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CANADIAN
SOCCER WOMEN ON A ROLL
The Canadian National Women’s Team continued its
preparation for the upcoming Gold Cup by posting a 2-0
win over Australia in Vancouver on Thursday, Sept. 26th.
Midfielder Isabelle Morneau of Longueuil, Quebec, scored
both goals for Canada, her fifth and sixth of her international
career in her 52nd game.
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Isabelle Morneau, the driving
force behind Canada's win
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After
a scoreless first half, it was two veterans who
combined to give Canada their opening goal in
the 62nd minute, as Amy Walsh on the right crossed
to Isabelle Morneau in front and her side-footed
volley from 12 yards found the far side of the
net. Morneau scored her second of the game in
the 84th minute, when a driven cross from 15-year-old
Kara Lang on the right pinballed off two Australian
players in front to fall to Morneau one-yard out
who stabbed it into the net.
Australia’s
best chance came in the 63rd minute as Canadian
goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc kicked out a shot from
striker Kelly Golebiowski on a breakaway. LeBlanc
made 7 saves to earn the shutout as Australia
out-shot their hosts 11-9, thanks to a flurry
of shots late in the game. |
| Canada
opens their Gold Cup campaign on Wednesday October
30 in Victoria, B.C., against Haiti. All of Canada’s
Group 2 games are at Victoria’s Centennial
Stadium as they play Jamaica on November 1, and
Costa Rica on November 3.
Group
1, meanwhile, features the USA , Mexico, Panama,
and Trinidad and Tobago, with games in Pasedena
and Fullerton, California, as well as Seattle,
Washington. The top two teams in each group advance
to the Semi-Finals November 6 in Seattle, with
the Final being played on November 9 at the Rose
Bowl in Pasadena. |
KARLEY
STUTZEL TOP CANADIAN AT OPEN WATER WORLD SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
SHARM
EL SHEIKH, Egypt (CSN) - Italian swimmers earned gold
in both the men’s and women’s five kilometre
races Monday which kicked-off the second FINA world
open water swimming championships.
In
the women’s race, Viola Valli, the winner at the
world aquatic championships last year, took the gold
medal in 56 minutes and 52 seconds. Edith Van Dijk of
the Netherlands, the marathon World Cup swimming champion,
was second in 57:01 and Hanna Miluska of Switzerland
third in 58:13.
Karley Stutzel of Victoria was 12th in 58:44. Her best
event is the 10-kilometre race in which she placed fourth
last year at the world aquatic championships. Stutzel,
20, is also one of Canada’s top distance freestylers
in the pool.
In
a very close men’s race, Luca Baldini, also the
world aquatic champion, led Italy to a 1-2 finish clocking
51:49.78 with Stefano Rubaudo second in 51:51.20 and
Thomas Lurz of Germany third in 51:52.43.
Canadian
champion David Creel of Victoria was 15th in 54:10.16
and Tim Cowan of Calgary, a gold medallist
at the U.S. championships earlier this year, was 17th
in 54:12.71. He was 23rd two years ago at the first
open water worlds in Hawaii and 15th last year at the
world aquatics.
OLYMPIAN
LAMBERT NAMED ASSISTANT CHEF DE MISSION FOR ATHENS GAMES
MONTREAL
(CP) - Triple Olympic medallist Nathalie Lambert was
named the
assistant chef de mission of the Canadian team for the
2004 Athens Summer
Olympics on Monday.
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Nathalie
Lambert returns to the Olympics in a different
role.
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The
former short-track speed skater from Montreal
won a gold medal in the relay at the 1992 Olympics
in Albertville, silver in both the 1,000 metres
and relay at the ‘94 Games in Lillehammer,
and sprinted to numerous world
championship titles before retiring from racing
in 1998.
She
was inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of
Fame in 1992. |
| “I
am thrilled to earn a spot on the Canadian Olympic
team once again, this
time on a larger team and I get to leave my skates
at home,” Lambert said
Monday in a release. “I can’t wait
to return to the Olympic Games and help
to ensure that athletes, coaches and mission staff
come home with
experiences as memorable as the ones I had the
privilege to live.”
Lambert
has remained involved in sports since hanging
up her skates. She’s a member of the Canadian
Olympic Committee, a member of the COC’s
team
selection committee, and was on the mission staff
at the 1995 Pan American
Games.
She’ll
team up with chef de mission David Bedford of
Toronto.
“We
are thrilled to have an assistant chef de mission
who first and
foremost is an accomplished Olympian,” said
Bedford. “She knows high
performance sport, coaching, and can obviously
relate to athletes.”
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IN
THE NEWS.....
GOLDEN
PROPOSAL SUBMITTED TO GOVERNMENT FOR NATIONAL TRAINING
CENTRE
Plan for Olympic training centre now in the hands of
the federal government
TORONTO
(DAN RALPH/CP) - A plan for Canada’s first Centre
for Canadian Olympic Excellence is now in the hands
of the federal government.
Paralympian
Earle Connor and hockey player Cassie Campbell presented
an application for the facility to Paul DeVillers, secretary
of state for amateur sport, at a news conference Wednesday.
It calls for a $260-million expansion of Canada Olympic
Park in Calgary, which is owned and operated by the
Calgary Olympic Development Association (CODA).
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Paul
DeVillers, seen here with Sale and Pelletier after
the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics..
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The
centrepiece would be a multi-sport indoor training
complex, which will also house athletes accommodations,
a satellite campus for the National Sports High
School, and offices for national and provincial
sport organizations.
The
plan calls for Ottawa to foot almost $87 million,
or roughly a third of the cost. The rest would
come from the Alberta government, the city of
Calgary and the corporate sector.
DeVillers
called the plan’s principle of boosting
Canada’s Olympic medal count “laudable”
but said Ottawa will now examine the application
thoroughly. |
“We
have to review the application, consult with our partners
in the Canadian sports system and measure it up against
the goals of our Canadian sports policy that all jurisdictions
in the country have signed on to,”DeVillers said.
“The principle is laudable that we want to improve
excellence, that’s part of our sports policy."
“But
there are different ways of maybe getting there and
that’s what we need to look at.”
| The
plan also calls for an expanded day lodge, an
ice complex with hockey, figure skating and curling
rinks, upgrades to the existing ski jump bowl,
and expanded cross-country ski trails. DeVillers
refused to say if he thinks the federal government
will adopt the plan but cautioned against expecting
a quick decision.
“We’ll
do it as quickly as we can, but remember we are
government,” he said. “These things
work in mysterious ways."
“We
don’t want to let it drag but we also have
to take the proper time to review it.” |
Earle
Connor was one of the athletes on hand to support
the new Centre for Canadian Olympic Excellence. |
Ottawa
has committed $310 million to the 2010 Winter Games
if Vancouver-Whistler is successful in its bid for that
competition. But DeVillers said if the bid is rejected
by the IOC, the government won’t be able to simply
allocate $87 million from the $310 million towards a
national training centre.
“They
are different envelopes, different arguments are made,
different competing interests come in so each government
decision needs to stand on its own,” he said.
CODA president John Mills said with top sporting countries
like the United States, Germany, and Australia all having
national training centres, Canada must follow suit to
improve its standing on the world stage.
“International
sports success brands a country,” said Mills.
“If Canada wishes to make an impact at the 2010
Winter Games, hopefully on home ice in Vancouver-Whistler,
the time is now to act.
“Our
athletes deserve it. They deserve the opportunity to
compete with the Best.”
Connor
and Campbell, among a group of seven amateur athletes
on hand Wednesday, agreed.
“To
be successful in athletics, you need to surround yourself
with success,” said Connor, the 100-metre champion
for above-knee amputees at the 2000 Paralympics. “Our
country so desperately needs a facility like this to
go to the next level.
“We
(athletes) don’t participate in our sports to
be second best.”
Added
Campbell, a member of the Canadian women’s 2000
gold medal squad: “No matter the sport you play
. . . the expectation should be to (win a) medal. That’s
what this facility would offer athletes from across
the country.”
Campbell also said a national centre would also allow
athletes from other sports to become more familiar with
one another.
“I’d
love to train with these people and see what they do,”
Campbell said, pointing to the other athletes present.
“They could also see what I do and we could inspire
one another.”
IN
THE NEWS.....
SHORT
TRACK STAR RETIRES
Marc
Ganon, seen here at the 2002 Olympics. |
MONTREAL
(CSN) - Short track speed skater Marc Gagnon of
Montreal, Canada’s most successful Olympic
athlete, announced his retirement today.
Gagnon
won five Olympic medals and four overall world
titles in his remarkable career. After his triple
medal performance in Salt Lake he became a big
star in Quebec and is now focusing on careers
in television and business. |
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