 |
   |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
WEEK
IN REVIEW |
|
|
DISABLED ALPINE SKI TEAM ATOP THE PODIUM IN AUSTRIA WILDSCHONAU-TIROL, AUT--World Cup action resumed for the Canadian Disabled Alpine Ski Team on Tuesday, January 22 in Auffach, a small Village in the Wildschonau Valley in the Tirol, Austria. Excellent conditions in Auffach saw CDAST veteran Lauren Woolstencroft collect her second win (and fourth podium) of the season. Woolstencroft, who hails from Calgary, captured the women's standing class event over American Sarah Billmeier and Austrian Danja Haslacher. Canada's Karolina Wisniewska just missed the podium in the same event, taking fifth on the day.
Balfour recorded his first podium of 2002 with his second-place result in the men's Standing class Super-G. He was edged for the top spot on the podium by Frenchman Amafroi Broisat.
In Wednesday's giant slaloms, Canadians were kept off the podium but still managed to record four top-10 finishes. Williamson and Harriott led the way with their fifth place, followed by Woolstencroft in 6th, Stacy Kohut (Canmore, AB) in 9th (Sitting class), and Wisniewska 10th. Friday's slalom saw Williamson and Harriott podium for the fifith time this season in the men's Blind class. Other top finishes for Canadians included a fifth-place finish for Wisniewska in the women's Standing class slalom while the men's Sitting class saw Daniel Wesley and Kohut take 6th and 7th respectively. The Canadian team returned home Sunday and continues to prepare for some of their upcoming major events. A full slate has the disabled team competing in FIS Nor Am races in Winter Park, Colorado (Feb 6-11), the World Cup Finals (Feb 27 - Mar 3), the 2002 Paralympic Winter Games (Mar 4-16) and the 2002 Canadian Championships (Mar 17-23). MCKEEVER WINS GOLD AT DISABLED NORDIC WORLD CUP
"Both skiers were happy with the results," said head coach Kaspar Wirz. "Shauna shot and skied very well and Brian had to ski very hard to place." The next race is January 27. Canada will have 4 skiers in the long distance race. BRONZE FOR LUEDERS & ZARDO AT FINAL BOBSLEIGH WORLD CUP LA PLAGNE, FRA--Canada 1 pilot Pierre Lueders handily won the bronze medal last Friday with rookie brakeman Giulio Zardo in the 2-man race of the La Plagne World Cup, the seventh and final event of the 2001/2002 FIBT World Bobsleigh Tour.
Lueders and Zardo posted the fastest push starts for both heats: 5.81 in the first heat and 5.82 in the second. In the first heat, Canada 1 had the best performance down the entire length of the track. However, in the second heat, they were second in the bottom half of the run. The time difference between Canada 1's two runs was sufficient for Reich to combine his two 3rd place runs and end the race in second. Canada 2 and Canada 3 tied for 16th place with a combined time of 2:00.61. Sitting in 11th place after the first heat, the Canada 2 sled, piloted by Yannik Morin with brakeman John Sokolowski, had a much slower second run to finish the race in 16th. The Canada 3 sled, crewed by pilot Jayson Krause and Mark LeBlanc, were 15th and 13th in their two runs to also finish 16th.
The Canadian men's bobsleigh team now returns home for final preparations before heading to Salt Lake City for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. The Olympic 2-man competition will be held February 16-17, with the 4-man competition scheduled for February 22-23. SAY & KNABE CONTINUE TO IMPRESS ON SWIMMING WORLD CUP TOUR STOCKHOLM, SWE(CSN)--Rick Say earned a gold medal while Morgan Knabe added a bronze, both in Canadian record time, at a World Cup short course swimming competition last week in Sweden.
Knabe smashed his own Canadian record in the 200 breaststroke for the bronze medal. He clocked 2:07.15 to beat the 2:08.71 he swam at the World Cup in Edmonton this past November. He was also fourth in the 50 breaststroke. "I was pretty happy when I went into the 2:08 zone but now after (Ed) Moses swims I think I won't be happy until I get into the 2:05 range," said Knabe. Say broke his Canadian record in the men's 200-metre freestyle for the silver medal the following day, and also won a bronze in the 1,500 freestyle. Say ends his World Cup season with an impressive showing. He won eight gold medals and broke Canadian records four times in the 200 freestyle and three times in 400 freestyle. Knabe was fourth in 59.40 in the 100m breast - just missing his 59.34 Canadian record set at the World Cup in Paris last weekend. The ninth and final World Cup stop is this weekend in Berlin. BELLIVEAU TAKES BRONZE AT MOGULS WORLD CUP BLACKCOMB, CAN--It hasn't been the kind of World Cup freestyle ski season Rachel Belliveau had wanted. The 2001 world junior champion in individual moguls had struggled, but the struggled ended Saturday by capturing the dual moguls final -- and the first World Cup medal of her short career.
To reach the semi-finals, she defeated Olympic-bound teammate Tami Bradley of Vancouver. In the semi-finals she knocked off Miyuki Hatanaka of Japan. Jennifer Heil of Spruce Grove, Alta., Kristi Richards of Summerland, B.C., and Elisa Kurylowicz of Manotick, Ont, all tied for ninth place.
Meet our Olympic freestyle skiing athletes LUGE WORLD CUP RESULTS WINTERBERG, GER--The 2001-2002 World Cup drew to a close this past weekend with the Seventh Viessmann World Cup. As well as crowning the World Cup Champions, the results from the weekend's races determined the top seeds for the Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City next month.
"I think this race is a good indication that we have everything we need to medal in Salt Lake," said Chris Moffat. "What we need to work on now is consistency." "Today was a bit of a disappointment since we essentially missed the podium by a turn," said Eric Pothier. "We were sitting in third place right into the last corner, but now we really feel what we can do and we're looking forward to the Olympics where we can hopefully show the whole world." The other Canadian team of Grant Albrecht and Mike Moffat finished in 17th place. In the women's event, Regan Lausher finished in 14th place, 1.520 seconds off the winning pace. "I am just looking forward to putting down 4 consistent runs in Salt Lake City," said Lauscher. Meet our Olympic luge athletes ALPINE RACERS PLACE THREE IN THE FINALS CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, ITA--Following an outstanding showing that saw two teammates, Genevieve Simard and Allison Forsyth, in the top-7 last weekend, Canadian Alpine Ski Team members managed to do something they haven't done all season - qualify three racers for the second run at a World Cup in Italy.
The result was Forsyth's fifth top-10 finish as she now places fifth in the season's GS standings. Meanwhile Simard, who earned her first World Cup podium last weekend in Germany, is 21st in those same standings. The pair have accounted for both of Canada's World Cup podiums this season. For the 21-year-old Janyk, the qualification is just what she needed following two Europa Cup podiums, including a victory, just over a week ago. "This qualification is building my confidence," said Janyk. "I know that I can do even better, and I'll take into the next races. But we'll have to see what happens. I'm glad that it happened here," she continued. "It's a technical hill, tough because it's long. It has the kind of conditions that I like - attacking and demanding conditions. I was able to give my best. It's good for each of us to see that we are here as we train together all summer," Janyk offered on the team result. "It has been better and better for us every race. Last race we were two, and now we're three." Meet our Olympic alpine skiers NORDIC SKIERS POST STRONG RESULTS AT WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS SCHONACH, GER--Despite rain and unseasonably warm temperatures, Canadian Nordic Junior skiers are having a blast and skiing well at the Nordic World Junior Championships in Schonach, Germany. "The strong winds and soft snow were a challenge today," said Madeline Williams, who was the top Canadian finisher Friday, finishing a very respectable 30th out of 76 women in the 5 km skating style event.
"Making the top 16 and having the chance to race the heats was awesome," said the 18 year-old Canmore resident who changed sports from Biathlon to Cross Country Skiing last year when she qualified for the 2001 Nordic World Juniors by winning the qualifying sprint race, which was intended as a training race as part of her biathlon season. "Sprint racing at this level is usually something I'm watching from the sidelines or on TV, so to be in the race was so exciting. I was now the one dodging around someone who fell or trying to make my move in the final stretch," said Crawford who narrowly missed qualifying for the semi-final heat. Crawford led the Canadian team through a very strong day where four athletes finished in the top 30. OLYMPIC UPDATE: It was announced Monday that biathlete Robin Clegg will be competing at the Salt Lake City Olympics after all. Unfortunately, his teammates Maryke Ciaramidaro and Martine Albert will not. Clegg had achieved his last qualifying result after the COA cut-off. IN THE NEWS... PARALYMPIC TEAM ANNOUNCED FOR SALT LAKE CITY OTTAWA, CAN-- The Canadian Paralympic Committee announced the Canadian team for the Winter Paralympic Games in Salt Lake City last week. The Canadian delegation is comprised of 27 athletes - four women and 23 men- two skiing guides and 27 mission staff. The goal is to win 20 medals which is five more than the total accumulated at the Nagano Games in 1998.
These VIIIth Games are scheduled for March 7-16 and feature more than a 100 medal events in three sports: alpine skiing, Nordic ski (cross country skiing and biathlon) and sledge hockey. CSCC athletes named to the team: ALPINE
SKIING Men: Ian Balfour, Pincher Creek, Alta.;
William Harriott, Calgary (guide); Stacy Kohut,
Canmore, Alta. Women: Karolina Wisniewska, Calgary; Lauren
Woolstencroft, Victoria. UPCOMING EVENTS OLYMPIC SEND-OFF The Canadian Olympic Association invites all Calgarians to join us as we send-off Canada's Best - your 2002 Canadian Olympic Team - to the Salt Lake City Olympic Winter Games. Come down to the Olympic Plaza from 4:30 - 6:00 pm on Tuesday, February 5th. Join our hosts, DaimlerChrysler who will be offering free Olympic mementos, as the Heebee-jeebees - Calgary's favourite a cappella group - up and coming figure skaters and street performers give our Canadian athletes and coaches a rousing Calgary-style send-off. Wear red and white - and don't forget your skates as we continue the 2002 Olympic Celebration with Petro Canada and CODA! |
| HOW
WE'RE DOING: Medals at Major Games: Medals at World Championships: 4 Gold, 4 Bronze World Records: 7 |
THANKS
TO
OUR FOUNDING PARTNERS:
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |