Bell, Whitten strike silver at cycling Worlds Championships.

The Canadian Press, with files from Associated Press - March 30, 2009 - PRUSZKOW, POLAND— Zach Bell capped an impressive weekend for Canada by winning a silver medal in the men’s omnium at the track cycling world championships yesterday. Bell, from Watson Lake, Yukon, finished with 21 points. Leigh Howard of Australia won gold with 16 points and Tim Veldt of the Netherlands took bronze with 24 points.
“Today, it all went right,” Bell said. “This is an event that, hopefully, I can win in the future. But for today, this is a world medal, it’s a big deal.”

The omnium includes five events - two time trials, a scratch race, individual pursuit and a points race. Bell’s second-place finish came a day after Edmonton’s Tara Whitten won silver in the women’s omnium. It’s Canada’s best showing at the track cycling world championships since a four-medal performance in 2004.

Bell had a career-best ninth-place finish in the points race last Wednesday. “It was probably a little more difficult for me to do well [in the omnium] than the points race,” Bell said. “There, I get a little latitude to try stuff because I’m not known, but here I wasn’t an underdog. So I had to make better decisions and change my strategy from event to event as we went along, but it paid off.”

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Serwa & Duncan Canadian Champions in Ski Cross.

CALGARY, AB (March 23rd, 2009) – In a season of titles and achievements Kelsey Serwa (Kelowna, BC) can add Canadian Champion to the list after her win at this year’s Canadian Championships at Canada Olympic Park, Calgary. Dave Duncan (Golden, BC) made a fantastic move from 3rd to 1st in the final stretch to claim his first Canadian Championship title.

After a heavy spring snow fall forced the cancellation of training on Sunday, the Canadian Championships went off without a hitch under blue bird skies on Monday, thanks to the hard work of the grooming crew at Canada Olympic park that worked through the night to resurrect the course.

Capitalizing on the perfect conditions and fresh off a 2nd place finish at the World Cup Finals, Kelsey Serwa (Kelowna, BC) followed up her phenomenal year on the FIS World Cup tour, where she placed 3rd overall for the season and was named “Rookie of the Year”, with a great showing at the Canadian Championships. Serwa had some tough competition as she faced off against teammates Ashleigh McIvor, the reigning World Champion, and Julia Murray, 3rd place skier at Mieringen, SUI World Cup and Andra Nedelcu of Romania.

On the Men’s side, the final heat consisted of four Canadian team members. For Dave Duncan, a team member for 2 years, the title of “Canadian Champion” is his second after he was crowned the “Spanish National Champion” in the 2008 season with his win in Sierra Nevada, SPA.

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Amber Peterson and Ryan Blais win national aerials titles.

March 28, 2009, WEST VANCOUVER, B.C. – It was familiar territory for Peterson, who collected her fourth straight senior nationals title while winning handily. It was altogether different for World Cup team-mate Blais, who hadn’t competed at the season-ending nationals for several years, including 2008 when he missed the season with a shoulder injury. “I hadn’t been feeling good and I wasn’t jumping well,” said Blais, 30, who wants to be competing on this 2010 Olympic site after narrowly missing the 2006 Olympic squad.

Blais turned his game around en route to producing his first-ever podium performance at the nationals despite having seven World Cup medals to his credit. “I was slightly injured and mentally tired, so to pull off my highest score of the season was definitely satisfying.”

Rémi Bélanger of Mascouche, Que. was second. Jean-Christophe André of Montreal took third, just ahead of World Cup squad member Kyle Nissen of Calgary.

In women’s aerials, Peterson’s fourth-straight national title gives her four overall, or the same as World Championship medallists Veronika Bauer and Anna Fraser. She’s now just one title shy of the five held by retired Olympic silver medallist Veronica Brenner.
“The pressure was on because I definitely wanted to get this title for the fourth straight year,” said Peterson, 26. “I definitely want to beat that fifth title in the next couple of years.”

Geneviève Tougas of Saint-Hubert, Que., was second in and Sabrina Guérin of Laval, Que. third.

It was a super Sunday for Jenn Heil of Spruce Grove, Alta., and Vincent Marquis of Quebec City. Heil followed Friday’s win in single moguls by winning Sunday’s dual moguls for her 10th senior national titles in a victory-studded career.

The 2006 Olympic champion, who now has six single moguls and four dual-moguls national titles to her credit, tried to focus on speed for all four of her duals.
“Overall, I’m really happy with my day,” said Heil, 25. “I wanted to use every run to go my maximum, and I did.”

Her win in the final dual against Chloé Dufour-Lapointe put sisters Chloé and Maxime Dufour-Lapointe in the silver and bronze positions, respectively. Kristi Richards of Summerland, B.C., was fourth.

Bilodeau, as the world’s top-ranked male moguls skier and the 2009 dual moguls world champion, was the favourite entering the gold-medal dual. “He beat me twice this year (in duals), so this was a little bit of revenge for me,” said Marquis, 24, who was third in single moguls and fourth in dual moguls at the World Championships.

With victory in the fiercely-fought, crowd-wowing final, Marquis emerged with his first-ever senior national title, leaving Bilodeau with the silver medal. Gingras, who was fifth in single moguls and 11th in dual moguls at the 2009 World Championships, defeated Eddie Hicks of Langley, B.C., in the bronze-medal dual.

Bilodeau, ranked No. 1 in the world, took the men’s title in single moguls on Friday.

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Megan Imrie and Scott Perras Win Gold At Biathlon Championships.

VALCARTIER, Que.—Canada’s Megan Imrie and Scott Perras captured their first gold medals of the week at the North American and Canadian Mazda Biathlon Championships in Valcartier, Que. on Saturday. Megan Imrie, of Falcon Lake, Man., who won a silver medal in the women’s individual start competition earlier in the week, handily won the women’s 7.5-kilometre sprint competition after posting a time of 31 minutes 07.0 seconds. The 23-year old missed just one shot in her two trips to the range.

The sprint event consists of athletes racing three times around the 2.5-kilometre track. Athletes enter the shooting range for a set of shots in the prone position, then one set standing before the final sprint to the finish. Athletes must ski a 150-metre penalty loop immediately after shooting if they miss a target.

Imrie was the lone Canadian in the top-11 as the Americans grabbed the next 10 spots in the standings.

Meanwhile, Regina’s Scott Perras fired his way onto the podium for the first time at the national dance in the men’s 10-kilometre sprint competition. Perras missed three shots in his two trips to the range. Marc-André Bédard, of Valcartier, Que., thrilled the hometown crowd with a silver-medal victory on Saturday. Edmonton’s Jaime Robb, who won a bronze medal at an IBU Cup event earlier this month, finished third.

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Jones ends up fourth at world championship.

The Jennifer Jones squad is coming home from South Korea tonight without two things: medals and regrets.
Yes, there are several shots the Winnipeg skip and her team would love to have back, but Jones was doing her best to look at the bright side after recording her second fourth-place finish in three trips to the world women’s curling championship.

Canada’s Jones lost 7-6 to Denmark’s Angelina Jensen in yesterday’s bronze-medal match. “We played unbelievable all week,” a frustrated Jones said from Gangneung, South Korea, shortly after the loss to the Danes. “There were just a handful of ends that cost us in the end. Hopefully we get it figured out. It was uncharacteristic of our team. “Obviously we’re disappointed. I don’t know between third and fourth if there’s much of a difference, but we wanted to get a medal.”

The Jones foursome, which also consists of third Cathy Overton-Clapham, second Jill Officer and lead Dawn Askin, is scheduled to land in Winnipeg tonight.

In yesterday’s gold-medal match, China’s Bingyu Wang squad became the first Asian team to win a world women’s title, defeating Sweden’s Anette Norberg 8-6.

After getting over the sting of failing to defend their crown, Jones and Co. will shift their attention to this fall’s Olympic Trials. The 34-year-old lawyer said their fourth-place showing in South Korea won’t make them any more determined to reach the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. “I don’t think it takes anything to get us more fired up,” Jones said. “We’re going to play our hearts out next year.”

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Canada’s Olympic athletes doing interviews in English and French.

By ALISON KORN - SunMedia - Moguls champ Jennifer Heil is doing it, as are speedskater Clara Hughes and skier Chandra Crawford. It requires bravery and a big smile—they’re giving interviews in both English and French. Going out on a limb to speak publicly in one’s second language has become part of the best athletes’ skill set. While the rest of Canada bickers over French immersion or English language rights, these athletes just plough ahead, learn, and put themselves out there. As they see it, it’s part of being Canadian.

Pierre Trudeau, the father of bilingualism, would be pleased. Not about this country’s failure to fully embrace the concept, but that some of the highest profile Olympic ambassadors so wholeheartedly have.
“Anecdotally, I’d say absolutely there’s a high degree of bilingualism (among athletes) because they’re travellers,” said Sylvie Bigras, the Canadian Olympic Committee’s press chief. “People who cross borders multiple times get this real sense of what communicating in another language is all about. I’ve rarely had francophone athletes not be able to do an English interview.”

What’s changing now is that more anglophone athletes—about 50% of them, Bigras estimates—are saying oui to doing interviews in French.

Last month Bigras organized a media conference call to mark the one-year countdown before the start of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. A cross-section of athletes participated, but bilingualism wasn’t a criterion. So she was amazed when three of the four anglo athletes on the call—alpine skiing’s Britt Janyk, hockey’s Gina Kingsbury and Nordic skiing’s Devon Kershaw—all spoke perfect French. “I was kind of falling off my chair,” Bigras said. “They all actually elected to say an opening statement in English and French.”

Call it the French immersion generation. Athletes now in their 20s, including many from Western Canada, are making national teams after completing their education in French. Still others are becoming bilingual later in life, like Jenn Heil, the 2006 Olympic gold medallist in moguls.

Heil took her first French class at McGill University in 2004. Now age 25, she’s fluent enough to be interviewed. Last week, she appeared on the popular Radio-Canada TV talk show, Tout le monde en parle, a distinctive format in which groups of celebrities discuss current events while sampling wines. “I only started to learn French after making the Canadian national team and moving to Montreal (in 2001),” said Heil, who’s from Spruce Grove, Alta. “I wanted to speak with my teammates and understand them when they’re speaking French.”

If elite sport is all about seeking perfection, learning another language is too. But is there something about being an athlete helps them take the risk of making mistakes in their non-native tongue? Well, yes. Athletes face their fears for a living. Every day they’re told how to improve. They’re more likely to accept that becoming bilingual is part of being Canadian, in Dominick Gauthier’s opinion.

Gauthier is Heil’s coach, and her boyfriend. He also coaches World Cup and world champion Alexandre Bilodeau, meaning Gauthier and his squad work every day in both languages. He feels strongly that all athletes should become bilingual. “We’re dealing with Europeans who speak four or five languages, and here we are having a hard time learning a second one,” Gauthier said. “This should be more of a priority across Canada. This is the greatest gift we can give to our youth.”

Of course, it’s not like the city of Vancouver is a model of bilingualism. But its efforts for the Games will be noticed. This week VANOC announced its advisory committee on official languages and affirmed its commitment to ensuring the atmosphere and services for athletes, spectators and visitors are “warm, welcoming and bilingual.”

Both languages will be used on venue signs, in medal ceremonies and by volunteers taking tickets, driving vehicles, providing directions and selling merchandise.
But beyond that, the influx of French-speaking media—and the increasing number of Canadian athletes eager to accommodate them—may be one of the unexpected nation-building gifts of these Games.

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AthletesCAN and Investors Group announce 2009 bursary recipients.

OTTAWA (March 25, 2009) – AthletesCAN and Investors Group are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2009 Team Investors Group Amateur Athletes Fund bursary. In keeping with their commitment to amateur sport in Canada, Investors Group established a bursary fund for Canada’s top amateur athletes. A national leader in delivering personalized financial solutions to Canadians, Investors Group annually awards twenty $5,000 bursaries to assist Canada’s elite amateur athletes with the costs of training and competition.

Selection criteria includes: athletic achievement, financial need and community involvement. Since its inception in 2000, the Team Investors Group Amateur Athletes Fund has provided a milestone $1,000,000 to Canadian athletes. AthletesCAN administers the bursary on behalf of Investors Group.

2009 Team Investors Group Amateur Athletes Fund bursary recipients are:

Billy Bridges Sledge Hockey
Travis Cross Wrestling
Matthew Hallat Para-Alpine Skiing
John Hastings Canoe/Kayak
Melissa Hollingsworth Skeleton
Kaillie Humphries Bobsleigh
Benoit Huot Swimming
Sandra Keith Biathlon
Annie Martin Beach Volleyball
Alana Miller Squash
Jon Montgomery Skeleton
John Morris Curling
Denny Morrison Speed Skating
Cindy Ouellet Wheelchair Basketball
Richard Peter Wheelchair Basketball
Anna Rice Badminton
Mary Spencer Boxing
Michelle Stilwell Athletics
Paul Tingley Paralympic Sailing
Nassim Varasteh Karate

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Canadian Olympic Committee Votes in New President-Elect and Board Members.

VANCOUVER, March 28, 2009 - Marcel Aubut has been named president-elect of the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC), following the organization’s quadrennial elections held today in Vancouver as part of the Hall of Fame Induction Weekend. The COC also elected new board of directors members, each of whom will serve a four-year term through 2012. This represents the first time in its history that the COC has a president-elect in place as Marcel Aubut will serve alongside long-time COC President Michael Chambers.

Following a 2005 decision by the COC’s membership, Chambers will remain in office until the time of the COC’s Session Meeting in 2010 following the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

“I feel honoured to have been chosen to lead the COC by those who are among the most important people in sport in Canada. It is clear that the support came from every region of the country. They choose me as their leader and I will not disappoint them,” said Marcel Aubut. “The COC, National Sport Federations and athletes can count on me to work with all stakeholders in the Canadian sports system to take this organization to the next level and secure the means to realize our dreams. We will succeed if we all work together. Though language was not an issue in this election, I am proud to be the first francophone to lead this prestigious organization. I am also especially proud to have been elected in Vancouver, the host city of the upcoming 2010 Olympic Winter Games.”

“We had two exceptional candidates running for the position of president-elect, and I am pleased that we will retain the services of both, with Marcel Aubut as our president-elect, and Tricia Smith serving as vice-president,” said Chambers. “The COC Members have also elected an exceptionally qualified set of officers and Board members. We now proceed forward on very solid footing.”

The COC’s two new vice-presidents are Tricia Smith and Gordon Peterson, who will serve their first terms in this capacity.

Wayne Russell, former CEO of Own the Podium, was acclaimed to a second term as treasurer. Eight non-officer members were also elected to the COC Board of Directors. They are: Therese Brisson, Charmaine Crooks, Martha Deacon, Jean Dupré, Gene Edworthy William Hallet and Larry Smith.

Effective today, the COC is adopting a new governance structure, led by a 20-member board of directors – a committee of the 79-member Session. The COC’s board of directors is comprised of 12 elected members, three IOC members, one coach’s representative, two Athletes’ Council representatives, the Chair of the Canadian Olympic Foundation and the COC’s chief executive officer (who is a non-voting member).

The Session consists of a representative of each National Sport Federation representing Olympic, Olympic Winter and Pan American Games sports; the IOC Members in Canada; six members of the Athletes’ Council; a coach’s representative; International Federation Presidents residing in Canada; 12 directors-at-large; and the COC’s chief executive officer.

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Canadian Olympians and Paralympians at Junos.

TORONTO (March 24, 2009) – From the Olympic podium to the JUNO red carpet and stage, seven Canadian Olympians and two Paralympians were in Vancouver this weekend to attend the hottest Canadian music event of the year – THE 2009 JUNO AWARDS.

Jeremy Wotherspoon, 1998 Olympic silver medallist in long track speed skating, and Mellisa Hollingsworth, 2006 Olympic bronze medallist in skeleton, appeared live on stage during the JUNO telecast.

With Vancouver 2010 less than one year away, Canadian Olympians are enjoying their rock-star status. Wotherspoon and Hollingsworth walked the ETALK Red Carpet with fellow Olympians and Vancouver 2010 contenders Emily Brydon (alpine skiing), Steve Omischl (freestyle skiing – aerials), Ashleigh McIvor (freestyle skiing – ski cross), Charles Hamelin (short track speed skating) and Denny Morrison (long track speed skating). The sporty seven will be joined by Paralympians Lauren Woolstencroft and Karolina Wisniewska (alpine skiing).

“We want to turn our Canadian Olympic athletes into celebrities. We want Canadians to know – and fall in love with – our Olympic hopefuls well before Vancouver 2010. This means taking the Olympians out of sport and putting them in the spotlight in other walks of life,” said Keith Pelley, President, Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium. “CTV has a unique and proven ability to elevate properties to new heights and extend them beyond a traditional television show, as evidenced by the JUNOS.”

Canadian music is playing a vital role in Canadian Olympic athletes’ preparations for Vancouver 2010. Hollingsworth stays focused and relaxed before a race by listening to eight-time JUNO Award-winner and 2009 JUNO performer Sarah McLachlan.

Omischl’s iPod features JUNO Award-winners Sam Roberts and Simple Plan, whom Omischl listens to while training.

McIvor gets fired up before a race listening to five-time JUNO Award-winner Nelly Furtado. Morrison dials down after a big race with two-time JUNO Award-winner Hawksley Workman, while Brydon gets energized during her workouts by tuning in to 14-time JUNO Award-winning rock group, The Tragically Hip.

Hosted by comic superstar Russell Peters, THE 2009 JUNO AWARDS boasted a star-studded lineup of performers, including Great Big Sea, Nickelback, City and Colour, Divine Brown, Simple Plan, The Trews, Sam Roberts, Serena Ryder, and The Stills.

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Long Track Program Director Resigns from Speed Skating Canada.

(Ottawa, March 23, 2009) – Speed Skating Canada (SSC) announced today the departure of Finn Halvorsen as Long Track Speed Skating Program Director, effective immediately. Halvorsen had been employed by SSC since the summer of 2006, following a reorganization of SSC’s High Performance program structure. During his work with Speed Skating Canada, he was leading the long track speed skating program and some of his major accomplishments include the hiring of prominent coaches such as sprint coach Michael Crowe as well as all around coach Ingrid Paul, two great additions to SSC’s coaching team.

Following differences in management and leadership between himself and Speed Skating Canada, Halvorsen decided to resign from his position, as it became impossible for him to carry his objectives. SSC accepted Halvorsen’s decision, judging it was the best thing to do in order to ensure stability in the long track speed skating program in the months leading up to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

“We thank Finn for his dedication to the sport of Speed Skating and our National Team program over the last three seasons”, says Jean R. Dupré, Director General of Speed Skating Canada. “His hard work was appreciated and has not gone unnoticed. We wish him the best for the future in his new projects.”

With less than one year to go before the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, Speed Skating Canada will not be replacing Halvorsen as Long Track Program Director. Brian Rahill, High Performance and Olympic Program Director, will fullfil his duties leading up to and at the Olympics.

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More Olympic tickets on the way.

Canwest News Service - March 26, 2009 - Tens of thousands of Vancouver 2010 Olympic tickets will go on sale this summer to Games-starved Canadian sports fans. Dave Cobb, 2010’s marketing boss, said yesterday that organizers hope to release a “good portion” of the tickets that were set aside for contingencies in the venues.

“We are expecting to have a significant number of tickets for all events,” said Cobb. “The source of those were from contingencies we held as we finalized the venue designs and the interior seating bowls.”

Those contingencies were based on things like broadcasting and media positions and amounted to up to 10 per cent of seats, depending on the venue.
Cobb was unable say how many tickets will go on sale in Phase 2. Cobb said the Olympic family, made up mostly of officials and sponsors, may also return some unneeded tickets.

He said that officials haven’t finalized exactly how the tickets will be put on sale but stressed that they won’t be linked to orders made in Phase 1. During that first lottery session, Canadians spent $95 million on tickets, according to a quarterly financial report released yesterday. But many were left disappointed after ticket buyers put in $345 million in sales orders and two-thirds of events were oversubscribed. “It will be a brand new process,” said Cobb. “It won’t be tied to what happened in the first phase.”

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