Toronto International Track & Field Games

Heading to the Toronto International Track & Field Games at University of Toronto's Varsity Stadium on June 11? Here are some tips to make your experience even better.

Please note: these are personal tips from my past experience. I am not affiliated with the TITF Games. Things may be different this year.

Following the Games twitter account is a start to get up to date news: @TOTFGames.
The website is www.totrack.ca. It has the full list of competitors and the race schedule.

Directions:

Click here to see directions (and parking) to the stadium. The entrance is on Bloor Street.

The St. George Subway station is really convenient. Use the Bedford Street exit towards the east side of the station. You can see the stadium on your right when you exit the station.

What to bring:

• camera (SLR allowed)
• binoculars
• sharpie/paper if you want autographs (or preferred item)
• sunglasses/hat if it's sunny (sun will be setting facing the stands)
• sweater - it will be cooler when the sun sets
• your ticket!

Timing:

The event starts at 6:00pm with the Men's Shot Put and Women's Hammer. You have to exit the stadium on the south side in order to see these events. Get a wristband for re-entry.

The women's high jump is at 6:30pm on the north side of the stadium.

The first track events are the Pro-Am Relay Heats at 6:30pm. Three amateurs will run the first three legs of the relay with a professional running the anchor. So far, Olympic triathlon champion Simon Whitfield and Paralympian wheelchair tennis Joel Dembe are among the anchors. The Pro-Am Final will be held at 8:05pm.

The 200m blind, 400m, 400m hurdles and 800m will be run before 8pm.

The women's pole vault starts at 7:45pm followed by the men's high jump. Not to take attention away from the high school athletes who will be running from 8:15 to 8:45pm but with the men's high jump starting at 8:10pm - moving to the north sections of the stadium may be worth it to see Canadian record holder and Olympic bronze medallist Derek Drouin perform in the high jump.

The 100m and hurdles events will be held after 8:45pm.

Olympian Perdita Felicien and Farley Flex will be in the commentary booth this year.

Athletes to Watch:

Olympic bronze medallist Derek Drouin just broke the Canadian high jump record this past weekend. He will be competing in the high jump competition at 8:10pm

At the 2012 Olympics, Justyn Warner crossed the finish line 3rd running an amazing anchor leg in the men's relay. The team's disqualification meant they didn't get a medal but it doesn't take away from his incredible run. He won the 100m at the Toronto International Track & Field Games last year in a time of 10.15. Will he match or better it?

Sheila Reid beat her personal best by 4 seconds in the 1500m last week at the Prefontaine Classic reaching the A Standard for the distance. In Toronto, she will be running the 800m. Will she beat her personal best time of 2:04.60? Click here for the Prefontaine Classic race video and here for an informative and entertaining post race interview.

Decathlete Damian Warner had an amazing performance at the London 2012 Olympics finishing 5th while setting 6 personal bests. He will run the 110m hurdles in Toronto that he won last year.

Although I took photos last year, perhaps it's best to just watch and cheer this late in the evening as the lighting is not ideal for photography. This photo was captured with Aperture Priority setting (f/5.6) and ISO of 1600.

It is worth staying for the last event of the evening. Competing in the 100m women's hurdles are two Canadian finalists from the 2012 Olympics Phylicia George (6th) and Jessica Zelinka (7th). Jessica also finished 7th in the heptathlon in London. The 100m hurdles race is named after the late Randy Starkman who was a very much respected sports reporter for The Toronto Star. Last year, his wife and brother were present for the awards ceremony.

Canadian Olympians Competing:

Men's 100m:

Justyn Warner (2012)

Aaron Brown (2012)

Women's 100m:

Crystal Emmanuel (2012)

Blind 200m:

Jon Dunkerley (2008 & 2012 Paralympics)

Brandon King (2012 Paralympics)

Women's 400m:

Jenna Martin (2012)

Men's 800m:

Geoff Harris (2012)

Women's 800m:

Melissa Bishop (2012)

Jessica Smith (2012)
Sheila Reid (2012)

Nicole Sifuentes (2012)

Men's 1500m:

Taylor Milne (2008) [update: no longer on start list]

Nate Brannen (2008 & 2012)
Alex Genest (2012) [update: added to start list]

Men's 110m hurdles:

Segun Makinde (2012 alternate 4x100m relay)

Damian Warner (2012) 

Massimo Bertocchi (2008) 

Women's 100m hurdles:

Jessica Zelinka (2008 & 2012) 

Phylicia George (2012)

Women's 400m hurdles:

Sarah Wells (2012)

Men's Shot Put:

Justin Rodhe

Men's High Jump:

Derek Drouin (2012) bronze medallist

Mike Mason (2008 & 2012)

Women's Hammer:

Sultana Frizell (2008 & 2012)

Heather Steacy (2012)

Women's Pole Vault:

Melanie Blouin (2012)

Click here for full start list

Seat selection:

Here are some pros and cons for the various locations in the stands. Choose according to your priorities.

For example, are you wanting to get great photos of the action or of the athletes? Are you wanting to see the action at the finish line? Are you wanting to see a specific athlete? Where is that athlete at the beginning of his/her race and at the end? Do you want to see the athletes on the podium?

• Near finish line (Sections C/D)
• Advantages
• see every race finish
• start of 400m and 800m
• close to pole vault and high jump
• Disadvantages
• not great view of start line for sprints (especially in lower rows)
• many people stand at the finish of races which can make it difficult to see
• Near centre (Sections F/G) [updated: these sections now sold out]
• Advantages
• great view of podium
• good view of start and finish
• good view of jumping
• Disadvantages
• see back view of athletes at finish line
• athletes always moving fast on track (no pre/post race activity)
• Near start line (Sections L/M) [updated: these sections now sold out]
• Advantages
• great view of start line (and preparation) for 100m races and hurdle races
• great view of last exchange in relays (professional athletes run anchor leg with amateurs running first 3 legs)
• great view of athletes running towards you (rather than side view) as they come round the bend
• Disadvantages
• not great view of finish
• not great view of pole vault and high jump
• Lower rows (Row 1)
• Advantages
• closer to the action, closer to the athletes
• Disadvantages
• view may be blocked by people coming up the stairs or standing at the top of the stairs (see photo ** below)
• don't get view of entire field (side view is blocked by people)
• if you stand, you block someone's view behind you
• Higher rows
• Advantages
• last year the upper rows were quite empty so you can move around to find a better spot
• great view of entire field
• last row allows you to stand without blocking others.
• Disadvantages
• further away from the action

** People seem to linger in the stairs and at the top of the stairs that can block the view in the lower rows. The following photo shows the layout of the stairs.

Photo not mine. Photo credit.

Photo Opportunities:

The best events to get photos are the 800m and 400m running events and the field events which are held before 8pm. From 8pm to 8:45pm the pro-am relay final and high school races are held.

Here are examples of photos I captured last year from Section B top row (with D-SLR 200mm zoom). Click here to see last year's post (with extra photos and names of athletes).

This photo would be even more special from Section L or M. You get an opportunity to see the athletes get ready for the 100m and hurdle races.

Section A or B are ideal to catch a start (but to catch the finish, section C would be better).

The later it gets, the harder it is to get photos as the lighting gets tricky. It's a chance to get an artistic looking shot like this:

After the races, the athletes will congratulate each other and sometimes get interviewed or pose for photos.

Sections A-C are ideal for the pole vaulting and high jump (on the right). 

The podium is in the middle of the field so sections F & G would be best to get head-on shots. 

I moved down to the middle after the last race. This would be the view of the podium (although the presentations were over by this point). 

Last year, athletes signed autographs after the meet. I'm not sure if there was a VIP reception last year so perhaps there won't be as much time for autograph signing. You can buy a VIP ticket for $75 that includes a $50 seat plus a ticket to the VIP reception which includes athletes, drinks and snacks.

Hope you found this post helpful. Enjoy the meet!

Heartbeat Highlights - 11 Olympic Qualifications

The figure skating World Championships were held last week in London, Ontario. It was THE event to determine the number of athletes each country can send to next year's Olympic Games.

Canada earned 11 total entries (of a possible 12) for Sochi 2014. At the 2010 Olympics, we had 8. The actual athletes chosen will be announced next season.

Entries for 2014 Olympics are determined according to the results of the World Championships. An event with one participant at the Worlds would require that participant to finish in the top 2 in order to send three competitors to the Olympics. If that participant finished in the top 10, 2 competitors qualify for Sochi 2014.

For events where a country had two or three participants, the total placements of the top two skaters/teams is used. If they add up to less or equal to thirteen - the country qualifies three entries for 2014. If they add up to less or equal to 28, the country qualifies two entries.

Here are the results with video links to their performances. The CBC website also have full competition videos if you're interested in seeing everyone. Click any of the links below and choose from the various videos offered.

Men's event:
Patrick Chan: 1st Click here for short programme and here for long programme.
Kevin Reynolds: 5th Click link for short programme and long.

Total 6 = 3 entries
(Andrei Rogozine finished 13th).

Women's event:
Kaetlyn Osmond: 8th = 2 entries (4th in short)
Click link to view short and free programmes.

Pair's event:
Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford: 3rd Click here for short programme and here for long.
Kirsten Moore-Towers and Dylan Moscovitch: 4th Click here for short and here for free.

Total 7 = 3 entries

Dance event:
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir: 2nd Click link for short and free.
Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje: 5th Click here or here for short and here for the free program.

Total 7 = 3 entries
(Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier were 18th)

Heartbeat Highlights

Here are some of our top results and video links in Olympic sports this past week.

The bobsleigh and skeleton season came to an end and what a season it was for Kaillie Humphries and Chelsea Valois who were third this week and finished the season with a podium in every race culminating with them winning the crystal globe for the overall World Cup title. Click here for a beautiful photo that Kaillie posted with the crystal globes.

Lyndon Rush and Jesse Lumsden finished their season with the crystal globe as well after a 4th place finish at the Sochi test event. Read more about their feat here.

Click here for bobsleigh and skeleton race videos.

Finishing the season so successfully at the Sochi track, hopefully they take this energy to the Olympics next year.

Speaking of the 2014 Olympics, two athletes punched their ticket to the Games with their podiums on the weekend in Sochi.

Mikaël Kingsbury won the moguls event at the Sochi test event. This win combined with his season's results have confirmed his place on Team Canada for 2014. It was also a great day for Philippe Marquis who joined him on the podium in 3rd.  Click here for video highlights. Click here for Philippe's French blog post describing his experience.

Roz Groenewoud also cemented her spot on the Olympic team with a second place finish in the ski superpipe. Click here for video highlights. Keltie Hansen got her first podium of the season finishing third just behind Roz.  Mike Riddle also earned a podium finishing 3rd in the men's ski superpipe edging him one step closer to making the Olympic team. Here's the video highlights.

With training days cancelled in Sochi due to fog and too much snow, ski cross finally got under way with Kelsey Serwa and Marielle Thompson finishing 1-2 for Canada. Click here for the race video. The cancelled days made for pretty photos posted by Kelsey (click here) and Chris Del Bosco (click here).

Chris also added a podium for Canada with a 2nd place finish. Click here for the race video.

Ariane Lavigne earned her first ever World Cup podium finishing 3rd in snowboard parallel giant slalom. Click here for the race video. The snowboard parallel slalom was cancelled due to warm weather.

In Judo, Kelita Zupancic won the gold medal at a World Cup in Budapest. Click here for the video. Antoine Valois-Fortier took the bronze. You can read more here.

Heartbeat Highlights

It has been an incredible weekend of podiums for Canada in Olympic sports on the world stage. I am counting 19 (apologies if I am missing any). With 375 days before the 2014 Sochi Olympics, these are some of our men and women who will be going for gold for Canada.


Snowboard Cross World Championships
1st Maëlle Ricker
2nd Dominique Maltais


FIS World Cup Moguls - Women
1st - Justine Dufour-Lapointe
2nd - Chloé Dufour-Lapointe

FIS World Cup Moguls - Men
1st - Mikaël Kingsbury


Bobsleigh World Championships
1st Kaillie Humphries and Chelsea Valois
(although not an Olympic event, Canada was 3rd in the Bobsleigh Team Event)

Speed Skating Sprint World Championships
Although the Canadians did not medal in the overall competition (combining times for two1000m races and two 500m races), they were in the top 3 in single races.
Women 1000m (Sat) 1st - Christine Nesbitt (5th overall)
Women 1000m (Sun) 2nd - Christine Nesbitt
Men 500m (Sat) - 2nd Jamie Gregg (4th overall)
Men 500m (Sun) - 2nd Jamie Gregg
Men 500m (Sun) - 3rd Gilmore Junio

FIS Kitzbühel Downhill - Men
2nd - Erik Guay

X Games Snowboard Slopestyle - Men
1st Mark McMorris
2nd Max Parrot
(Mark was also 2nd in Snowboard Big Air which is not an Olympic event)

X Games Ski Superpipe - Women
2nd Roz Groenewoud
3rd Megan Gunning

X Games Ski Slopestyle - Women
2nd Kaya Turski
3rd Dara Howell

X Games Snowboard Slopestyle - Women
3rd Spencer O'Brien

How many of these did you see on television this weekend? There was a lot of sports coverage but not enough to cover everything. The Snowboard World Championships held in Stoneham, Québec were not televised on English television (thanks to TVA Sports for broadcasting it live in French). What an opportunity wasted to not have shown this World Championship event being held in Canada.

The World Cup Moguls being held in Calgary and the Speed Skating Sprint World Championships being held in Utah are being televised next weekend. I was also surprised that the Bobsleigh World Championships weren't shown in a timely fashion (like World Cups often are). The World Championships were shown on Monday morning (except for the women who were shown on Saturday).

Sports are so much better when they're live. Part of the appeal is the anticipation and the excitement of the results. As much as I love to see our Canadians perform, it's not the same when the results are known. It's so much more exciting when we are on the edge of our seat watching it live.

A decade ago, it may have been acceptable to show sports on tape delayed. We weren't as likely to hear the results then. In today's world of social media and instant news, I wish our sports channels would make a stronger effort to show sports live or at least in a more timely fashion. Live online feeds is a step in the right direction but with some events being held in the middle of the night, it's the minority who will stay up or get up to see it live.

Some sports do it right. Bobsleigh/Skeleton have a YouTube channel that show live events and go the extra mile by keeping the videos available for later viewing. The International Biathlon Union offer the same benefits on their website. The sports federations may need to take matters into their own hands in order to publicize and grow their respective sports.

Our athletes are winning world championships. I don't think it's too much to ask to see it live (or at least be able to PVR live coverage).

I look forward to the day when we have a dedicated Canadian amateur sports television station who will do it right and help fans support our athletes year round.

"The Olympics isn't every four years, it's every single day".

Roz Groenewoud - World Champion

Roz Groenewoud won the FIS World Championships in 2011 and is the defending champion for tonight's X-Games competition which will be shown on TSN2 in Canada (10:30pm EST).

I was lucky enough to see Roz in action at the Dew Tour last month where she placed third in the freeski superpipe competition.

Roz may not be a household name in Canada yet, but with Target stores opening across the country in 2013 and with Roz being the first Canadian for them to sponsor, we will be hearing and seeing more of Roz leading into the 2014 Winter Olympics.

The Dew Tour was the first event for Canada's athletes' quest to make the Canadian Olympic team. Two podiums at five designated events (plus a top 16 at the World Championships or Sochi Test Event) will give an athlete early qualification so that during the Olympic season, they can concentrate on peaking at the Games instead of on qualifying.

With Roz earning a podium result at the Dew Tour, another at the X-Games tonight will almost guarantee that she will be in Sochi competing for the first gold medal in her sport.

The Sarah sticker on Roz's helmet is a constant reminder of Sarah Burke's legacy to the sport.

Another Canadian in the competition was Keltie Hansen. She is also competing at the X Games and will be looking to join Team Canada at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Freeski superpipe was Sarah Burke's specialty. Roz being seven years younger than Sarah grew up idolizing her and was coached by her at summer camp. In 2011 at the X Games, they shared a podium with Sarah winning and Roz in third. A few months later, she would beat Sarah at the FIS World Championships.

Last year, a week after Sarah died, Roz Groenewoud won the Superpipe competition at the X Games dedicating her win to Sarah.

Sarah was the pioneer who grew the sport and fought for it to be included at the X-Games (for women) and in the Olympics. Many assumed that Sarah would be the gold medal winner in Sochi but that was not her fate. She opened the door so that others could walk through and shine. Look out for Roz Groenewoud to shine in 2014.

Here's the video of her Dew Tour run.

See More Videos at AlliSports.com Embed

Spencer O'Brien - World Champion

Spencer O'Brien won the FIS Snowboard Slopestyle World Championships in Quebec this past weekend which leads perfectly into this second post about my trip to Breckenridge for the Dew Tour last month where she finished second.

You can read my first post about my trip here. I wanted to highlight our Canadians in separate posts so I have "saved the best" for these posts - well at least in sentiment if not in photography.

Snowboard Slopestyle will make its Olympic debut in 2014. In order to qualify, snowboarders must earn points on the FIS snowboard circuit. Although most snowboarders prefer to compete on the professional tour that offer courses that are more challenging, athletes competed at Stoneham Mountain in Québec this past weekend for the FIS World Championships where Spencer repeated as World Champion. She is also the reigning world champion on the pro tour.

Next weekend, she will compete at the X Games in Aspen, Colorado with coverage on TSN2 starting on Thursday January 24th at 3pm. 

I was happy to get to see some Slopestyle action at the Dew Tour. After watching the superpipe competition, I did realize that slopestyle is not as spectator friendly live as the superpipe especially if you are inexperienced like I was. 

Wherever you are at the superpipe, you can hear the commentary and the announcement of the athletes. You can also see the whole run.

For slopestyle, you have to pick your spots. You can't see the whole run and unless you're at the bottom of the run, you can't hear the commentary (at least at the Dew Tour this year) which means you don't know who is coming (or when). 

My original plan for the semi-finals had been to walk up from the chalet after lunch to the bottom jump but they wouldn't let people climb up. We had to take the chair lift then walk down. Climbing back up to the superpipe afterwards did make me understand perhaps one of the reasons. It's not easy climbing a mountain at altitude! It was a quiet day, so the other reason of having traffic flow one way wasn't really a factor on this first day of competition.

By the time I took the chairlift (not having given myself enough time for it), I had missed the first run. I still managed to get a couple of great shots of Spencer. She would qualify for the final in fourth.

The next day, I watched the first run where I could see a jump leading to a rail feature which is unique to slopestyle.

After Spencer's first run, I kept walking down the mountain looking for other great spots for photos (and to try to see if I could get close enough to hear commentary). Unlike in superpipe where the skier has your attention for their whole run so that the gap between competitors doesn't seem very long, in slopestyle the gap seems longer because we only see a small part of their run. If you're underneath a jump, you don't know when they're coming so it can get tricky getting shots, but eventually you get used to knowing the approximate gap and knowing great spots to get photos.

I love the following shot contrasting Jamie Anderson against the blowing cloud, the side view of the jump and the man-made snow in the foreground.

The conditions were a lot different for the second run only twenty minutes later. The lighting was a lot darker as can be seen on this unedited shot. The above shots are unedited (except some cropping). The difference in the colour of the sky and brightness of the snow is obvious from the beautiful blue sky in her first run and the dark clouds on this photo. 

(I edited the following shots to brighten them). On her second run, Spencer unfortunately didn't land this jump cleanly.

She was still in the lead from the strength of her first run, but Jamie Anderson's second run ended up being the best on the day. Spencer finished second.

I would have loved to have talked to her and get her thoughts on this season and the next leading to the Olympics as well as the design on her snowboard. 

There was quite a crowd surrounding her with journalists interviewing her and kids waiting for autographs. I was happy to get a glance for this shot.

She may have been second on this day, but look for her to be at the top at the Olympics in Sochi.

Here's a video showing highlights from the Dew Tour competition. Spencer is highlighted starting at the 1:20 mark.

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Dew Tour - Breckenridge

Last month, I had the chance to catch some snowboard and freeski action at the Dew Tour in Breckenridge, Colorado.

Roz Groenewoud of Canada competes in Freeski Superpipe

The Dew Tour is the first qualifying event for the 2014 Sochi Olympics for halfpipe and slopestyle. Snowboard halfpipe was already an Olympic event, but for freeski halfpipe, freeski slopestyle and snowboard slopestyle, 2014 will see their debut.

Canada (unlike the US) is offering early qualification to freeski athletes who podium in two of five designated events (Dew Tour, X-Games (Copper WC for slopestyle), European X-Games-France, Sochi Test Event and World Championships) as well as a top 16 in either the Sochi Test Event or World Championships. Click here for full qualification process for freeski competitions. Click here for the Canadian snowboard qualification process.

For our Canadian athletes, the Dew Tour was especially important in their quest for Sochi 2014.

In my two days at the Dew Tour, I got to see the Men's Freeski and Snowboard Superpipe qualification, as well as the Women's Snowboard Slopestyle and Women's Freeski Superpipe finals.

I will write separate posts for the Men's Freeski and the Women's competitions highlighting the first qualifying podiums by our Canadians. This first post is an overview of the competition and showcases my favourite photos.

I started my first day by watching the Men's Freeski Superpipe competition from the bottom of the superpipe.

This view gave a great perspective of the full run. 

Matt Margetts

Mike Riddle

Noah Bowman

Mike Riddle

It was great to see the athletes' reactions at the end of their runs.

Matt Margetts

It was also the perfect place to be while waiting for the scores to be posted on the scoreboard as well as listen to the commentators during the runs and hear the interviews.

Mike Riddle

Canada was well represented with three men qualifying for the final:  Mike Riddle 1st, Justin Dorey 3rd and Matt Margetts 5th. 

After lunch, I managed to catch some of the semi-finals action for the Women's Slopestyle, including Spencer O'Brien:

I was quite happy with the photos I took of the freeski competition at the superpipe in the morning, but it would prove to be nothing compared to the photos I would get in the afternoon for the snowboard superpipe competition. Unfortunately there were no Canadians in this competition but it did include Olympic gold medallist Shaun White. 

When I arrived at the bottom of the superpipe, the sun was shining right above the pipe making photo taking from the bottom quite challenging. I decided to climb up the side of the superpipe so that the sun would be more behind me.

Although this didn't give me a perspective on the whole run, it made for some spectacular photos.

Starting with the best snowboarder in the world, I managed to catch a few good photos of Shaun White.

I didn't notice it at the time, but I was happy to see him wearing a Sarah Burke armband when I looked at my photos. She was definitely on my mind while I was at the Dew Tour.

Here are more of my favourite shots:

Benji Farrow

Louis Vito

Spencer Shaw

Watching the competition from the side of the superpipe was incredible to experience the speed and the sound of the snowboarders.

With the competition over, I walked back down to the chalet to meet my friends. On my way, I caught some practice action off a jump by some freeski competitors.

Alex Schlopy

I was happy to see some of this practice. Being a guest, I was on my friends' schedule. When they were done skiing and ready to go back to the cottage, I followed. This meant missing the Freeski Big Air competition that ended the day. It was still an amazing day and I couldn't wait for Day 2.

Stay tuned for my next posts that will showcase the women, including Canadians Roz Groenewoud who was third in the Freeski Superpipe and Spencer O'Brien who was second in the Snowboard Slopestyle. I will also post more photos and details about the Men's Freeski Superpipe where two Canadians Justin Dorey and Mike Riddle were on the podium.