third at 1:08.58 and Wotherspoon was fourth in 1:08.69. "At this point I just want to have some good consistent races," said Ireland, a triple bronze medallist last weekend. "I knew right away I was having a good one. I had my best start ever and the splits really gave me a lot of confidence. On the backstretch I still felt very strong."

Jeremy Wotherspoon on pace in the 1000m-Reuters/Patrick Price

In the 1,000 on Saturday, Sabine Volker of Germany clocked 1:14.62 for the gold while Le May Doan took the silver in 1:14.76. Anni Friesinger of Germany was third in 1:15.04.

Cindy Klassen finished an impressive fourth behind a trio of Germans in the women's 1500m with a time of 1:55.21 on Sunday. "I'm really happy with my result," said Klassen. "I had a good pair (Emese Hunyady of Austria), she starts fast, but I knew I had to skate my own race. I'm going into the season really good."

Dustin Molicki led the Canadian charge in the men's 1500m, finishing in sixth position, followed by Steven Elm in seventh and Kevin Marshall in eighth.

World Cup action continues in January at Heerenveen in the Netherlands.
The Canadian team now looks forward to Olympic selection trials - starting on Dec. 17 and wrapping up on the 31st at the Olympic Oval in Calgary.

MORIN POSTS CANADA'S BEST RESULT AT
BOBSLEIGH WORLD CUP

IGLS, AUT--Yannik Morin, 26, posted Canada's best result with a time of 1:46.73 to finish in ninth place with brakeman Giulio Zardo, 21, in the 2-man race at the fourth Men's Bobsleigh World Cup in Igls, Austria.

4-man bobsleigh action from last season

After the first heat, Morin was fifth, clocking in at 53.11 seconds. His second run in the Canada 2 sled was over a half-second slower, dragging him down four notches to ninth. Today's finish leaves Morin in 9th position in the World Cup 2-man Standings. "I'm very happy," said Morin. "I put in a consistent performance today in the two runs. All the best are here. And for the first time ever, I got both the best push starts and the best finishes for Canada. I must say that I'm doing better in Europe than I thought I would."

Pierre Lueders, 31, with brakeman Mark LeBlanc, 24, ended the day in unfamiliar territory, placing 14th. His first run time was 53.42. The second run of 53.78 gave him a combined time of 1:47.20. Lueders now sits in 4th place in the World Cup 2-man Standings.

The Canada 1 team of pilot Pierre Lueders, Ben and Matt Hindle, and brakeman Pascal Caron, finished 14th in a field of 32 sleds from 20 nations in the 4-man event the following day. Canada 1 posted runs of 52.24 and 52.63 to finish with a final combined time of 1:44.87.

Lueders finished 1st in the 2-man event and 8th in the 4-man boblsleigh to place 4th overall in the first combination bobsleigh race ever held on Sunday. The experimental combination race involved 18 pilots from 14 nations racing one heat of two-man and one-heat of four man.

The Canadian men's bobsleigh team will now return to Canada. The next Men's Bobsleigh World Cup is scheduled for January 12 and 13, 2002 from St. Moritz, Switzerland.

KNABE WINS TWO AT WORLD CUP IN AUSTRALIA

MELBOURNE, AUS--Morgan Knabe won a bronze medal Friday to open the fifth stop on the World Cup short course swimming circuit.

In a very close 50-metre breaststroke, Jim Piper of Australia was the winner in 27.90 seconds followed by Olympic silver medallist Ed Moses of the U.S., second at 27.92 while Knabe, who has four World Cup wins this season, was third at 28.02. Knabe continued to enhance his medal collection Saturday placing second in the men's 100-metre breaststroke. World record holder Ed Moses of the U.S., won in 59.29 seconds with Knabe, the defending World Cup champion in the event, second in 1:00.09. Jim Piper of Australia was third in 1:00.47.

Reuters/Sergio Moraes

SHORT-TRACKERS PERFORM IN RELAYS AT WORLD CUP

SOFIA, BUL--Canada took the gold medal in the men's relay and added a silver in the women's relay Sunday to conclude the fourth stop on the short track speed skating World Cup circuit.

In the men's 5,000-metre relay, Canada won handily in seven minutes and 09.980 seconds. Italy was second in 7:12.352 while China settled for bronze in 7:15.146. South Korea was disqualified. In the women's 3,000, China was the winner in 4:18.874. The Canadians were second in 4:21.006 and South Korea third in 4:25.529.\

In the individual races, Alana Kraus of Abbotsford, B.C., was fourth in the 1,000 and fifth in the 3,000. The fifth and final stop on the World Cup circuit is next weekend in Amsterdam.

SCOTT STARTS NORDIC SEASON OFF ON A STRONG NOTE

COGNE, ITA--Beckie Scott had a great weekend. After finishing ninth in her season opening World Cup race on Saturday, she went on to win Sunday's World Cup Sprint "B" Final, placing fifth overall in the Sprint event, all while out-skiing her Norwegian nemesis, Anita Moen.

Beckie Scott

"I'm super happy with this weekend," said Scott. "It's a great start to the World Cup series - it's a real boost." After the qualifying round, Scott moved through the quarterfinal heat finishing second behind eventual winner, Katerina Neumanova of the Czech Republic. She was then matched up in the semi-final heat with Neumanova, Moen and 1998 Olympic gold medallist Julia Tschepalova from Russia. Neumanova and Tschepalova advanced to the "A" finals by taking the top two spots. Moen and Scott moved into the "B" final.

"I really think that my semi-final heat was the toughest heat of the day," said Scott. "I also made a technical error there by losing contact with the pack in the beginning." Scott went on to win the "B" final, which is made up of the third and fourth place finishers from the semi-final heats and determines the fifth to eighth place finishers. There Scott out-skied Moen, as well as Russian veteran Ljubov Egorova and Evi Sachenbacher of Germany to earn her fifth place overall finish for the day. Scott was particularly pleased with the fact that she overtook Moen today. Moen, who is known on the World Cup circuit for her aggressive and at times unfair sprint tactics, cost Scott a semi-final berth in last year's inaugural World Championship Sprint event.

Milaine Theriault finished 43d in the qualifying round, while Sara Renner from Canmore, AB finished 45th for the second day in a row.

MEN'S TECHNICAL TEAM POSTS IMPRESSIVE RESULTS AT ALPINE WORLD CUP

VAL D'ISÈRE, FRA--In making their downhill debut for the 2002 season, Canadians Edi Podivinsky and Darin McBeath both clocked a time of 2:03.17, placing them tied for 41st in World Cup action in France.

The following day, the men's technical team, which has already posted some positive results this season, really came together to display some great talent. Two Canadians, Jean-Philippe Roy and Thomas Grandi both finished within the Top-15 despite some high start numbers. Roy, bib 45, and Grandi, bib 53, finished 13th and 15th respectively.

Darin McBeath (ACA)

For 10-year veteran Grandi, who has seen his share of injuries and trials over the last couple of years, today's result was just what he, and his team, needed. "This is an incredible boost," Grandi said. "Training has been great the whole last month. Today I put in two solid runs and I'm really excited. This is something we can really build on now," he continued. "We've got some very demanding races ahead but it's going really well. We're going in the right direction."

Thomas Grandi

Head coach Thierry Meynet was pleased with his athletes' performances but also looks forward for what is yet to come. "I thought one top-15 for sure and then another top-30," said Meynet. "But we got two top-15's and that's even better. They were fighting like crazy both runs. Bode (Miller) won today but I'm sure J.P. and Thomas will come pretty soon," Meynet continued. "We just have to be patient, work and remain positive. I'm sure we'll see so many better things than we saw today." Canada's third racer today, Ryan Oughtred (Whistler, BC), failed to qualify for the second run.

The Canadian Women's Alpine Ski Team struggled on the weekend in Sestriere, Italy as they failed to qualify for the second run of slalom. Geneviève Simard was the top Canadian in the first run. Wearing bib 44, she finished just 0.35 seconds out of the top 30 to place 37th. Joining her was Allison Forsyth, Britt Janyk and Anna Prchal. The women's next World Cup competition will be in Val d'Isère, France from December 14-16. The races will consist of one Giant Slalom and two Super-G's, which were originally scheduled for Megève, France.

CIARAMIDARO POSTS TOP CANADIAN RESULTS AT BIATHLON WORLD CUP

HOCHFILZEN, AUT--European junior champion Maryke Ciaramidaro of Canmore, Alta., was the top Canadian this weekend at the season opening World Cup biathlon competition which concluded Sunday.

Robin Clegg

Ciaramidaro finished 40th Thursday in the women's 7.5 kilometre sprint while Martine Albert of Rimouski, Que., was 62nd and Sandra Keith of Canmore, Alta., 84th. With her sprint result, Ciaramidaro qualified for Sunday's 10 kilometre pursuit in which she placed 49th. Magdalena Forsberg of Sweden won both women's races. On the men' side Jean Paquet of Loretteville, Que., was 66th and Robin Clegg of Canmore, who posted two top-40 finishes last year, was 110th in the men's 10 kilometre sprint. Neither advanced to Sunday's 12.5 kilometre pursuit.

So far Canada has no qualifiers for the Olympics. Albert and Clegg have achieved the first leg of the Canadian Olympic Association criteria. The athletes will have more opportunities at the next three World Cups. The Canadian team will be announced January 11. The World Cup circuit continues next week December 12-16 at Pokljuka, Slovenia.

MARTIN RINK WINS RIGHT TO REPRESENT
CANADA AT SALT LAKE

REGINA, CAN--Kevin Martin was right. The 35-year-old Edmonton skip had suggested the men's final against Kerry Burtnyk of Winnipeg would likely come down to last rock. It did. He made it. And now his Ottewell Curling Club team of third Don Walchuk, second Carter Rycroft and lead Don Bartlett are off to Salt Lake City, Utah for the 2002 Winter Olympics, in search of a gold medal for Canada.

In the 10th end, facing two Burtnyk counters in the eight-foot, Martin calmly threw an in-turn draw to the back of the four-foot to win a cliff-hanger, 8-7 and claim the Canadian Curling Trials top prize. The final seemed to turn with every end, resulting in five lead changes for the contest."We were in trouble early, but none of the guys got down. Momentum generally changes if you hang in there and we hung in there. Sure enough it did," said Martin.

Now, his team will head to Ogden, Utah, site of the curling competition from February 11-22, as one of the favourites, where he'll meet, amongst others, the current world champion Peter Lindholm and Scotland's 1999 world champion Hammy McMillan.

ATHLETE PROFILE
JEFF PAIN - Skeleton
By CSCC Practicum student - Corrina Roth

Jeff Pain has a dream.

It started while he was attending the University of British Columbia. At the time, he was active in track and field. He walked into the coaches' office one day and said, "I want to go to the Olympics." What startled him was that the coach, Carmen James, didn't laugh. So, training began. It wasn't until Pat O'Donnahue came to UBC and encouraged Jeff to come out to a national bobsled camp in Calgary that Jeff thought of anything but high jump. At that camp, Jeff "quickly learned that [he] wasn't in the same class as these people" and the next event on the list to try was skeleton racing. He hasn't looked back since.

It has been a long eight years since his dream began. There have been a few black eyes and regular bruises but Jeff thinks it's all worth it. When travelling at speeds of up to 130kph--head first without padding, bumps and bruises are the types of things that may be hard to avoid. He admits that it has become a little more serious than fun as the Olympics draw nearer but he doesn't mind. "All I'm looking for is a personal best," says Pain.

When questioned about his most memorable moment Jeff says there is a tie. "It's between my first major win in competition and the first foreign track that I went to. The excitement of the first big win is unbelievable, however, one of the hardest tracks in the world is in Altenberg (Germany) and I remember that one because I came out of there with two black eyes!"

Where does Jeff find his motivation to continue? Well, for the last few years the motivation has been a drive to qualify for the Olympics. "The drive is mostly internal," says Pain. "One day I want to have the perfect run. That's my motivation. I try to relax as much as possible before the run and make sure that all the details are taken care of, new spikes, runners polished, suit in good shape, etc., so my mind can be clear and I can focus on the run."

So, what's in store for this Canadian athlete and will his dream be realized? Will he follow in the footsteps of those he admires such as Ryan Davenport and Willi Schneider? He's already qualified for the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, so he is half way there. Whether the perfect run will come or not, we'll see. But we do know that those most important to him, his family, will be there watching and supporting him all the way.