Canada’s Kaillie Humphries can now add the title of World Champion to her impressive women’s bobsleigh resume. 

The26-year-old Calgarian teamed up with Edmonton’s Jenny Ciochetti to win the four-run women’s bobsleigh World Championships in Lake Placid, N.Y. after posting a combined time of 3:48.57 while blasting down the 1,455-metre, 20-corner track in her Canada 1 Eurotech sled.

“It feels amazing. It is another goal accomplished,” beamed Humphries following the flower ceremony. “This means a lot to me. I feel like I’m still growing as a pilot and I try to learn from every experience. I have been working on my consistency and I’m glad it showed here.”

Germany’s Sandra Kiriasis and Petra Lammert clocked a second-place time of 3:48.90 in the Germany 3 sled. Elana Meyers and Katie Eberling grabbed the bronze in the United States 1 sled after posting a time of 3:49.57. 

It was the second straight victory for Humphries and Ciochettti, who teamed up last week for the first time ever to win the final World Cup race in Calgary. It was the third consecutive win for Humphries, giving her a golden sweep of the North American races on the elite women’s bobsleigh circuit. Humphries also finished on top in La Plagne, France earlier this year.

Humphries’ golden run in North America began at the Whistler stop three weeks ago – the same week the 27-year-old Ciochetti was piloting the Canada 3 sled for the second time ever on the World Cup. 

A brakeman in Helen Upperton’s sled over four seasons leading into the 2010 Olympic year, Ciochetti switched to the drivers seat two years ago. Putting her dreams of driving to the Olympics temporarily on hold, Ciochetti committed to pushing Humphries for the final two races of the year in an effort to give Canada its best shot at a World Championship title.

“It’s definitely tough to move from the driver’s seat to the brakes, but it was for sure worth it,” said Ciochetti. “Emily (Baadsvik) was so gracious in accepting me doing this with Kaillie. It has been a great two weeks. We are now Worldn Champions and it is always sweet to win.”

“Jenny was absolutely amazing,” added Humphries. “She is a brilliant athlete and an amazing person to put her dreams of driving aside and go in the back. We are World Champions together now, and I know she is going to be a great teammate and a tough one to beat in the future.”

Calgary’s Helen Upperton and Shelley-Ann Brown, of Pickering, Ont., finished just shy of the podium in fifth spot after clocking a four-run time of 3:49.95. 

“It is really hard starting in last spot especially at this track, but we had goodstarts and four good runs,” said Upperton, who had a low start ranking due to racing a condensed season this year.

TheOlympic silver-medal winning duo returned to the World Cup circuit three weeks ago with a bronze-medal victory at the Whistler Sliding Centre bringing hercareer total to 19 podium finishes. With a plan to take the season off, Upperton and Brown agreed to race a condensed season with the goal of chasing a podium at the World Championships – the only medal absent from the Olympic silver-medal winning pilot Upperton’s mantle. 

“We were working to be good at this race and we were,” said Upperton.

“Last year I wondered how much better I can get, but because I stayed home I got to workwith Pierre (Lueders) and it is amazing how much better he has made me. Getting that opportunity and also now with the new Eurotech sled program in place, you can see the benefits for our entire team. I am very happy for Jenny and Kaillie, and hopefully our guys can also win tomorrow.”

The Canadian Women’s Team Pursuit won the silver medal at the 2012 UCI Track World Cup, also dubbed the Olympic Track Cycling Test event, in London tonight, breaking once more the Canadian record which they had set yesterday in the qualification rounds.

The day after posting a remarkable fastest time in the qualifications round, Canada’s Women’s Team Pursuit team of Tara Whitten of Edmonton, AB, Jasmine Glaesser of Coquitlam, BC and Gillian Carleton of Victoria, BC posted a time of 3:18.982 [Previous record: 3:19.785, set February 16, 2011 in London, GBR], a time underneath the previous World Record before tonight’s race.

Unfortunately for the Canadian crew, the defending World Champions from Great Britain won the gold medal with a time of 3:18.148, and in doing so set the new World Record on this very fast track in London.

Gillian Carleton, a 22-year old rookie on the National program hailing from Victoria, BC, was thrilled about the mark. What’s more remarkable about Gillian’s performance is that she rode the team pursuit for only the third time at the international level, and second race with Glaesser and Whitten. 

“Anytime you ride under the World Record, you can be pretty happy. Setting a new Canadian record on top of what we did yesterday was absolutely fantastic. The British girls ran a great race, setting the new World Record, so I think we were in great company,” commented Gillian.

Zach Bell of North Vancouver, BC, successfully completed an impressive comeback on the second day of the men’s Omnium event, taking the bronze medal on Saturday at the fourth and final UCI Track World Cup, ending his season in the fourth place overall of the 2012 UCI World Cup circuit. 

 

"It definitely started off well. I have been progressively improving the flying lap race, and that’s good because I haven’t done a lot of work on it. To bounce back today was really positive, especially in this venue, and with the calibre of the riders attending the World Cup."

Bell, who grew up in the small Northern community of Watson Lake, in the Yukon. 

“We are definitely taking away some positives here, and some good lessons heading into the Olympics. The things that we are taking with are the steps we are taking with the team, with the coaches are moving us in the right direction.”

In other events, Tara Whitten of Edmonton, Alta, finished in fourth place of the women’s Omnium, while Monique Sullivan posted an excellent 11th rank in the keirin.

“The fourth place is always disappointing. It’s the second time this season. At the same time, it’s really motivating. Sometimes, when things are too perfect, you almost forget to keep the drive and lose some of that motivation. Having made a few mistakes here, now I will work on not making those mistakes again. In Cali, I raced a little more conservatively. I made the choice here to race more aggressively and perhaps I was a little bit too aggressive,” said Whitten after the race.

Whitten competed in only two of the four omnium races this season as part of her Olympic preparation plan. 

Whitten is looking forward to come back to London and race at the Olympic Games. “We’ve had a chance to familiarize ourselves with the venue, with the athletes village, with the environment. When we come back, it’ll be familiar to us. I’ve experience two races head to head against a British athlete, so I had a taste of what it might be like at the Olympics. The spectators here are incredible. I have never been to a track where it’s this loud, and I’m sure the Olympics will be even louder.”

A day after finishing in 14th place of the women’s sprint races, Monique Sullivan of Calgary, Alberta excelled in the women’s keirin race, which also featured some of the best sprinters in the world. Sullivan finished the day in 11th position, one of her top results of the Keirin. 

Sullivan, a former Commonwealth Games bronze medallist in team sprints and 14-time Canadian Champion on the track, finished second of the opening heat and was relegated to the repechage.

“Today was actually interesting. They had to run a quarterfinal because there was more girls entered. I had to race five races instead of the usual four. That’s really good for me, because what I most need is the experience.” said Sullivan.

“Heading into the World Championships and the Continental championships, it’s going to be an opportunity for me to put to use what we have been training on. I raced as good as I could have done it, and this is a good results considering there was more riders competing.”

Lyndon Rush and Jesse Lumsden put a silver lining for Canada around the opening weekend at the Bobsleigh and Skeleton World Championships on Sunday in Lake Placid, New York. 

Riding a high after posting the fastest opening two-run times on Saturday, the Canadian duo were dealt a serious blow as Rush came down with a stomach virus that completely buckled him, and put a podium finish into question.

“Coming down the track was awful. I was gagging the whole way down. Thankfully the run is only a minute long,” said Rush, who credits his brakeman’s athleticism for pushing the duo to the podium. “Jesse pushed the sled by himself today. I was basically a windsock. He was on his own.”

“I thought I would be happy, but I’m not even sure if I am right now,” said Rush. “I just want to get back to my hotel and sleep.” 

“We came out guns blazing on Saturday and had to battle through some adversity last night,” added Lumsden. “Considering the condition Lyndon was in it was a courageous effort even for him to perform. We gave it everything we had andTeam Rush are World Championship medallists.”

Steven Holcomb and Steve Langton thrilled the hometown crowd capturing their firsttwo-man World Championship title in the USA 1 sled. The Americans clocked awinning time of 3:42.88. Maximilian Arndt and Kevin Kuske teamed up to win the bronze in the Germany 1 sled at 3:43.43.

The second-place finish locked up the first-ever World Championship medal for both Rush and Lumsden. 

Rush, who became the first Canadian in 40 years to win an Olympic bronze medal in thefour-man bobsleigh in 2010, teamed up with Lumsden this fall as the CFL star running back decided to put his dreams of driving on hold to push Rush– a team-focused decision to give Canada its best shot at the international podium in men’s bobsleigh.

“The goal was to work together to win a medal here for Canada,” said Rush. “Jesse is an amazing athlete, and such an amazing character guy who always puts the teamfirst. I’m very lucky to have him on the team.”

“This is a team sport and I knew it was best for me to join Lyndon for the best interest of the team,” said Lumsden. “I’m happy to be a part of Team Rush. I’m in such a good place right now and I can’t wait to get in the four-man (this week) with the other guys. If you ever needed an example of a team peaking at the right time, we are it.”

Rookie pilot Justin Kripps, of Summerland, B.C., piloted the Canada 2 sled in his first World Championships as a driver. Coming off two career-best top-10 finishes at the Calgary World Cup, Kripps teamed up with Calgary’s Derek Plug to finish 17th with a time of 3:46.42. Kripps, who was a brakeman for Pierre Lueders at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, made his World Cup debut as a pilot three weeks ago in Whistler.

CANMORE, Alta.—Nathan Smith became the first Canadian biathlete to ever win three straight IBU Cup races after skiing to the top step of the podium once again on Thursday at the Canmore Nordic Centre.

The 26-year-old Calgarian, who won the first two sprint competitions at the Canmore stop on the IBU Cup circuit last, took advantage of home snow advantage one more time to clock a winning time of 26:13.1 in the men’s 10-kilometre sprint event. “It feels really good. Today was tougher skiing, but I managed to get it done,” said Smith following a tight race to the finish. “I knew it was close and I finished as strong as I could.”

Smith was equally strong in his two trips to the range, missing just one shot in prone position on abeautiful day with ideal conditions at the spectacular Canmore Nordic Centre. “Anytime you shoot nine of 10 it is a great day,” said Smith. “I think knowing this course also helped me today. You really have to pace yourself on this course with the long climb. This gives me a lot of confidence heading into World Championships.”

Smith held off Austria’s Friedrich Pinter’s final charge to the finish. Pinter shot clean to finish in second spot at 26:17.1. Russia’s Sergey Klyachin was also perfect on the range, clocking a bronze-medal time of 26:20.2.

Other Canadian men’s results included: Marc-Andre Bedard, of Valcartier, Que., in fifth (1+0) (26:37.4); Ottawa’s Robin Clegg finished 16th with a time of 27:25.3 (1+1); Calgary’s Scott Gow was 17th at 27:25.6 (0+3); Regina’s Scott Perras finished 24th at 27:53.2 (3+1); Matthew Neumann, of Prince George, B.C., was 29th at 28:26.2 (0+2); Tyson Smith, ofCalgary, was 35th at (1+2) (28:02.2); Patrick Cote, of Grand Sault, N.B., finished 36th at 28:59.7 (0+2); and Calgary’s Beau Thompson was 45th with a time of 29:35.1 (2+1).

Meanwhile, Rosanna Crawford, of Canmore, Alta.,rebounded after a tough week in her hometown to finish as the top Canuck in the women’s 7.5-kilometre sprint competition. The 23-year-old Olympian clocked a sixth-place time of 22:12.2. “My goal was a top-six so I got it. It was much better today,” said Crawford, who shot clean in both stops at the range. “The conditions were fast today, and I am really tired so I’m happy with the result.”

Two other Canadian women joined Crawford in the top-10. Melanie Schultz, of Camrose, Alta., also shot clean to finish seventh at 22:20.0. Megan Heinicke, of Prince George, B.C.,missed two shots in standing position to clock a ninth-place time of 22:30.8.

Megan Heinicke had one of the best performances of her career while capturing the bronze medal on Wednesday. The 23-year-old Heinicke missed just one shot in her four rounds of shooting to clock a time of 45:00.5 (0+0+0+1) in ideal conditions for the women’s 15-kilometre individual competition. “It is painful when you have a good shooting race and you still miss one,” said Heinicke. “I was totally focused and felt really good on the range and that is the most important thing for an individual competition.”

“You always want to aim for perfect so there is always something still to improve,” said Heinicke. “I was super happy with today’s race, but I’m definitely hungry for more.”

The Canadian was joined on the podium by Russia’s Marina Korovina who clocked the top time at 44:42.6 despite missing two shots (1+0+1+0). Lanny Barnes, of the United States, was second at 44:50.8 (0+0+1+0).

Another Canadian also had the race of her life in Canmore. Melanie Schultz, of Camrose, Alta., skied just shy of the podium despite putting down the best result of her career. The 26-year-old shot clean en route to a fourth-place time of 45:15.6. “I was just really focused on the shooting, came into the range nice and relaxed and slowed down my shooting today,” said Schutlz. “I know that in an individual if I shot 20 for 20 I can be on or near the podium so that was my goal today. It was a good race.”

Words hardly do John Morris’s golden moment justice. One of Canada’s premier curlers, on perhaps Canada’s most legendary curling team, Johnny Mo — as he’s known to friends and fans alike — stood on the podium at the 2010 Winter Olympics in a state of ecstatic satisfaction that few people will ever know. “It’s hard to describe,” says the 33-year-old third on the Kevin Martin team that won Olympic gold on home soil. “You’re on the podium and you’ve only seen this sort of stuff on TV — athletes with Olympic gold around their neck — but you’re not really prepared because you’ve spent all your time thinking about the process and not the result.”

Winning gold marked the pinnacle for Morris, who had spent long hours on the ice, traveling tens of thousands of kilometres over the course of more than two decades. “I remember being 15 years old‚ and that was right when the Olympics was starting out for the sport — and dreaming about it then,” he says. “It has always been in the back of my mind: ‘I want to win an Olympic gold medal one day.’”

Being atop the podium with his teammates was a reality that most certainly had a dreamlike quality. While Martin’s team of Morris, lead Ben Hebert and second Marc Kennedy had been together since 2006, and winning Olympic gold was their only objective, nothing could have prepared them for the emotional impact of actually achieving that goal. “I don’t think I’ll be able to top that feeling again in life,” he says. “That would be tough to top.”

Still, some feelings do come close, he admits. A resident of Chestermere, Morris says he and Hebert, also a resident, have enjoyed celebrity status in the lakeside community about 10 minute’s drive east of Calgary. It’s a kind of support that can only be found in an Alberta town where connections with the community run deep, he says.

Despite moving there only a few years ago, Chestermere is more than just a bedroom community — away from the crowd and traffic — for Morris to call home. And for the community, Morris is more than just an Olympic athlete. When he’s not crisscrossing the country, playing at major curling events, Morris is a full-time firefighter for Rocky View County.

Besides the obvious firefighter duties, Morris often visits schools in the community, educating children on fire prevention and safety — one of the most enjoyable parts of the job, he says. And it’s those visits that have led to some of his most memorable and rewarding experiences as a resident of the town.
One event stands out. Before the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, he visited Rainbow Creek Elementary School and gave the school a Team Canada jersey.
It turned out he had found himself a rock-solid fan-base. “They knew our team’s whole schedule and ended up watching every game,” he says.
In fact, every school in the town was tuning in to watch the team play.

Winning gold may have been the height of Morris’s life experiences, but returning to a community of adoring fans certainly ranks up there, too, he says
“I’ve never heard the applause so loud coming back into that school after the Olympics. I still get goosebumps going into Rainbow Creek School.”

That Morris ended up living in the town of about 14,000 people and developed a fondness for all things Chestermere may seem like an odd fit. The town has a curling facility at its recreational centre, but it’s hardly a curling mecca like many other Western Canadian towns. Furthermore, Morris was born in Winnipeg, raised in Ottawa and only moved to Calgary when he realized that to develop as a curler, he needed to go where the action was. “The depth of curling out here — curling in general — is stronger out west,” he says. “The two national training centres are in Edmonton and Calgary, so if you really want to further your career, you have to make the jump out west.”

On paper, Morris and Hebert train with Martin in Edmonton at the Saville Sports Centre. “When we have training camps, we go to Edmonton, but Ben and I will throw rocks here in Chestermere as well,” he says. “We work out at the gym here.”

Originally, Morris moved to Calgary after finishing his kinesiology degree at Wilfred Laurier University about a decade ago. Despite living most of his life in large urban areas, Morris says he’s always preferred the laid-back lifestyle and close-knit feel of smaller communities. “It was hard to feel part of the community in Calgary because it’s such a big city,” he says. “It was important for me to feel like I was part of a community when I moved west, and I found Chestermere provided that.”

The town also offered Morris close proximity the outdoors — a must, he says. Curling may be his passion, but Morris’s second love is fishing. In the summer, he can often be found in his boat, a fishing line in the water on Chestermere Lake — which lies at the heart of the community. “It’s my release,” he says. “When I’m on the lake fishing, I don’t really think about anything else.”

The lake, sunny skies and a clear view of the Rockies may be the ideal setting to pass the long summer days, but Morris’ sanctuary year-round is his custom-built home in Chestermere’s neighbourhood of Westmere Estates. It’s actually Morris’s second home in the town, and the third he’s owned in Alberta. “I got really lucky in 2004. I bought a house in Calgary and did well in real estate,” he says.

Morris’s first two homes were what he calls “cookie-cutter houses” — not much different from what you’d find in any newer suburb across Canada. But his third is a “Johnny Mo” original. “One of my passions is building, so I was really meticulous in how my home was constructed.” The two-storey, 2,600-square-foot home with a walkout basement is a sports enthusiast’s fantasy land. “I love sports so I have a putting green in the backyard,” he says.
Then there’s the trophy room filled with mementos he’s gathered throughout career, including Brier championships and medals from skipping a junior team to back-to-back world championships.

The centrepiece, however, is his Olympic experience. Surprisingly, however, the focus isn’t all on curling. There’s a large homage to hockey, too. Morris says he and his teammates were fortunate enough to spend time with Sidney Crosby. “We got to know him pretty well, and he is very nice guy,” Morris says. “He even gave us a signed game-used stick and jersey, and I made a whole locker about that in my home.”

His home also includes a number of other unique features, including a steam room, landscaping that incorporates the natural habitat of the surrounding area and a garage that he calls his “man-cave.”

While his trophy room may contain a priceless collection of curling and Olympic memorabilia, it’s not the home’s most distinguishing feature. That, instead, is a design element that can only be called “firefighter chic,” which sets his home apart from even the most triumphant of Olympic athletes. “I have a fire pole that goes down from the second storey to the walkout basement outside,” Morris says.

Morris’s roots in Chestermere, however, run deeper than his custom-built, dream-home. Even if he were to move away, he’d still have left his mark. He recently had a street named after him: John Morris Way. Of course, Morris says he’s not going anywhere soon. If anything, he wants to deepen his connection. The hope is one day he and his team will call Chestermere their home base.

While the Martin team trains in Edmonton — where Martin lives — Morris says that will likely change after 2014. “I would say in about two years, Kevin will retire after the Olympics, so our plan is to base our team here,” he says. In the meantime, the focus is on a golden repeat at the Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. Along the way, Morris will continue to soak in the experience of playing with Martin — a legend in the sport. “Just hearing all the stories from him and playing with him have allowed me to evolve my own curling skills and career as well,” Morris says.

Of course, the road to the Games is long and nothing is guaranteed. Just qualifying is difficult, especially considering their fiercest competition is homegrown. But Morris says his team is used to defying the odds and proving the naysayers wrong. “There were some doubters out there when we first hooked up because we had both been skips and a lot of times two skips together can be like oil and water,” he says. “But it worked out really well and we’ve had a great tenure together so far.”

Chestermere has been an equally good match for Morris. He says he never felt as much a part of a community. “It’s just a great all-around town,” he says.
And Morris certainly isn’t shy about talking up Chestermere’s many benefits. He’s even convinced a few people to call it home. “Whenever I talk to my friends who come from other places to Calgary — like a lot of people do — and they come out to Chestermere, they look into moving here,” he says.
“I’ve had about four or five friends move here and they really enjoy it.”