Canadian winter athletes make history topping 2009 World Championships’ overall medal count.

CALGARY—Canada’s Olympic and Paralympic winter sport athletes showed the world they are on track towards reaching their goal of owning the podium in 2010. Canadian athletes made history during the 2008-09 season by finishing first overall in World Championship medal counts, Own the Podium and its partners announced on Tuesday.

Canadian athletes combined to win a total of 28 medals, including six gold, nine silver and 13 bronze, at Olympic winter sporting events, topping the perennial world-leading Germans and the United States who finished tied for second with 27 medals each. The Men’s World Ice Hockey Championships is still to be contested in Switzerland between April 24 and May 10, 2009.

Canada’s Paralympic athletes also served notice they are focused on finishing on top of the medal counts in 2010 after racking up 29 World Cup gold medals to secure the number one spot this year. Russia was second with 25 medals, while Germany was third with a total of 14. In World Championship rankings, Canada’s Paralympic athletes finished in second position behind Russia and ahead of Germany.

“This truly is a breakthrough season for Canada’s high-performance athletes, and the first time ever that Canada has finished ahead of the Germans in overall medals won at World Championship events,” said Roger Jackson, chief executive officer, Own the Podium. “These results demonstrate that Canadian Olympic and Paralympic athletes are now capable of delivering podium results at high-pressure events.”

Canada’s world-leading long-track speedskating team led the medal charge for the Canucks by making eight trips to the World Championship podium. The nation’s top freestyle skiers and short track speedskaters won four medals each, while Jasey-Jay Anderson won two of Canada’s three snowboard medals, and the figure skaters celebrated a breakthrough of their own by winning three medals on the ice. Canada’s alpine skiers and ski-cross athletes won two medals each. Men’s curling and women’s hockey rounded out the World Championship medal total with their two silver medal finishes this past weekend.

On the Paralympic side, the 2010 goal was for Canada to be in the top-three nations in total gold medals won at the Paralympic Winter Games, and Canada reached its goal for the second year in a row, thanks to a strong showing in para-alpine skiing and the performances by Brian and Robin McKeever in cross-country skiing. Canada’s para-alpine athletes dominated the world’s best with a total of 16 medals, while the maple leaf was raised above the podium six times at para-nordic world championship events in 2009. Wheelchair curling also contributed to the 23-medal total in Paralympic winter sports by winning its first-ever gold medal at the World Championships. The World Ice Sledge Hockey Championships are yet to be held, but Canada has won all of its international tournaments this year.

“While this benchmark shows us Canadian athletes are now in the game, the Olympic and Paralympic Games are the ultimate measuring stick. “This year we underperformed in some disciplines, and we have loads of work to do if we want to reach our ultimate goal of finishing number one in 2010,” said Jackson, who also noted Canada slipped from second to fourth in overall World Cup medal counts. “If we want to achieve the top, we need to continue to deliver the necessary funding and leadership required for Canadian athletes to have the opportunity to access all of the resources needed to be fully prepared to win.

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Alberta athletes of the year named.

Calgary Herald - Olympic speed skaters Kristina Groves and Jeremy Wotherspoon and the world curling champion team led by Kevin Martin have been named Alberta athletes of the year for the 2008 season. The Alberta Sport, Recreation, Parks and Wildlife Foundation recognizes the achievements of top individual and team accomplishments in amateur athletics along with the efforts of coaches, officials and volunteers.

Groves of Calgary earned two gold medals in world competition last year and finished the season ranked first overall while Wotherspoon of Red Deer won eight gold medals, two silver and two bronze.

The junior female athlete of the year was Edmonton’s Paula Findlay who was the first triathlete to win gold medals in the Junior Elite and Olympic Elite categories at the National Triathlon Championships. And Calgary defenceman Thomas Hickey contributed to Team Canada’s fourth consecutive world junior hockey championship to make him the junior male athlete of the year in the province.

Kevin Martin’s Edmonton-based curling team—which includes third John Morris, second Mark Kennedy and lead Ben Hebert—won the Tim Horton’s Brief and the 2008 World Curling Championship gaining a berth to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

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Olympians Jessica Zelinka and Nathaniel Miller Plan for First Baby.                             

Agenda Sport Marketing - Calgary, Alberta – Following their return from the Beijing Games, Canada’s top-ranked heptathlete, Jessica Zelinka and her fiancée, and member of Canada’s water polo team Nathaniel Miller, announced that they are expecting their first child in June 2009.

Jessica, who finished fifth at the Beijing Games, is looking forward to adding the role of mom to her routine and welcomes the challenge. “I’m looking forward to my new role as a mother. There will be new demands and different challenges and responsibilities, which will make my return to the track that much more meaningful,” said Zelinka. “I feel I have a lot of room, and plenty of motivation to continue to improve in my event and I remain committed to representing Canada at the highest levels of amateur sport.”

Jessica’s coach, Les Gramantik thinks the timing is good – immediately following the Olympic Games in the first year of the quadrennial – and expects that Jessica will return to training better than ever with the added motivation of competing for Canada while raising a family. “A return to full training by early next year will provide enough time to prepare for the 2010 Commonwealth Games and give us a full two and a half years prior to London 2012. She is a special athlete,” said Gramantik.

According to Athletics Canada, Jessica’s funding status will remain stable throughout her pregnancy and into her first year of motherhood. “We congratulate Jessica and Nathaniel on this wonderful news. After watching her perform in Rio at the Pan American Games and in Beijing at the Olympics I know that she and Les agree that there are a few hundred more points possible for London. We know that no one will be better prepared and we’re fully expecting her to qualify for London 2012,” said Alex Gardiner, Athletics Canada’s Head Coach.

Jessica’s personal sponsor, CE Franklin has also renewed plans to support Jessica as she takes on the additional role of mom and heptathlete. “When our company watched Jessica compete in Beijing and she said thank you to us during her CBC interview it really made an impression on us,” said Mike Boyles, CE Franklin’s VP of Brand Development. “The impact of Jessica’s performance in Beijing on our employees and customers exceeded our expectations, and now we want to support her to go do it again…as a mom.”

For Jessica, the support of her personal sponsors have really made it possible to focus on having a stress-free pregnancy and a healthy baby while continuing her plans to better her Canadian-record performance (6490 points) in Beijing at the Summer Games in London 2012. “Nathaniel and I are excited to begin this wonderful journey together, and I’m grateful for his support and encouragement which will enable me to keep my sights high for 2012. Also, having the continued support from Athletics Canada, CE Franklin and Les, will put me in a position where I can resume full-time training with added reassurance and confidence,” added Zelinka.

For more information or to arrange an interview with Jessica Zelinka, please contact Agenda Sport Marketing.

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Ferbey wins Players’ Championship, secures spot in Olympic trials.

CBC - Randy Ferbey defeated Glenn Howard 10-7 for the 2009 Grey Power Players’ Championship on Sunday, earning him the final direct berth into the Canadian Olympic curling trials in December. “It’s a thrill, a load off our minds,” the Edmonton skip told CBC Sports’ Scott Russell after the win. “The team played great today.”

The win meant more for Ferbey, as Howard, of Coldwater, Ont., has already secured a direct berth to the trials. Ferbey’s and Howard’s rinks will join Edmonton natives Kevin Martin and Kevin Koe at the trials. Four more teams, yet to be determined, will join them in December to try to represent Canada at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. The Grande Prairie, Alta., event was the final one of the 2009 Capital One Grand Slam of Curling.

The win didn’t come easy, as Ferbey needed his final shot to win the event. With a Howard stone parked directly on the button and another guarding near the hog line, Ferbey’s fourth, David Nedohin, curled his final shot around the guard and knocked Howard’s rock out of the house for the trophy. The whole match was a see-saw affair, as both Howard and Ferbey traded big ends on the way to the nail-biting finish.

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Kolb named Team Leader for Commonwealth Games.

Globe and Mail Update April 16, 2009 - TORONTO — Dr. Jon Kolb of the University of Calgary will be the team leader for coaching and sport science for the Canadian team going to the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, October 3-14. Kolb consulted with the Canadian Olympic team as an environmental physiologist in hot, pollution-plagued Beijing. He is a key member of the Canadian Olympic Committee’s Own the Podium program to enhance Canadian medal performances through sport science.

Commonwealth chef de mission Martha Deacon of Oakville, Ont., a long-time national and international executive in the sport of badminton and a member of three previous Commonwealth Games teams, will be Canada’s chef de mission. She was also a member of the Canadian mission teams at the 2007 Pan American Games and 2008 Beijing Games in addition to serving in a management role at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Winter Games.

Kolb was one of four members added to Deacon’s New Delhi contingent by Commonwealth Games Canada.
The others include:

B.C. Lions team doctor Dr. Navin Prasad – the mission team leader for health and wellbeing (medical). The Hindi-speaking Prasad has worked in field hockey, soccer, figure skating and athletics.

Kelly Laframboise – leader of team operations. The 20-year veteran with Commonwealth Games Canada manages the CGC office.

Jackie DeSouza – leader for communications and media services. The director of communications and public affairs for Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital, DeSouza was the press chief for the Canadian Olympic Committee for two Olympic Games, two Pan American Games and Olympic bid missions.

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Star leaps to coach’s defence.

Toronto Star - Team captain Hayley Wickenheiser doesn’t think head coach Melody Davidson should be the fall girl for Canada’s 4-1 loss to the U.S. last weekend at the women’s world hockey championships.
Davidson suggested she was on thin ice after the devastating loss in Finland and maybe wasn’t the person to lead the team into the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

But Wickenheiser yesterday gave the beleaguered bench boss a full vote of confidence. “I think moving forward this is the right staff that we have in place and she’s the person to do the job,” said the two-time Olympic gold medalist.

Davidson floated the possibility that she should be replaced after the team delivered a lacklustre showing in the final. “Coaching is coaching and if you don’t perform you don’t go on,” Davidson told reporters. “If we’re not going to perform in the final game, that’s on my shoulders and we have to be able to perform. If we can’t, maybe Hockey Canada has to look at a change.”

But Wickenheiser thinks that would be a mistake. “In my opinion, you can’t put it on a coach, this loss,” she said. “It comes down to the players on the ice and, if anything, I think we let our coaching staff down by the way that we played. “We were prepared. We were given everything we needed to have success in that gold medal game. We had great games right up to the game before. We talked about how it was maybe one of the best groups we had and best atmospheres we had as a team in a while. To me, it’s not a coaching issue at all.”

But Wickenheiser said Davidson needs more support in the role so that she’s not bogged down as much with logistical details. “I’d like to see her put in the position where she’s given the freedom maybe just to coach and not have to focus so much on managerial duties,” she said.

Wickenheiser was in town to help promote the Good as Gold golf tournament (goodasgoldopen.ca) being staged June 19-21 at Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville.
Wickenheiser said after last Sunday’s loss that the team “had too many passengers.” She elaborated on that yesterday. “When the fear or anxiety of a pressure situation like that overtakes you, you’re almost paralyzed – paralysis by analysis,” she said. “It certainly isn’t for a lack of trying or character or effort or anything in that area.”

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Our Olympians keen on ‘Giving Back’.

Toronto Star - Some of the toughest decisions Canadian ski aces Manuel Osborne-Paradis and Michael Janyk faced all season had nothing to do with finding the fastest line down the mountain. It was more about digging through a mountain of applications for the “Cowboys Camp” they’ve organized for young skiers at the end of this month, and trying to determine which skiers are in the greatest need.

More than ever, even with the pressure of a home Games hanging over their heads, it seems Canada’s Olympic athletes are giving back.

Chandra Crawford recently staged her fourth Fast and Female event for young skiers since winning her surprise cross-country gold medal at the 2006 Turin Olympics. Olympic freestyle skiing champion Jenn Heil also held her fourth annual moguls camp for young girls with her former coach Murray Cluff. These aren’t money-making ventures. The Olympians are digging into their own pockets and finding sponsors so aspiring athletes don’t have to spend a dime once they arrive.
Many Olympic athletes have “Giving Back” sections on their websites. Downhill skier Emily Brydon and moguls skier Kristi Richards have both started foundations to support youth in the communities where they grew up.
Richards, who struggled this past season, said she doesn’t find the extra work it’s taken to start and maintain her foundation to be a distraction in any way.

“I love doing that stuff, I love being connected with the community and especially with the kids,” she said. “I think that stuff actually makes it easier for me. It gives me a ground to kind of go back to and just realize how important sharing is and how important support is.”

For these Olympians, it’s about lighting a spark in the next generation. “When you can see that happening and can see some kids and their eyes are really wide and they’re really feeling it, it is just so cool,” said Crawford. “Because I was pretty much star-struck around (former teammates) Sara (Renner) and Beckie (Scott) until my early 20s.“I can kind of see what’s going on in their mind and I think that’s a really, really neat thing to be able to do. I mean like what a gift to be able to do that, to be able to get everyone fired up.”

The 30 girls who attended the Jenn Heil Moguls Camp in Sunshine, Alta., learned about more than moguls technique from one of the world’s best. “I just wanted to be there and to show them that I was their age once and I was as passionate for the sport as they are,” said Heil, who also taught them about visualization. “That they can take with them wherever they go. It’s been huge in my own life. That was super cool.”

Crawford’s one-day event for about 50 girls featured hip-hop, yoga and other elements besides skiing. It also had clinics on nutrition and psychology for parents, as well as a panel of parents with kids on the national team.

Osborne-Paradis and Janyk held their first Cowboys Camp last year – the ski team has the nickname “Canadian Cowboys” on the World Cup circuit. They’re bringing in 10 skiers this year, five boys and five girls, for a four-day training camp on Blackcomb Mountain.
Osborne-Paradis had his love of skiing instilled by his grandfather Jim Osborne, who passed away last August. In lieu of flowers, the family asked for contributions to the Cowboys Camp. “My dad would have loved that, he was very proud of Manuel’s zest for giving back,” said Jane Osborne.

Osborne-Paradis and Janyk both benefited from the generosity of supporters at the Whistler Mountain Ski Club during their climb up the ranks. “There were a lot of people with money who enjoyed watching Mike and I ski, enjoyed us skiing with their kids and they really helped our families through tough times and funding and being able to give us old ski equipment and hand-me-downs and everything,” said Osborne-Paradis.
“It was a tight-knit family ski club that was ready to give back to kids who had potential that didn’t necessarily have the funds.

“That’s what we’re trying to do.”

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Business of Performance brings Olympic Gold Medallist to Vancouver April 29th.

The Business of Performance corporate seminar series is bringing Olympic Gold Medallist Carol Huynh and Canada’s leading sport experts to Vancouver on April 29th. The event will highlight proven methodologies drawn from sport and apply them to business. The ‘No Limits’ perspective can lead any company towards radically improved performance. Professionals from around Vancouver are invited to attend.

Business of Performance on YouTube

Some topics include:

• New perspectives on goal setting that can significantly transform performance
• How to break through self-limiting mindsets and open up to the power of perfection
• An understanding of how the pursuit of perfection can create radical change in all aspects of an organization
• Realizing the power of passion in reaching one’s personal best
• Energize attendees to create real change and create truly high performance teams

Calgary Event May 15th - Toronto Event May 12th

For more information visit www.businessofperformance.ca

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Phil Liggett, the Voice of Cycling, is coming to Calgary.

You can join Phil on the bike in support of the Canadian Sport Centre Calgary (CSC) and the Alberta Bicycle Association (ABA).

June 17th - Phil will lead 30 cycling enthusiasts on a fully supported, fun-filled scenic ride. A private dinner will follow where Phil will share his insights and predictions for the 2009 Tour de France. A suggested minimum $1000 donation (tax receipt available) to the CSC/ABA is required to enjoy the full day with Phil Liggett. You can receive more information or register to ride by contacting ridewithphil@gmail.com

June 18th - Phil is the special guest of honor at an evening fundraising reception. During this meet and greet, Phil will provide remarks and a Q&A. A $50/person donation (tax receipt available) will allow entrance to this fun and lively evening, all to benefit CSC/ABA’s support of Canadian athletes on the road to the podium. For ticket requests or more information please contact meetphilliggett@gmail.com

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