Short Track Speed Skating in Toronto

For the first time, Toronto was host to a World Cup Speed Skating event at the Mastercard Centre in Etobicoke. I attended the Friday heats session and the Saturday session with the 500m/1500m finals as well as the semi-finals of the relays. I had a ticket for Sunday as well, but my daughter was in a soccer tournament with two games on Sunday so I chose to see her team win the tournament rather than seeing Canada's best short track speed skaters.

The highlights of the World Cup for me included seeing Vancouver 2010 medallists and sweethearts Marianne St-Gelais and Charles Hamelin.

Marianne wins the bronze medal in the 1500m
Photo credit: Phil Sewell

Photo credit: Phil Sewell

Another highlight was seeing the excitement of winning a World Cup medal at home.

Samuel Girard is thrilled to win his first World Cup gold medal.
Sasha Fathoullin is happy to join him on the podium with the silver in the 500m
Photo credit: Phil Sewell

François Hamelin celebrates a bronze medal in the 1500m
Photo credit: Phil Sewell

It was great to see the athletes receiving their medals (no national anthems though).

Photo credit: Phil Sewell

Another highlight for me was seeing the relays in person. It is even more chaotic than it seems on television. When watching it in person, you really get to see all the athletes - not only the ones that the cameras are focused on. You also get to see how hard the volunteers work to get the black markers back in their places when they are knocked off their spots while trying to avoid the racers. If I thought it was a tough job during single racing, it was four times more difficult with four times the athletes on the track at one time.

Photo credit: Phil Sewell

Photo credit: Phil Sewell

The event was almost sold out on Saturday and Sunday when the athletes would be racing for medals. It was not on Friday for the heats, but there was a school who brought a large group of students in matching World Cup toques to see this sport in person. That's a field trip I would have loved as a child. They had hand made signs and enjoyed cheering the athletes. It definitely added some excitement to the heats day.

Photo credit: Suzanne Sewell

Photo credit: Suzanne Sewell

We were reminded that short track speed skating is a dangerous sport when Kim Hanwool of Korea fell and got seriously injured as he slid into the boards with Great Britain's Paul Stanley.

Photo credit: Suzanne Sewell

Photo credit: Suzanne Sewell

Photo credit: Suzanne Sewell

Photo credit: Suzanne Sewell

With space in the stands, I took the chance to see the racing from another view point near the finish line which doubled for the start line for the 1000m races. No opportunity to do that on the Saturday when the stands were almost full.

Valerie Maltais - ready to go
Photo credit: Suzanne Sewell

Photo credit: Suzanne Sewell

Photo credit: Suzanne Sewell

I did prefer the view from the end of the track where we had a great view of the athletes coming around the bend.

Photo credit: Suzanne Sewell

Hopefully the event will be held again in Toronto. I would definitely return to see the world's best speed skaters in action. Seeing it live gives you such a greater appreciation for the sport and the speed at which the skaters go around the track.

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.

World Cup Skiing at Lake Louise This Weekend

Are you near Lake Louise this weekend? The Alpine Skiing World Cup is making a stop at Lake Louise for the first downhill race of the season. It's your chance to support our Canadian athletes!

There is much excitement for the Canadian team with a few skiers coming back from injury and some great results last season that included five podium appearances.

Erik Guay got our string of podiums started when he finished 2nd at Garmisch at the end of January.  Two races later in Chamonix, we had three Canadians in the top 5 (with only three Canadians competing)! Jan Hudec was 1st, Erik Guay was 3rd and Ben Thomsen who started 50th was an incredible 5th. You can read my blog post about that exciting race here (which includes more background about Ben and Jan).  Thomsen wasn't done there however.  The following week he reached his first podium by finishing 2nd at the 2014 Olympic venue in Sochi. Jan Hudec would later add a podium in Super-G.

These results along with the return of John Kucera and Manuel Osborne-Paradis bodes well for the Canadian Ski Team.

Another reason to be excited for the team is that this season is the year of the World Championships which are held every two years.

In 2009 John Kucera won the race in Val D'Isère and Erik Guay won in 2011 at Garmisch. Can Canada three-peat this season?

Erik Guay is only three podiums away from matching Steve Podborski's 20 podium finishes by a Canadian.  In 2010, he won the Crystal Globe for Super-G, the award given to the overall points leader at the end of the season.

He was injured in training back in September and had surgery to repair the ligament damage.  He had his first day on the snow two weeks ago but you wouldn't be able to tell from his first training run today where he was 4th fastest.

With six "Canadian Cowboys" competing this season (an elite group reserved for Canadian skiers who have earned a world podium), hopes are high for continued great results.

Competing this weekend are Erik Guay, Jan Hudec, Ben Thomsen, Manuel Osborne-Paradis, John Kucera, Conrad Pridy, Morgan Pridy, Dustin Cook and Jeffrey Frisch.

If you're near Lake Louise, wear your red and white and cheer extra loud for me. I wish I was there. I have only skied Lake Louise once but it was incredible!

I haven't witnessed a World Cup race (yet), but I was lucky enough to meet Erik two years ago when he was in Toronto with the Crystal Globe. John Kucera was also there. You can read the post about the meeting here.



Here's this weekend's schedule:
Wednesday, November 21 - Men's Downhill training (11:30 a.m.)
Thursday, November 22 - Men's Downhill training (11:30 a.m.)
Friday, November 23 - Men's Downhill training (11:30 a.m.)
Saturday, November 24 - Men's Downhill (11:30 a.m.)
Sunday, November 25 - Men's Super-G (11 a.m.)

If you can't make it to Lake Louise, you can follow live timing here.

The downhill race will be televised on CBC on Saturday 1:00pm Eastern.

The Super-G race will be televised on CBC on Sunday 3pm local time. It will be shown live at cbcsports.ca and televised on CBC Bold at 12:55pm Eastern.

Bobsleigh & Skeleton in Whistler this weekend

Are you near Whistler this week? The Bobsleigh and Skeleton World Cup is being held November 23 and 24 at the Whistler Sliding Centre. It's your chance to cheer for Canada and support our Canadian Olympians and national team members.

Competitors include Olympic medallists Jon Montgomery, Kaillie Humphries, Lyndon Rush, Lascelles Brown and Canadian Olympians Melissa Hollingsworth and Justin Kripps as well as Christopher Spring who competed for Australia at the 2010 Olympic games, but now represents Canada.

It's an exciting time for the Canadian Team with the season starting with great successes.

Olympic gold medallist Kaillie Humphries has won the first two races this season in women's bobsleigh bringing her total to five consecutive races going back to last season.  Humphries and Chelsea Valois won the season opener in Lake Placid two weeks ago and followed it up with another win at Park City, Utah last weekend. Can they keep it going at home?

Sarah Reid and Melissa Hollingsworth took the first two spots of the skeleton podium in Lake Placid November 9th. Cassie Hawrysh just missed the podium at Park City last weekend in only her second career World Cup race. Can they sweep the podium in Whistler?

Click here to read Melissa's blog post about the Lake Placid race.  Cassie wrote a great blog post about her first World Cup race. You can read it here.

The men haven't been as successful this season...YET! Is Whistler the race that will see them on the podium?

Who can forget Jon Montgomery's amazing skeleton gold in Whistler in 2010? Can he bring those memories back to get to the podium or will John Fairbairn and Eric Neilson who have fared better so far this season be our top Canadian?

The bobsleigh teams are pushing each other with Team Rush (Canada 1) leading the Canadians at the first World Cup in 2-man and 4-man bobsleigh and Team Spring (Canada 2) being the top Canadian team at the second race in 2-man and 4-man.  Canada 3 is led by Olympian Justin Kripps. Click here for full list of bobsleigh team.

Team Kripps' Justin Kripps and Jean-Nicolas Carriere as well as Team Spring have interesting blog posts that you can read here.

If you're in Whistler this weekend, wear your red and white and cheer extra loud for me. As an added bonus, Whistler/Blackcomb opened early for the season and have numerous special events planned this week. Click here for details. It has been too long since my last trip to Whistler. I'm sure that since the Olympics, it's bigger and better than it was the last time I was there. Wish I was there this weekend to catch the World Cup and hit the slopes.

To see the past World Cup performances or to watch the events live online, click here for the skeleton YouTube channel and click here for the bobsleigh YouTube channel. To see it on television, Sportsnet will be broadcasting the events.  Check your local listings for the times.

Here is the schedule for this weekend:

Friday 23rd
Women's Skeleton:  10am
2 Man Bobsleigh:  3pm
Women's Bobsleigh:  6:30pm

Saturday 24th 
4 Man Bobsleigh:  6:30pm
Men's Skeleton:  3pm

Presale General Admission tickets available via Whistler.com for $10. Click here. VIP tickets are $75 and include a gondola pass.
Day of tickets are available at Whistler Blackcomb's ticket kiosk at the base of the Excalibur gondola, or the Whistler Sliding Centre.


Click here for more information.

Go Canada Go!

Kayak Competitions

Great Source for Adam van Koeverden's schedule and results: www.canoekayak.ca

photos and blog: www.vankayak.com

World Cup #3 May 27-29, 2011

Duisburg, Germany

http://www.kanuduisburg.de/cms/

• Silver in 1000m
• Silver in 500m

"I had a good race today in the 1000m final. Rene Poulsen (DEN) was the weltcupmeister with a fast 3:27, I finished a close 2nd also in 3:27... Eirik "2nd-half" Veraas Larsen made a late charge for the bronze. Good Battle Fellas!!"

from www.vankayak.com

World Cup #2 May 21-22, 2011

Racice, Cze

http://www.racice2011.com/

• 4th in 1000m
• 2nd in 5000m

"I had a really good race, but I came in 4th place. I wanted to practice something different, and it went really well, so I'm stoked and ready to race Duisburg next week!"

from www.vankayak.com

Alex Gough wins World Cup

Originally published on My Life Is Like A Song on February 15, 2011

For the past 13 years, Germany has won every women's luge World Cup event...that's 105 races in a row!

The streak ended on the weekend when Alex Gough of Calgary became the first Canadian woman to win a World Cup luge event.

She's had a few 3rd place finishes this year including a bronze at the World Championships.



At this race, she was first with Germany coming in 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 6th.

Wishing Alex continued success!!

What A Weekend!

Originally published on My Life Is Like A Song on February 15, 2011

It has been an incredible weekend for Canadians. For those not interested in the details, here is a summary. I will write individual posts to follow of each achievement.

Erik Guay won the World Championships in the downhill. Last year he won the overall Super-G title. I wrote about that here and then when I met him, I wrote about that experience here. The only thing missing on his resume is an Olympic medal.

Alex Gough became the first Canadian to win a World Cup luge race.

Milos Raonic won his first ATP title at the San Jose SAP Open. Last month he had an incredible fourth round result at the Australian Open that I wrote about here.

Arcade Fire won the coveted Best Album at the Grammy Awards. Other Canadians have won the Best Album Award in the past, but they were more mainstream acts. It is incredible that Arcade Fire who are far from mainstream would win this award.

Last, but not least ;-) Jacques Villeneuve won his first race in the Andros Trophy ice racing series holding off Alain Prost. I was thrilled this morning to find a website that showed his race as well as the congratulations he receives at the end.

Quite the weekend!