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TWO
BRONZE FOR CANADA AT GYMNASTICS WORLD CUP
PARIS (CSN) - Kyle Shewfelt of Calgary
and Alexander Jeltkov of Montreal showed, once again,
they belong in the gymnastics big leagues each winning
a bronze medal against a powerful field Sunday at a
World Cup competition.
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Kyle Shewfelt proves he hasn't
lost his Manchester Games form (seen here) by
taking an international bronze medal (photo -
Grace Chiu).
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On
men’s vault, Olympic bronze medallist Leszek
Blanik of Poland took the gold medal averaging
9.675 for his two passes. World champion Marian
Dragulescu of Romania was second at 9.638 while
Shewfelt showed great form in the air and strong
dismounts to earn the bronze with a 9.482. It
was his fifth career World Cup medal and third
this season. On
men’s high bar, Paul Hamm of the U.S. was
the winner with a 9.612. Igor Cassina of Italy,
fourth at the worlds, was second at 9.538 while
Jeltkov, a silver medallist at the 1999 worlds,
executed another strong routine for a 9.225 and
a bronze medal. In the qualifier Saturday he scored
a season-best 9.500.
Shewfelt,
a double gold medallist at the Commonwealth Games
this summer, was also in the medal hunt in the
floor final after qualifying second on Saturday.
But on Sunday he put his hands down on a dismount
and landed short on a front-to-front layout and
scored an 8.800 for sixth spot.
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In women’s competition, Amélie Plante
of Repentigny, Que., a two-time world championship
team member, placed sixth on uneven bars. She
fell near the start of her routine but displayed
a program, which can put her in a world championship
final if executed successfully.
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CANADA
FINISHES NINTH AT WOMEN’S WORLD TEAM SQUASH CHAMPIONSHIPS
ODENSE,
Denmark (CSN) - Australia defeated England 2-1 Saturday
to win the gold medal at the women’s world team
squash championships while Canada earned a third straight
victory to finish in ninth spot.
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Carolyn Russel did her part
in the team's winning streak.
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In
the final, world number-one Sarah Fitz-Gerald
provided Australia with a 1-0 lead defeating Linda
Charman 2-9, 9-2, 9-0, 9-1. Then Natalie Grinham
clinched the match fort he Australians defeating
Stephanie Brind 5-9, 9-5, 9-6, 9-3. England’s
Tania Bailey won the third match. New
Zealand beat Egypt 2-1 for the bronze, Netherlands
took Scotland 3-0 for fifth and Malaysia defeated
South Africa 3-0 for seventh.
The
Canadians, seeded ninth, beat number-10 Germany
2-1 for ninth spot. Canadian champion Margo Green
of Halifax won the third and deciding match over
Karine Beriere 5-9, 9-6, 9-7, 9-3. Carolyn Russell
of Winnipeg opened with a 5-9, 9-5, 9-4, 9-2 victory
over Simone Leifels but Melanie Jans of Toronto
lost the second match Sabine Tillman, a former
world top-five player, 10-8, 9-0, 8-10, 9-3. |
Jans
was pleased how the Canadian team rebounded from the
disappointment of not reaching the quarterfinal after
the round robin. They won three straight matches to
end the tournament and win the consolation playoff round.”
"We
could have given up and just gone through the motions
after the round robin," said Jans, a member of
Canada’s seventh place team at the last team worlds
in 2000. "But we didn’t. Both Margo and Carolyn
came up with some big wins for us under pressure. We
had a very experienced team and it showed. It was a
strong performance."
CANADIAN
GOLD MEDAL RUSH AT PAN AM CANOE AND KAYAK CHAMPIONSHIPS
CURITIBA,
Brazil (CSN) - Kamini Jain of Vancouver and Jennifer
Adamson of Saskatoon each won gold medals Sunday, to
go with the four gold Canada won on Saturday, to conclude
a very successful weekend for Canada at the Pan American
canoe and kayak championships.
Canada
ends the three-day competition with 10 gold, six silver
and six bronze. They placed fourth in the overall country
standings, tying for third in both the senior and junior
team standings. Cuba was number-one overall and in the
senior standings while Brazil was first in the junior
standings.
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Jill
D'Allesio and partner Leslie Joudry won their
race in the K-2 500 metre event.
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The
gold medallists on Saturday in junior competition
were Mark DeJonge of Halifax in the men’s
K-1 500 metres, Leslie Joudrey of Fall River,
N.S., in the women’s K-1 500 while Joudrey
and Jill D’Allesio of Middle Sackville,
N.S., combined forces for first spot in the K-2
500. The fourth gold was earned by Leigh Dewar
of Kamloops, B.C., in the open women’s C-1
500.
The
same four boats won gold Friday in the 1,000 metre
races.
Two
silver medals were earned Saturday in senior competition.
Kamini Jain of Vancouver was second in the women’s
K-1 500 and Jain and D'Allesio were second in
the K-2 500. Danielle Dubetta of Leduc, Alta.,
was third in the open women’s C-1 500 and
DeJonge took the bronze in the senior men’s
K-1 500. |
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On
Friday senior silver medals were won by Joudrey
and Jen Adamson of Saskatoon in the K-2 1,000
and Adamson, Joudrey, D’Allesio and Jain
in the K-4 1,000 while Thomas was second in the
open C-1 1,000.
Also on Friday, Hall and Higgins were third in
the C-2 1,000 as was Dubetta in the open C-1 1,000.
In
total Canada has eight gold, five silver and four
bronze. Sunday was the last day of competition
featuring the 200-metre finals.
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Kamini
Jain brings home a silver.
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ONE
GOLD AND THREE BRONZE FOR CANADA AT SHORT TRACK SPEED
SKATING WORLD CUP
CHUNCHEON,
South Korea - Canada denied South Korea a golden sweep
of all 10 events this weekend with an impressive victory
in the men’s 5,000-metre relay Sunday to conclude
the first stop on the short track speed skating World
Cup circuit.
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Mathieu
Turcotte (far right) had a great weekend earning
an individual bronze and a relay gold.
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The
Canadian also added three bronze as they earned
their first medals this season. But the Koreans
were brilliant and a bit lucky too as some crashes
worked to their advantage in winning nine of the
10 events including all eight individual races.
In
the men’s relay, Canada with Jean-Francois
Monette and Jonathan Guilmette of Montreal, François-Louis
Tremblay of Boucherville, Que., and Mathieu Turcotte
of Sherbrooke, Que., earned the win clocking seven
minutes and 00.689 seconds despite two falls.
Canada is the reigning two-time Olympic champion
in the men’s relay.
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"Our depth really shines through in the relay,"
said Canadian national team coach Guy Thibault
of Montreal. "Our top five guys are all top
class while the other countries have one or two
big superstars then after that it drops off. I
was really impressed how we came back today."
China
was second in 7:01.785 and Japan was third in
7:22.798. South Korea was disqualified.
In
the men’s 3,000, Hyun-Soo Ahn of South Korea
completed a golden sweep of all four individual
events clocking 5:00.322. Se-Jong Oh of South
Korea was second in 5:00.615 and Turcotte gained
third spot at 5:01.052.
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François-Louis
Tremblay made a big impact.
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In
the men’s 1,000, Ahn won in 1:30.632 with Jun-Hyung
Yeo of South Korea second in 1:30.776 and Tremblay third
in 1:30.963.
"Francois-Louis
and Mathieu were our stars this weekend," said
Thibault. "We know these two guys can go and win
medals for us on a consistent basis."
Canada’s
third bronze came in the women’s 3,000-metre relay.
South Korea notched another gold in 4:20.210, China
was second in 4:20.382 and Canada with Alanna
Kraus of Abbotsford, B.C. (who trains
in Calgary), Amélie Goulet-Nadon of
Laval, Que., Tania Vicent of Montreal and Annie Perreault
of Rock Forest, Que., were third in 4:27.483. The Canadians
were in the thick of the race but fumbled an exchange
on the 10th lap and fell behind.
"We
need to fine-tune some aspects of our racing but there’s
no doubt we can race with the Koreans and the Chinese,"
said Goulet-Nadon.
DUPRE-HEALY
AND TSHIDIND WIN GOLD AT THE TIMEX 2002 CANADIAN ROAD
RACE CHAMPIONSHIPS
LONDON,
Ont. (CSN) - Danny Tshidind of Toronto made his first
impact on the Canadian running scene as he won a surprise
gold medal Sunday in the men’s 10-kilometre race
on a blustery fall day at the Timex 2002 Canadian Road
Race Championships.
Jeremy
Deere, shown here at the 2002 Calgary Stampede Run-off,
finished almost 20 seconds behind the leader to
pick up second place. |
Tshidind,
a former national champion in Congo who stayed
in Canada after the 2001 Francophone Games that
were held in Ottawa, clocked a personal best time
of 29 minutes and 45.9 seconds. Jeremy
Deere of Calgary, one of the pre-race
favourites, was second in 30:04.5 and Mark Bomba
of New Westminster, B.C., third in 30:27.
"This
is a big thrill," said the 20-year-old Tshidind,
who also coaches at the University of Toronto
where he trains. "It was a very hard race
and Jeremy was very strong. But I’ve really
improved over the last few months and it showed
today."
Back
in June, Tshidind didn’t meet the qualifying
standards for the Canadian track and field championships.
"Now I can do those times," he said. |
In
the women’s 10 kilometre, Sarah Dupre-Healy of
Kingston, Ont., showed why she is one of Canada’s
top runners over the distance on the track. She took
command of the race at the halfway mark and cruised
to her first national road title with a course record
33:49.2
Dupre-Healy
was one of the pre-race favourites along with Nicole
Stevenson of Toronto but Stevenson withdrew due to an
injury suffered two weeks ago in a marathon race.
"The
race pretty much went the way I expected and I didn’t
change my strategy because I was on the road,"
said Dupre-Healy, who’ll also look to defend her
national cross country running title next month. "I
just wanted to gradually pull ahead and I ended up building
a pretty comfortable lead."
Alison
Rendell of Vancouver was second in 34:24.5 and Maria
Zambrano of Calgary third in 35:14.8.
HOW
WE'RE DOING:
Medals
at Major Games: 8 Gold, 1 Silver, 9 Bronze
Medals at World Championships:
5 Gold, 3 Silver, 8 Bronze
World Records: 7
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