1. Kevlar Gloves & Skin Suits
Just in time for Christmas! Sprintz Kevlar gloves and Skin Suits are now being sold by the Speed Skate Cellar. Check them out at http://www.shop.albertaspeedskating.ca/ and call in your order 403-286-4000. Please note that the Sprintz Skin Suits will be posted online shortly.
2. Making Dreams Possible
The Coaching Association of Canada has the General Motors Making Dreams Possible club coaching grant and high performance coach grant applications online. Dedicated to supporting athletes at all levels through coaching excellence, General Motors' Making Dreams Possible Program provides one hundred $2,000 club coaching grants and ten high performance coach grants of $10,000, to community sport clubs and high performance coaches nationwide on an annual basis.
This spring, another 50+ $2,000 grants will be awarded to community sport clubs across the country for coach training and development. Another 10 grants will be awarded to high performance coaches to build on their athlete-coach relationship and help contribute directly to achieving podium performances. The application deadline for both applications is February 15, 2009.
Click here to apply http://www.coach.ca/makingdreamspossible/index.htm
3. True Sport Foundation
The True Sport Foundation is accepting nominations for the Canadian Sport Awards. The 36th annual CSAs, recognizing excellence in athletics and leadership during the 2008 calendar year, will be announced February 6th, 2009, with winners presented with their awards during a ceremony in Ottawa at the end of the month. For more information, please visit http://www.truesportpur.ca/en/home.
4. Sogo Active!
Sogo Active is a web-enabled program that provides Alberta’s youth with a “for youth by youth” approach to group activity, empowering them to engage their less active peers, while developing leadership skills. $59,500 in grants will be distributed directly to them to assist with putting their ideas into action (first round of grants to be submitted by January 16th, 2009). Check it out at; https://secure.sogoactive.com/ssldocs/lho/index.jsf
5. How Did Canada Do?
Changchun - Kristina Groves (Ottawa, ON) finished second in the women’s 1000m with a time of 1:17.80, receiving her sixth medal this season. Shannon Rempel (Winnipeg, MB) ended up on the third step of the podium.
“I’m very happy with the race. I skated better than yesterday. This World Cup was the ideal place for me to work on certain aspects of my race in the 1000m. I’m happy with my overall results. My start was well executed. I’m not a pure sprinter, so my starts are not a natural thing for me. It was important for me to work on that aspect. Up to now, the season’s been great. But I need to keep improving if I want to reach my goals at the end of this season,” said Groves, speaking to the media after her race.
Also in the 1000m, speed skater Brittany Schussler (Winnipeg, MB) finished 6th whereas Tamara Oudenaarden (St. Albert, AB) finished 17th. In Division B, Danielle Wotherspoon (Red Deer, Alberta) finished 17th with a time of 1:21.68.
In the women’s 500 m, Shannon Rempel finished 15th. In Group B, Tamara Oudenaarden once again finished 6th, while Danielle Wotherspoon and Kerry Dankers (Melville, SK) ranked in 8th and 13th.
Canadian Justine L’Heureux (St. Tite, QC) did not skate the 500 m or the 1000 m, due to her unfortunate fall yesterday. However, L’Heureux raced in the 100 m, a distance only raced in the Sprint World Cups. L’Heureux skated to 36th. Shannon Rempel finished 21st. Danielle Wotherspoon and Tamara Oudenaarden finished 26th and 28th respectively and Dankers ranked 34th.
On the men’s side, in the 500m, Muncef Ouardi (Montreal, QC) finished 17th, improving on his performance from yesterday. In Division B, Jamie Gregg (Edmonton, AB) ended third in the group, getting him closer to the A division. Kyle Parrott (St. Albert, AB) finished 5th, also improving on his time from yesterday. Francois-Olivier Roberge (St. Nicolas, QC) and Denny Morrison (Fort St. John, BC) finished 7th and 8th.
In the men’s 1000m, Denny Morrison finished 7th. Francois-Olivier Roberge finished 0.14 seconds behind Morrison, ending up in 8th. For Roberge, this was his second top ten finish in as many days, proof he has regained his speed and abilities of two years ago. Muncef Ouardi and Philippe Riopel (Lachenaie, QC) finished 14th and 17th. In Group B, Kyle Parrott finished 4th.
Canadians put in a strong performance in the 100m. Ouardi and Gregg finished 7th and 8th. Francois-Olivier Roberge, Kyle Parrott and Denny Morrison finished 27th, 31st and 34th.
Team Canada continues its tour of Asia with the next stage in the World Cup, to be held in the city of Nagano, next weekend.
Nagano – Charles Hamelin (Ste-Julie, QC) and Olivier Jean (Lachenaie, QC) ended the last stop of the Fall World Cup Circuit in fashion when they took the silver and bronze medals of the 1500m race. They then paired up with team-mates to take the gold in the relay, a first on this season’s World Cup Circuit. The women’s relay team added a bronze to the tally.
Hamelin has been dominant on the circuit this year, reaching the podium seven times individually in four World Cups so far. He has medals in every distance, in fact, he only missed the podium once. Jean took two World Cups to warm up, after missing all of last season because of an injury, but he is back, and now in better shape than ever, with three individual medals in the two Asia World Cups.
In the 1500m, the two Canadians finished just behind Korean Lee Ho-Suk in an 8-men final. They were the only skaters from Canada in the distance, as Michael Gilday (Yellowknife, NT) is not skating this weekend due to back pain.
It was a close one in the 500m, Canada’s favorite. No Canadian skater was able to make it through the semi-final, however. François-Louis Tremblay (Montréal, QC), a specialist in the distance, and rookie Richard Shoebridge (Cambridge, ON) were relegated to the B Final when they finished 3 and 4 of their semi-final heat. François Hamelin (Ste-Julie, QC) was disqualified in his semi-final, for a contact with American Anthony Lobello. Tremblay finished ahead of Shoebridge in their two-men B final, for 6th and 7th place respectively, and Hamelin is 8th as he could not skate the finals.
On the women side, Canadians achieved three top-ten performances. The first was that of sprinter Jessica Gregg (Edmonton, AB), who took 5th place in the 500m, her specialty, by winning the B final. Valérie Lambert (Sherbrooke, QC) was also in that final, and she wound up 7th. The other Canadian in the distance, Anne Maltais (Québec, QC), was disqualified in the repechage semi-final earlier in the day, and settled for 23rd.
The last distance of the day was the women’s 1500m, and Annik Plamondon (Longueuil, QC) was the top skater for Canada, with a 10th place. Kalyna Roberge (St-Étienne-de-Lauzon, QC) was stopped in semi-final, for 13th place, and Jessica Hewitt (Kamloops, BC) was disqualified in that same round, for 17th position.
Canada’s men relay team built on the strong performances they achieved all weekend, and took the gold medal for the first time this season, leaving behind the powerful Koreans and Chinese, who had to settle for silver and bronze. The women also added a medal to Canada’s tally, when they finished third behind China and Korea.
Today’s four medals make it six for Canada in Nagano, twelve in total during this trip to Asia. This is an excellent performance for the team, who often encounters sickness when traveling to that part of the world. This time, the support team was ready and took all means necessary to ensure everyone stayed healthy, which was the case.
This puts an end to the Fall World Cup competitions for the short track skaters. They head home to Montreal and Calgary tomorrow, for a bit of well deserved rest. They will jump back on the ice soon, however, in preparation for the Canadian Open Championships to be held in Montreal on January 16-18. The competition will serve as team selection for the last two stops of the World Cup Circuit, and most importantly for the World Championships.
