HEIL SNAGS MOGULS GOLD

INAWASHIRO, JPN--Fresh off a rookie Olympic experience that saw her place 4th in the women's moguls competition, Jennifer Heil of Spruce Grove, AB took the gold at a World Cup event in Japan on Saturday.

Jennifer Heil in action in SLC(FSA-Mike Ridewood)

Before a wildly enthusiastic Japanese crowd, Heil scored 26.97 points to beat superstar Kari Traa of Norway by more than a point. "This is a really big score on the toughest World Cup course," said Canadian moguls coach Dominic Gauthier. "I was definitely coming off a really big high from the Olympics," said Heil. "I was hoping for a medal and missed by a hundredth (of a point). I stuck to the same plan here and looked to lay it all out." On this Japanese course, the moguls are deeper than most courses and set in less predictable patterns. Nevertheless, the 18-year-old Heil performed a helicopter (360) for her first jump and a challenging 180-iron cross-180 for her second jump to produce the women's highest air scores; she also had the women's third fastest time.

Despite the win, Heil said, "I wouldn't say it changes things. It just adds to my confidence because I've never had a (World Cup) victory."

Ryan Johnson of Calgary finished 11th in the men's final. The World Cup circuit continues with two moguls events in Japan next weekend.

VANDERBEEK PODIUMS AT JUNIOR ALPINE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

TARVISIO, Italy - Kelly VanderBeek of Kitchener, Ont., injected a ray of hope into Canada's alpine ski program, winning a bronze medal in the women's super-G Thursday at the World Junior Championships in Tarvisio, Italy.

VanderBeek, 19, clocked a time of one minute and 28.64 seconds to reach the podium. Austria's Daniela Mueller finished second in 1:28.55 only 0.09 seconds ahead of VanderBeek. Germany's Maria Riesch took the gold in 1:27.54. "It was an interesting day having rain and slushy snow falling which delayed the race," said VanderBeek. "I was happy to hit the podium as it was a big goal for me coming into this series." In the men's super-G Mike Janyk of Whistler, BC, and Cameron Barnes of Canmore, AB, were 9th and 13th respectively.

VanderBeek

WOTHERSPOON & IRELAND PODIUM AS SPEED SKATING
WORLD CUP CONTINUES

OSLO, NOR--Jeremy Wotherspoon and Mike Ireland both took home silver medals from separate 1000m races after this past weekend's World Cup competition on outdoor ice in Norway.

Ireland competing in Norway. (Reuters/Terje Bendiksby)

Wotherspoon was fifth in Sunday's 1000m that saw Ireland take silver, but still retains the lead in the overall World Cup standings for the 500m and 1000m. Ireland now stands tied for second in the 1000m with Adne Sondral of Norway and is fourth overall in the 500m standings. Ireland was fourth in the 500m on Saturday and 13th on Sunday while Wotherspoon took seventh on Saturday and 11th on Sunday.

In women's competition, the top Canadian was Susan Auch with a 12th in the 500 on Saturday and a season's high of 8th on Sunday. Olympic champion Catriona Le May Doan did not compete but still leads the 500m World Cup standings with 600 points.

The World Cup final is next weekend in Inzell, Germany.

SCHUSSLER & MORRISON IMPRESS AT JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

COLLALBO, Italy--Brittany Schussler of Winnipeg fnished fourth overall after women's competition Sunday at the long track speed skating World Junior Championships, while Jay Morrison won a bronze medal and finished 9th overall.

Schussler, 16, made a valiant attempt for the all around podium placing fifth in the 3,000 to climb from fifth to fourth overall at 168.601. She was eighth overall last year. Shannon Rempel of Winnipeg was 16th overall. "I gave it everything I had," said Schussler, a grade 11 student in Winnipeg. "I really worked hard this year and it paid off. It was a big improvement over last year." On the men's side, Beorn Nijenhuis of the Netherlands, who was born and raised in Rocky Mountain House, AB, held on to first overall finishing with 155.595 points. Nijenhuis, a former Canadian age group champion, moved to the Netherlands, the birthplace of his parents, two years ago.

Brittany Schussler in action at the Canadian Championships.

Morrison of Fort St. John, BC, a bronze medallist Saturday in the 1,500, was ninth overall after placing 10th in the 10,000-metres on Sunday.

This was the first time Canada has placed two skaters in the top-16 in both men's and women's competition at the same world junior championships.

"All six skaters are eligible to comeback next year so this was a very satisfying performance by our team," said Canadian coach Gregg Planert of Calgary. The world juniors will be held next year in Japan.

CANADIANS QUALIFY FOR ALL ROUND WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

STE-FOY, QC--Kristina Groves and Kevin Marshall won the overall titles and were among six Canadians who qualified for the world all around long track speed skating championships Saturday at the Continental Cup in Quebec.

Kristina Groves

Groves won gold in the women's 1,500 and 5,000 metre races Saturday to finish first overall with 180.844 points. Groves, who was eighth in the 3,000 at the Olympics, qualified for the world championships along with Olympic bronze medallist Cindy Klassen of Winnipeg who did not compete this weekend, but had already pre-qualified. On the men's side, Marshall was fourth in the 1,500 and fifth in the 10,000 Saturday to remain first overall at 168.351 points.

The Olympic team member won both the 500 and 5,000 on Friday. Jamie Ivey, the 1,500 winner, was second overall at 168.713 and Steven Elm was third at 169.135. All three Canadian men and Dustin Molicki of Calgary, who had pre- qualified, will travel to the world all around championships March 15-17 in Heerenveen, the Netherlands.

MYSLICKI PODIUMS TWICE AT WORLD CUP B NORDIC COMBINED EVENT

CALGARY, AB--Jason Myslicki of Calgary posted a first place and a second place finish in thrilling fashion at CODA's World Cup B Nordic Combined event, held at Canada Olympic Park over the weekend.

Myslicki started the 15km cross-country portion of the individual event on Thursday in seventh place, but managed to squeak into the top spot on the podium in a race to the wire. Myslicki was second in the 7.5 km sprint event on Saturday and 14th in the 10 km mass start event on Sunday.

Myslicki was one of 56 competitors in the field that represented 14 different countries including several athletes who competed recently at the Salt Lake City Olympic Winter Games.

BELLIVEAU TAKES SILVER IN MOGULS

FORTRESS MOUNTAIN, AB-- Rachel Belliveau prevented an American sweep of the medals with a silver medal in Noram freestyle ski competition at Fortress Mountain last Friday.

Belliveau, 20, fashioned a score of 25.36 points to fall just shy of upsetting Michelle Roark in the season's individual moguls finale. "It's my best run of the season, that's for sure," said Belliveau. "I just got it done. I had two good jumps and no big mistakes." Warren Shouldice captured his second gold medal of the week to clinch the overall Noram aerials championship. "It was the best week of my (ski) life so far," said Shouldice, 18, after leading a 1-2-3-4 Canadian finish in the men's aerials final. Shouldice scored 226.49 points while performing a pair of different triple-twisting triple somersaults. The score was also just three points shy of a career-high, two-jump score established while winning a Noram event Thursday.

Rachel Belliveau

Cord Spero was second with 223.92 points and Daniel Murphy third at 209.17. Ryan Blais was fourth to clinch second in the men's overall Noram aerials standings.

KRAUSE TOPS AT CANADIAN BOBSLEIGH CHAMPIONSHIPS

CALGARY, AB - Jayson Krause capped the bobsleigh season in winning form over the weekend, taking both the 2-man and the 4-man Canadian titles at the Canadian Championships held at Canada Olympic Park.

Olympian Christina Smith captured the women's bobsleigh title, while Olympic skeleton athletes Duff Gibson and Michelle Kelly took top spots in the men's and women's skeleton events.

Pierre Lueders was absent from this weekend's competition due to a groin injury suffered during the 4-man event of the Olympic Winter Games, while Olympic skeleton athletes Pascal Richard, Lindsay Alcock and Mellissa Hollingsworth were also out of town.

IN THE NEWS...

THE GAMES ARE NOT OVER IN SALT LAKE CITY!

OTTAWA, CAN--While it seemed that Salt Lake City was removing banners and signs promoting the Olympics, it was for the sole reason to replace them with Paralympic banners.

"The banners on the buildings are still in place and the posters featuring Paralympic athletes are all over Salt Lake City. There's a great atmosphere here," said Rob Needham, the Games Director for the Canadian Paralympic delegation, which is comprised of 27 athletes, two skiing guides and 27 mission staff. The athletes left for Utah on Saturday with an objective to win 20 medals.

Most of the Canadian Paralympic athletes were greatly motivated by the performances of their fellow Olympians. "I'm very excited. Many athletes inspired me including Marc Gagnon and Croatian skier Janica Kostelic," said alpine skier Karolina Wisniewska, a double silver medallist at the 1998 Paralympics in Nagano.

Pierre Pichette, a goaltender with Canada's sledge hockey team, was surprised to hear Martin Brodeur mention his name after winning the gold medal on Sunday. He's feeling even more nervous now. "When Martin Brodeur says on TV he did his job and now I must do mine I nearly fell out of my chair. I'm very excited but I'm also anxious for the puck to drop on March 8," said Pichette, a 47-year-old Longueuil, Que., resident regarded as the best goaltender in the world. Pichette is sponsored by Brodeur, and the Canadian team is the gold medal favorite.

Robin McKeever, a member of the 1998 Olympic team, heads to his first Paralympics as a guide for his visually impaired brother Brian. "If Brian is in shape he can win a medal in all four events he's entered. He's already won four of the five World Cups this season," said Robin, who is six years older than Brian. Robin, who has skied with Beckie Scott for the past several years, was very inspired by her Olympic bronze medal. The 2002 Winter Paralympic Games will also have unprecedented coverage on CBC-TV beginning on Saturday March 9. CBC will broadcast 10 hours of the Games and often show same-day highlights up until the closing ceremonies on March 16.

Brian McKeever

The schedule is available at http://www.cbc.ca/sports/schedule

FERRIANI DEPARTS CANADIAN BOBSLEIGH PROGRAM

CALGARY (CP) -- Ivo Ferriani will not return as head coach of Canada's national bobsleigh team.

Ferriani, who left the French bobsleigh program three years ago to help Canada's fledgling team, announced Friday he will not renew his contract as head coach of Canada's national team, citing family reasons. He returned this week to his home in Turin, Italy. "I will always have Canada in my heart," Ferriani said from Turin, site of the 2006 Winter Olympics. "I thoroughly enjoyed my time working with the Canadian program. I particularly enjoyed working with Pierre Lueders, helping him become a more rounded pilot. I also feel proud of the things we achieved with the Canadian program, But it is time I returned to my family after 22 years in bobsleigh as pilot and coach.

Lueders of Edmonton, who finished fifth in the two-man event at the Salt Lake Olympics with brakeman Giulio Zardo of Montreal, said he would miss Ferriani's passion and determination. "It was a great pleasure to work with Ivo for the past three seasons," said Lueders. "His contributions to the sport of bobsleigh in Canada will always be remembered."

Ferriani joined the Canadian team in June, 1999, after five years with the French team. He led France to a four-man bronze medal at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

"I'm glad he accepted the challenge to come to Canada," said Terry Gudzowsky, president of Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton. "Leaving Europe after a successful go with the French team wasn't easy. I admire him for that." Gudzowsky said he would take his time in finding a new coach.