Tears and Goosebumps in 2012

As 2012 comes to an end, it's time to reflect on the sports moments that had an impact on me this year. This is not a list of THE "best" moments, you can read the major newspapers and watch sports stations for those. This is a list of moments that brought tears to my eyes and goosebumps on my skin.

I'll start on a sad note with those who left the sports world in their prime.

Much more than a sports reporter to Canada's amateur athletes, Randy Starkman was the fan's looking glass into the athletes' world of training and competition. Husband, father, colleague and writer, he will be missed for years to come. He was remembered this past week in the Toronto Star. You can read the article here.

Canada also lost two Olympic hopefuls in 2012.

Sarah Burke was a pioneer of ski halfpipe.  She was the best at her sport and successfully fought for ski halfpipe to be added to the 2014 Olympics. Winning the first gold medal for Canada was almost a sure thing, until she died doing what she loved to do. Click here to read the article that Randy Starkman wrote after her death.

Nic Zoricic died while racing in a ski-cross race in Switzerland. Since leaving alpine skiing to join ski-cross in 2009, he was climbing up the rankings with two World Cup podiums.  Click here to read the article that Randy Starkman wrote after his death.

On a cheerier note, here are the moments that had me cheering, gave me goosebumps and brought tears to my eyes:

2012 Olympics

Choosing favourite Olympic moments is so difficult because I was thrilled with each and every medal that Canada won. Above and beyond that, I loved seeing the personal bests whether that meant a medal, making a final or semi-final or going faster, farther or higher. I was also proud of the Olympians who came home disappointed that the best they had to offer that day wasn't the best they had hoped for whether that meant finishing a triathlon in tears or on the pavement, flopping on a last dive, stepping on a line, running out of steam or finding the conditions or pressure too tough to handle.

I am proud of all our Olympians but here's an attempt at some of my favourite moments:

Leading the Team
One of my favourite Olympians, Simon Whitfield led Canada into the Olympic Opening Ceremony. Watching Canada walk in is always one of my highlights and recognizing so many of our athletes walking into the stadium in 2012 was amazing.

The Sprinters
Brent Hayden 100m freestyle bronze and Mark de Jonge 200m kayak bronze
Short distances are exciting because everything has to be perfect. There's no time to come back from a poor start. It's all out for the full distance and we won bronze in the water and on the water.

The Long Distance Swimmers
Ryan Cochrane 1500m freestyle silver and Richard Weinberger 10k bronze
The beauty of the long distance swimmer (cyclist, runner, skater or skier) is that a surprise is harder to come by. If you're one of the best, you have a lesser chance of not winning a medal. So although Ryan and Richard didn't surprise me with their medal wins, it's amazing to see them maintain their positions as some of the best in the world.

Meeting Silver Expectations On The Water
Adam van Koeverden, Men's Eight Rowing and Women's Eight Rowing
Winning a medal wasn't a sure thing as anything can happen in sport as we saw many of our favourites stumble so it was wonderful to see our successful rowing tradition continue along with Adam winning his fourth Olympic medal.

Overcoming adversity
THE call during the Women's soccer team's semi-final was a pivotal play that sometimes overshadowed Christine Sinclair's amazing hat-trick against the United States. Overcoming the letdown of their dream being crushed by a referee's call put them in our hearts. They could have also lost that bronze medal match, but they didn't. They kept fighting to the last whistle and came home heroes with a last minute goal by Diana Matheson. Christine Sinclair would be named flagbearer for the Closing Ceremony.

Our First Gold
Rosie MacLennan won our first and what would be our only gold medal at the Olympics becoming our golden girl for 2012.


Give Your Everything
Clara Hughes didn't win her 7th Olympic medal, but she was the epitome of Give Your Everything when she led the road race in the first half of the race and then finished a wonderful 5th in the time trial. Clara's Olympic career will be remembered for her medals but also for her smile as well as her grit and determination.


Thrill of Victory and Agony of Defeat
4x100m relay - even if we didn't get to keep the bronze, the moment when I realized Justyn Warner was going from 5th, to 4th and finally to 3rd down the final straight of the relay had me jumping up and down with excitement. Watching Gavin Smellie, Seyi Smith, Jared Connaughton and Justyn Warner celebrate was an amazing moment that I will not forget. Click here for a blog post I wrote about the race and their journey. Click here to see an early celebratory reaction.

The Reactions
There are moments that stick in your mind for the athletes' reactions. My favourites were:

Mark Oldershaw's shocked hand on his mouth look when he realized that he won the bronze medal in the 1000m canoe. Click here.

Christine Girard coming off the stage after missing her last lift thinking she was not on the podium to reading her lips say "J'ai une médaille?" and her reaction afterwards. (translated as "I have a medal?" I am going by memory of what she said since I can't find a video of that moment)

Antoine Valois-Fortier's tearful celebration when he won the bronze medal in Judo. Click here.

Diana Matheson scoring the winning goal giving them the bronze medal and the celebration happening in front of my husband's parents and uncle and aunt. Click here for a photo that includes his uncle (in white shirt and Tilley hat) and aunt and mother partially blocked by Christine Sinclair. Great seats!

Brittany MacLean hugging her sister Heather at the Canadian Olympic trials when Heather qualified in her last race and would join Brittany at the London Olympics who had qualified earlier.

2012 Paralympics

The television coverage for the Paralympics was disappointing but the team's performance wasn't as the competition at the Paralympics gets tougher and tougher.

Although the major networks made it difficult to catch the action, there were still some amazing moments for our Canadian Paralympians.

Leading the Team
As mentioned above, nothing gets the tears in my eyes like watching Canada enter the Opening Ceremony. Garett Hickling, a five-time Paralympian in wheelchair rugby led the team in 2012. His team would go on to win the silver medal.

Veteran and Rookie Success in the Pool
Benoit Huot won a gold, a silver and a bronze medal in 2012 with three personal bests and a world record. The three medals increased his overall total to 19 Paralympic medals including 9 golds for his four Paralympic Games.

At her first Paralympic Games, Summer Mortimer won two gold, one silver and one bronze. What will her total count be when she has competed at her fourth Paralympics?

Basketball Gold
Winning gold at basketball isn't something Canada does at the Olympics, but at the Paralympics, Canada won gold in 2000, 2004 and now 2012.


Milestones

I have a special place in my heart for the Olympics, but 2012 saw Canadians achieve some amazing milestones and firsts. Here are some of them:

Ryder Hesjedal (cycling)
1st Canadian to win a Grand Tour when he won the Giro d'Italia. Click here and here to read my posts. He also won Male Athlete of the Year.

Jean-Philippe Le Guellec (biathlon)
1st Male Canadian to win a biathlon World Cup. Watch the race here.

Eugenie Bouchard (tennis)
First Canadian to win a Grand Slam singles championships when she won the Junior Wimbledon Championships.


Filip Peliwo (tennis)
First Canadian to win Junior Wimbledon and U.S. Open. He was finalist at Australian Open and French Open ending the year ranked #1, a first for a Canadian singles player. The future for Tennis Canada is very bright.

Kaillie Humphries (bobsleigh)
Streak of 8 wins, including the World Championships, started at the end of the 2011-2012 season with Jennifer Ciochetti and continued with new partner Chelsea Valois.



I can't imagine 2013 being as wonderful as an Olympic year, but I look forward to seeing the Winter Olympians gear up for the 2014 Games as well as following the summer athletes' journey for the next three and a half years.

Happy New Year!

The Heartbeat

This holiday edition of The Heartbeat is the last one for 2012. With the Christmas holiday, there aren't any live events to attend in Canada. Sports being televised or streamed include ski-cross, cross-country skiing, bobsleigh, alpine skiing, snowboarding and year end review. Events to meet athletes are being held in Ancaster, Oakville and Regina.

The Heartbeat

This week's edition of The Heartbeat includes events in Panorama (alpine skiing) and Canmore (cross-country skiing).

Sports being televised or streamed include cross-country skiing, bobsleigh, skeleton, alpine skiing, biathlon, swimming, soccer, London 2012 Olympics and snowboarding.

The Heartbeat

This week's edition of The Heartbeat includes events in Québec City (cross-country skiing), Nakiska, AB (ski-cross) and Canmore (cross-country skiing).

Sports being televised or streamed include cross-country skiing, bobsleigh, skeleton, alpine skiing, figure skating, swimming and snowboarding.

Events to meet athletes are being held in Halifax, Ancaster and Québec.

If you are participating in or know of an event that could be featured in The Heartbeat, please contact me: suzanne[at]sportcafe[dot]ca or via Twitter @olympichearts.

Sprint Québec Coupe du Monde de Ski de Fond
(Cross-Country Skiing World Cup)
7-9 décembre, 2012
Québec, QC
Plus d'infos
More info
Competitors include: Alex Harvey, Devon Kershaw, Len Valjas, Chandra Crawford, Perrianne Jones and Dasha Gaiazova Click here for full list of Canadian competitors.

Cross-Country Skiing World Cup
December 13-16, 2012
Canmore, Alberta
More info
Competitors include: Alex Harvey, Devon Kershaw, Len Valjas, Ivan Babikov, Chandra Crawford, Perrianne Jones and Dasha Gaiazova Click here for full list of Canadian competitors.

Ski Cross 
FIS Ski Cross World Cup - Nakiska Snowdown
December 8, 2012
The first event of the ski cross World Cup season will consist of 190 of the best skiers from 25 nations.

Among the competitors: Marielle Thompson, Kelsey Serwa, Danielle Sundquist, Dave Duncan, Brady Leman and Tristan Tafel.

The Canadian team unveiled a "blue jean inspired Descente race suit" in memory of Nik Zoricic this week. (Photo from Alpine Canada website)

You can read more about the unveiling here.
More info

Olympic Sports On Television/Internet

World Cup Cross-Country Skiing
CBC Bold (and cbcsports.ca)
Friday December 7 1:55pm Team Sprint from Quebec
Saturday December 8 1:05pm Men's and Women's Sprint Finals from Quebec

CBC
Saturday December 8 1:00pm
Men's and Women's Team Sprint Finals (repeat Monday 1:00am)
Saturday December 8 3:00pm
Men's and Women's Sprint Finals

CBC Bold (and cbcsports.ca)
Thursday December 13 12:50pm Women's 10km from Canmore
Thursday December 13 2:20pm Men's 15km from Canmore
Saturday December 15 2:20pm Men's and Women's Sprint Finals - Canmore
Sunday December 16 12:50pm Women's 15km Skiathlon - Canmore
Sunday December 16 2:20pm Men's 30km Skiathlon - Canmore

Ski-Cross World Cup from Nakiska
Saturday December 8 1:00pm on cbcsports.ca
Sunday December 9 1:00pm on cbcsports.ca S
unday December 9 2:00pm on CBC
Monday December 10 1:00am on CBC

Figure Skating Grand Prix Finals
Saturday December 8 4pm on CBC
Women Free and Pairs Free Programs
Saturday December 8 8pm on CBC
Men Free and Dance Free Programs

Alpine Skiing
Snowtime Highlighting latest news from World Cup skiing circuit every week
Friday 1:30pm; replay Saturday 12:00am; replay Sunday 3:30pm CBC Bold

According to Brian Stemmle:  "Too much snow in Val d'Isere caused a schedule change Sat Dec 8 men's SL @cbcsports Sun Dec 9 GS on @Sportsnet. Women's SG on @Sportsnet Sat"

It may be better to watch live rather than trusting your PVR.

Following is the original schedule to give an idea of timing.
Men's Giant Slalom Val d'Isere
Saturday 2:00pm CBC

Men's Slalom Val d'Isere
First Run live Saturday December 8 3:55am cbcsports.ca
Second Run live Sat Dec 8 6:55am on cbcsports.ca
Saturday on Sportsnet (check local listings)

Women's Super-G St. Moritz
Saturday 5:00pm Sportsnet ONE (repeat midnight on Sportsnet and Sunday)

Follow live results here.

Bobsleigh/Skeleton
Women's and men's skeleton
Friday December 7 Sportsnet ONE and Sportsnet (check local listings)
Women and Men Bobsleigh
Saturday December 8 Sportsnet ONE and Sportsnet (check local listings)

Swimming Short Course World Championships
Instanbul, Turkey
Representing Canada: Martha McCabe, Tera Van Beilen, Katerine Savard, Brittany MacLean, Noemie Thomas, Chantal van Landegham and Heather MacLean. Zach Chetrat, Luke Peddie, Andrew Poznikoff, Jake Tapp, Warren Barnes, Coleman Allen and Tommy Gossland.

More info
Live streaming

FIS Snowboard Magazine
Monday 8:30pm EST Sportsnet ONE repeated Thursday 8pm EST Sportsnet ONE

Meet/Support Canada's Athletes

Déjeuner des Championnes Rapides et Radieuses
Marie-Eve Croteau (paralympique - cyclisme), Andréanne Pichette (vélo de montagne), Elise Marcotte (nage synchronisée), Audrey Lacroix (nage), Kristina Valjas (volleyball de plage)

Matinée inspirante pour les filles sportives de 9 à 19 ans
9 décembre, 2012
Québec, QC
Plus d'infos

Olympic Bronze Women's Soccer
Christine Sinclair, Karina Leblanc, Rhian Wilkinson and Diana Matheson
Dec 7, 8, 9, 2012
Halifax, Nova Scotia
More info

Melissa Tancredi
December 22, 2012 - hour long playing session for boys and girls age 9-14
December 23, 2012 - speech and autograph/photo session
Ancaster, Ontario
More Info

Heartbeat Highlights

After almost two months of reporting on what amateur sports events are coming up in The Heartbeat, it's time to expand to include what happened in the world of amateur sports.

Biathlon World Cup Win

Jean-Philippe Le Guellec became the first Canadian male to win a World Cup Biathlon race on Saturday when he won the 10km Sprint. His best previous finish was 6th at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

You can watch the full race here. The race starts at the 10 minute mark of the video. There is not much coverage of Jean-Philippe until he takes the lead after the second shooting.  I believe the first glimpse of him is at the 45 minute mark and the award ceremony is at 1:36.

Watch the post race interview here. Jean-Philippe's part of the interview starts at the 6:55 mark. It's so great to see his reaction and to put a face to the name (for those who have not been watching biathlon).

The following day, Jean-Philippe would wear number 1 as the other racers chase him in the 12.5km pursuit. You can watch that race here.  The race starts at 19:30 mark of the video.

You can follow him on Twitter at @JeeP_LeGuellec and check out his very cool shooting-themed blog here.

Beach Volleyball World Cup Trials

The Hangar at Downsview Park in Toronto was the venue where four new pairings were vying for a chance to represent Canada at the World Cup Final in Brazil in January. This tournament was announced only a month ago. With the 2012 teams splitting up, Canada decided to have the top four teams compete for the lone Canadian men's spot.

In the semi-finals on Friday night, our 2012 Olympians Josh Binstock and Martin Reader with new partners lost their respective semi-finals.

In the first semi, Christian Redmann and Matt Zbyszewski won their match against Binstock and Maverick Hatch 2-1 (21-18, 19-21, 15-12).

In the second semi-final, Chaim Schalk and Ben Saxton defeated Reader and Sam Schachter 2-0 (21-16, 21-14)

You can watch the semi-finals here.

I couldn't make it to the semi-finals but did attend the finals on Saturday night. There were quite a few friends/family/fans in attendance. Most of the crowd were behind the video camera so the video doesn't show the support that the players had.

Redmann and Saxton had a very successful pairing in the past which included competing at the Pan Am Games in 2011. They also qualified for the 2012 Olympics but with Canada only having one spot, they had a playoff that they lost to Binstock and Reader. This time, Redmann and Saxton were on opposite sides of the net.

It was a very close and exciting match. Schalk and Saxton had a 3 point lead half-way through the first set only to have Redmann and Zbyszewski win four points in a row to take the lead. The match then see-sawed until Redmann and Zbyszewski had set point leading 20-18. They couldn't convert however and Schalk and Saxton won the first set 24-22.

The second set was just as close but in the end, Schalk and Saxton pulled off the match win with a 21-18 finish in the second set.

You can watch the final here.

I had a great talk with Christian Redmann the next day. Although he was understandably disappointed, he seemed satisfied with his team's effort. He and Matt had only practiced together half a dozen times since this World Cup trial was announced. He also explained that they are not normally match fit at this time of year. Their performance should give them a lot of confidence for the upcoming season once they get more practice together.

Schalk and Saxton were more match ready having played a Norceca tournament in September that they won winning the five matches they played.

Good luck to Chaim Schalk and Ben Saxton at the FIVB World Cup Final January 9-13.

Speed Skating

Christine Nesbitt won gold in the 1500m at the Long Track Speed Skating World Cup in Kazakhstan. Teaming up with Ivanie Blondin and Brittany Schussler, they won the team pursuit.

Charles Hamelin won the silver medal in the 500m Short Track Speed Skating World Cup in Japan. He has been on the podium for all six of his races this fall, but has yet to reach the top spot.

Canada Cup #1 was held in Québec City over the weekend with national team and development team members competing. The following were the race winners:

Tamara Oudenaarden - 500m (2 races)
Kate Hanly - 1000m (2 races)
Josie Spence 1500m, 3000m and 5000m

Laurent Dubreuil - 500m and 1000m.
Guillaume Blais-Dufour - 1000m and 1500m
Alec Janssens -  5000m and 10000m
Kyle Parrot - 500m (tied) (second 500m race)
Muncef Ouardi - 500m (tied) (second 500m race)

You can read more news and results about all of these speed skating events at the Speed Skating Canada website here.

FIS World Cup in Lake Louise

Larisa Yurkiw and Marie-Michelle Gagnon gave the home crowd something to cheer about when they finished in the points in 25th and 28th respectively in the Super-G on Sunday.

You can watch Larisa's run here and Marie-Michelle's here. CBC also have interviews with them on the site.

I can't talk about the Lake Louise event without mentioning Lindsey Vonn who dominated the whole weekend winning all three races. I have watched her second downhill run a few times now in awe that she actually won after a scary moment that looked like she would crash. She was skidding towards the safety nets and off balance on one ski but she managed to stay on her feet and make up the lost speed and time. She still won by over half a second. You can watch that race here. Sunday's Super G win was the seventh win in a row for Vonn at Lake Louise and 14th overall.

FIS World Cup at Beaver Creek

Canada had four men in the points in the downhill race on Friday. Erik Guay was 15th, Benjamin Thomsen 16th, Jan Hudec 24th and Manuel Osborne-Paradis 28th.

On Saturday Jan Hudec was the top Canadian in 10th followed closely by Erik Guay in 11th.