200 Days until London 2012!

There are 200 days to go until the start of the Summer Olympics in London.

I am so excited to see who will qualify for Canada and especially who will be our flag bearer.

I love that the internet and multiple sports channels these days allow us to follow our athletes as they strive to make the Olympic team. There is more coverage than there used to be and I look forward to the next 200 days, and beyond.

Canada's Athlete Of The Year

The end of the year brings nominations for Athlete of the Year.

I don't always agree with the award winners, but I always enjoy the anticipation of the announcement.

Yahoo sports has a page where we can vote for Canadian Press Athlete of the Year. You can cast your vote here. Here are the nominations (you can also vote for another athlete if you don't like their choices):

Canadian Press Male Athlete of the Year

• Dylan Armstrong (Shot Put: #1 Ranked, World Silver Medallist and Pan Am Gold)
• Alexandre Bilodeau (Moguls: World Silver Medallist; Dual Mogals: World Champion)
• Lucien Bute (Boxing: IBF Super Middleweight Champion - since 2007)
• Patrick Chan (Figure Skating: World Champion)
• Dwayne de Rosario (Soccer: MLS MVP)
• Erik Guay (Downhill World Champion)
• Corey Perry (NHL MVP)
• Milos Raonic (ATP Rookie of the Year)
• George St Pierre (UFC Welterweight Champion)
• Joey Votto (MLB Gold Glove Award Winner)

Canadian Press Female Athlete of the Year

• Paula Findlay (won first 3 World Cup Triathlons before injury)
• Alex Gough (luge World Bronze Medal - first female luge medal for Canada)
• Jennifer Heil (World Gold Medallist in moguls and in dual moguls)
• Christine Nesbitt (speed skating: 3 gold 1 silver at World Championships)
• Catharine Pendrel (Cross-Country Cycling World Champion)
• Marianne St-Gelais (Speed skating)
• Kelsey Serwa (World Champion ski cross)
• Christine Sinclair (MVP in League final her team won...competed with broken nose at World Cup, Pan Am Games flag bearer, Gold Medal Pan Am Games)
• Mary Spencer (boxing Pan Am Gold and closing ceremonies flag bearer)
• Tara Whitten (Cycling - World Champion)

Canadian Press Team of the Year

• Brampton Excelsiors (won league and won Mann Cup)
• B.C. Lions (Grey Cup Champions)
• Alex Harvey and Devon Kershaw (World Champions Team Spring Cross-Country)
• Amber Holland curling rink (World Silver Medallist)
• McMaster football team (won Vanier Cup)
• Saint John Sea Dogs (Memorial Cup Winners)
• Jeff Stoughton curling rink (World Champions)
• Toronto Rock (National Lacrosse League Champions)
• Vancouver Canucks (NHL finalists)
• Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir (World Silver Medallist)

The easiest for me to choose is Team of the Year.

Alex Harvey and Devon Kershaw are the first Canadians to win a World Championships gold medal in cross-country skiing EVER. Every year, a team wins the Grey Cup, Vanier Cup or Lacrosse League. Although Canadian teams haven't fared as well in the NHL lately, making the final isn't that huge of an accomplishment for the Canucks. It's been done and surpassed many times before. Curling and figure skating? We've won World Championships or medals before. So hands down for me, Alex Harvey and Devon Kershaw should be the team of the year.

For Female of the Year, I loved Paula Findlay as a candidate until she got injured. This is a similar story to Milos Raonic. Can we award Athlete of the Year on a partial season? Canada often do amazingly well at at speed skating and freestyle skiing. I'd be okay with Jennifer Heil or Christine Nesbitt winning. We have also done well in cycling but this sport isn't as popular as other sports on the list. Luge's first medal is exciting but I don't think worthy of Athlete of the Year with it being a bronze, although worthy of the nomination.

This leaves Christine Sinclair. Her league team won the Championship and she was named MVP. Canada had a disappointing performance at the World Cup however, which is why I'm struggling with choosing Sinclair. Canada won the Pan Am Games where Sinclair was the flag-bearer. The most memorable moment for Christine Sinclair though is at the World Cup when she broke her nose. For female athletes, I think this was the story most talked about in 2011. She breaks her nose after taking an elbow from a German player. The doctor on the sideline tells her she can't play but she persists and returns to the field as fast as she can. She ends up scoring against Germany who hadn't conceded a goal in World Cup action since 2003. Canada still lost the game, but Christine Sinclair won the respect of Canadians and soccer lovers. For overcoming adversity and capturing the nation's attention, Christine Sinclair gets my vote.

Male Athlete of the Year is a little tougher.

Although all worthy, I find it difficult to choose between an MLB, NHL or MLS star so will not vote for them. George St-Pierre's 2011 wasn't as amazing as his past few years (according to media reports). I haven't heard of Lucien Bute, although this nomination has introduced me to him.

Even though Dylan Armstrong didn't win the World Championships (where Patrick Chan, Erik Guay and Adam van Koeverden did), his accomplishment is more unusual. Dominating a Track and Field event is very difficult.

I used to love figure skating, until the judging scandal in 2002. I still follow the Canadian Championships and World Championships but I don't follow the sport like I used to. Since Patrick Chan has not gotten me passionate again about figure skating (like Virtue and Moir did last year), I'll say that he's not worthy of my vote for Athlete of the Year.

Erik Guay's Downhill World Championship was very exciting but John Kucera won it in 2009. Although, I do think that winning a Downhill World Championship is THE win of the year, so I am still amazed that Canada has managed to do it twice in a row. I hope John Kucera was up for Athlete of the Year in 2009.

Alexandre Bilodeau in my mind should have won Athlete of the Year last year...until I remember that Sydney Crosby was Athlete of the Year. The first gold medal on home soil or the hockey one? I guess even I would have to choose the Golden Goal.

Adam van Koeverden blew the competition away at the World Championships. He is a born leader, very supportive of his competitors and fellow Canadian athletes. He is also an avid Right To Play ambassador and supports other charities. He is a great role model for other athletes and non-athletes. He is the whole package, but yeah, I know. I am biased.

If I had finished this post on the 7th, I wouldn't have known about the controversy that Patrick Chan created with his comments about feeling under-appreciated. I wouldn't have read the amazing blog post by Adam van Koeverden about feeling appreciated (after The Toronto Star tried to compare Patrick Chan who competes in a popular sport compared to kayaking).

I was leaning towards voting for Adam van Koeverden for the way he competes and represents Canada, but then read a bit more about Patrick Chan.

After winning the World Championships last April, he has won every competition he has entered so far this season, including the Grand Prix Finals (on December 11th). This means that Patrick Chan is a World Champion and is dominating his sport in 2011. Hard to argue with numbers.

Newcomer of the year for me includes three candidates:

• Paula Findlay is a 22 year old triathloner who won the last two International Triathlon Union triathlons of the 2010 season and the first three triathlons in 2011 before getting a hip injury.
• Milos Raonic is a 20 year old tennis player who won his first ATP Tour tournament in 2011. His world ranking went up to #27, the highest for a Canadian while representing Canada. He got injured at Wimbledon which saw his ascent come to a halt. Nevertheless, he was named ATP's Rookie of the Year.
• Laurence Vincent-Lapointe is a 19 year old canoe sprint racer. She won the gold medal in the Canoe C-1 200m and in the Canoe C-2 500m at the World Championships. The only down-side is that Women's Canoe is not an Olympic sport.

Have I missed anyone?

Joannie Rochette Avec Coeur Et Passion

Joannie Rochette was on the television program Tout Le Monde En Parle this week. She is releasing a new DVD entitled Avec Coeur et Passion (With Heart and Passion) which is an exercise video meant for the young and old, beginner and advanced. She calls her DVD an exercise programme for "monsieur et madame tout le monde" (mr and mrs everybody).

Her mother Thérèse died of a heart attack a few days before Joannie was to perform at the Olympic Games in 2010. Joannie went on to win a bronze medal in figure skating. She relived those days in the interview which was very touching explaining how her personal life came to meet up with her professional life.

She explained on the programme that her mother although seemingly in good health, did not exercise. She says that lack of exercise is one of the main reasons why people suffer heart attacks.

Her mother's death inspired her to do something. She explained that starting an exercise regime is not an easy thing and that her mother didn't know where to start. This DVD is Joannie's way of reaching others to get physically active and hopefully live a healthier life.

Proceeds of the DVD are going to iheartmom (mamandemoncoeur), Joannie' Heart Your Health Campaign associated with University of Ottawa Heart Institute. In a clip on the site, Joannie says "my mom's heart was always in the right place, I just wish she would have taken better care of it."

Here is the Tout Le Monde En Parle segment in case you would like to see it:

Simon Whitfield and Paula Findlay

Triathlon Canada nominated Simon Whitfield and Paula Findlay to the Canadian Olympic Committee to be named to the 2012 Olympic team.

Simon has been my favourite triathlete since winning gold at the first Olympic triathlon race at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. He was Canada's flagbearer at the Closing Ceremonies. I have often written about Simon Whitfield on this blog (you can see those posts by typing his name in the search bar at the top left) or click here to read about my excitement seeing his jersey at the Victoria Front Runners store.

In 2008, Simon won a fantastic silver medal. Now 36 years old, he is the veteran of the triathlon team and I will be so excited to see him compete in his 4th Olympic Games. I'm hoping that Brent McMahon and Kyle Jones will join him on the team by qualifying next year. They were 3rd and 4th at the Pan Am Games (a 1st place finish was needed to qualify for London).

At 22 years old Paula Findlay is the future of Canada's triathlon team. In 2010 she was the surprise winner of the World Championship series event at the London Olympic course. She won on the world stage another 4 times before injuring her hip this past summer.

By being selected on the team, Simon and Paula can now concentrate on peaking at the Olympics rather than training for qualifying events.

Pan Am Games

The Pan-Am Games held in Guadalajara, Mexico ended yesterday.

What this means is that Toronto is now the official Pan-Am Games host. At the closing ceremonies (that I watched today), the Pan-Am flag was passed to our city.

There was a beautiful rendition of O Canada performed by Quebec artist Florence K followed by an eight minute dance and acrobatic performance to showcase Canada as the next host.

Eight athletes (or teams) earned a spot for Canada at the London 2012 Olympics by winning gold according to a news report. However, I am counting nine. Either one of these had already qualified or one is there in error. The ones I am seeing include :

• Closing Ceremonies flag bearer Mary Spencer in women's boxing
• Ryan Cochrane and Hughes Fournel in 200m kayak (K2)
• Steven Joren and Richard Dober in 1000m kayak (K2)
• women's kayak 500m (K4)
• Richard Dalton in canoeing (C1 200m)
• synchronized swimming team
• synchronized swimming duet of Elise Marcotte and Marie-Pier Boudreau Gagnon
• Zhang Mo in table tennis
• Dorothy Ludwig in shooting

[The kayak/canoe Olympic spots are for the team and not the racers from the Pan Am Games]

Other highlights from the games included a gold medal by world #1 ranked Dylan Armstrong in the shotput.

Led by Opening Ceremonies flagbearer, Christine Sinclair, the women's soccer team won gold beating Brazil in the final.

Canada won gold in men's baseball beating the U.S. in the final. Unfortunately, baseball is no longer an Olympic sport so this was our team's Olympics.

Richard Weinberger won the 10k swimming marathon. He won the test event in London this summer but still hasn't qualified for London 2012 (the qualifying race had been the previous month). He'll hopefully qualify in June in Portugal at the final Olympic qualifying event.

Carol Huynh won the gold medal in wrestling. I will never forget her reaction to O Canada at the 2008 Olympics when she won Canada's first (of three) gold medals at the Games.



Although I didn't watch as much of the Pan-Am games as I would have liked mostly because I'm not used to watching "television" on my computer yet (not much television coverage), I am still excited about Toronto (and surrounding cities) hosting the 2015 Pan Am Games. Hopefully tickets will be fairly affordable so that I can attend a few different events.

Reid Coolsaet and Eric Gillis - 2012 Olympians

Last year I went downtown to watch the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon. You can read my blog post and see photos here.

This year, I watched it on television. It's quite different to being there. Nothing beats the excitement of seeing an event in person, but seeing it on television gives you the benefit of following the leaders throughout the race. When one of your favourites is with the leaders, it's a bonus.

Reid Coolsaet was in the lead pack throughout the race. Eric Gillis and Dylan Wykes were not far behind. All three were trying to qualify for the 2012 Olympics. Reid had already reached the tougher Canadian standard last year, so all he had to do to qualify was reach the international standard of 2 hours 15 minutes. Eric and Dylan needed to beat the Canadian standard of 2:11:29.

Canada (with its tough standard) hasn't sent a marathoner since 2000.

It was an exciting race as runner after runner (including the pacers) left the front pack leaving a group of 3 that included Reid Coolsaet. After briefly taking the lead, the wind on the way back west in the last 7 kilometers proved to be too much for Reid. The Canadian record would not be broken, but he would post his personal best of 2:10:55 finishing 3rd. He waited, watched and cheered as Eric came running towards the finish line in 4th, just beating the Canadian standard by one second. Dylan finished in 6th with a time of 2:12:56. He kept up with Eric for most of the race. In a post race interview, he is confident that he'll be able to make up the difference and qualify as well. Wishing him luck.

For now, two Canadians have qualified for the 2012 London marathon.

Bud Greenspan Presents

I was checking The Movie Network on demand to see if there was anything worth watching. I found a documentary about the 2010 Vancouver Olympics:

Bud Greenspan Presents: Vancouver 2010 Stories of Olympic Glory

What a treat. Being the Olympic fan that I am, I was surprised that I hadn't heard about it before. I thought it was a Canadian film but it's American.

I watched this film that included some amazing stories.

It started with the women's moguls. Jennifer Heil attempting (and failing) to win Canada's first medal. They told the story from Jennifer's perspective as well as the gold medal winner Hannah Kearney from the United States. It was told well enough that I still thought it was a Canadian documentary.

Other great stories included:

• Canadian Clara Hughes who won her 6th Olympic medal competing in winter and summer Olympics.
• The Chinese pairs figure skaters (3 pairs in the top 4)
• Petra Majdic the cross-country skier who won a bronze medal with five broken ribs and a collapsed lung.
• The American nordic ski team who became the first Americans to win a medal in their sport and left Vancouver with four medals.
• women's and men's ice hockey

The stories included interviews with the athletes looking back on their challenges and achievements. It was wonderful to be brought back and see highlights from the games including the opening and closing ceremonies.

Sadly, I learned afterwards that Bud Greenspan (who has directed numerous Olympic films) passed away in December 2010. This was his last documentary.

Road Cycling World Championships

I've been watching the Road Cycling World Championships this weekend. The women raced yesterday. Canadian Olympic Icon Clara Hughes gave us something to cheer about when she broke from the pack and increased her lead to 45 seconds with 10 km to go in the 140 km race. Unfortunately, she didn't have enough steam to take herself to the end and the pack caught her.

The men raced today. The British team led the peloton for most of the time that I watched with the hopes that Mark Cavendish would win the sprint at the end. They caught the leaders in the final pack. As the peloton approached the finish line after racing for 5 hours and 40 minutes, Mark Cavendish sprinted for the win; just like he often did at The Tour de France.

If Canada is not in the running for a medal at the London Olympics, I hope the British team will do it again!

Mazda Canoe Kayak Knockout

The Canadian Canoe and Kayak team was in Toronto to compete in the Mazda Canoe Kayak Knockout event yesterday.

It is such a fun event. They really should promote it better. The only reason I knew about it was because I went to the Canoe Kayak Canada website to see the schedule of events having learned of this event after the fact last year. I didn't want to miss my chance at seeing Adam van Koeverden race this year.

The event has a Facebook Page and Twitter account, but they're not updated very often. It's sad because this was a wonderful opportunity to see our national team up close heading into the London 2012 Olympics. There was also an autograph session where you could meet each member of the national team.

The events included Men's K-1, Women's K-1, Men's C-1, Women's C-1, Paracanoe and junior K1 and junior C1. Team members who would normally race K-2 or C-2 were racing on their own.

Each event would have multiple races. After each race, the slowest competitors are knocked out. Although the races are 200m (and so a sprint), there is strategy involved to try to ensure the racer doesn't get knocked out, and at the same time maintains enough energy for the following races.

The men's K1 had the most competitors starting with 39.

The top 18 moved on after the first race. In the third race, the top 14 moved on followed by the top 10 and the top 6. There were plenty of opportunities to see our favourites race and get different viewpoints.

After qualifying, the racers would paddle back to the starting line passing right by the spectators which allowed some great photos to be taken.

(Ian Mortimer)

Although Adam van Koeverden is the reason I went, I was excited to see the rest of the Canadian team including:

Mark Oldershaw

Mark de Jonge

Richard Dalton

19 year old World Champion Laurence Vincent-Lapointe

up and coming Juniors including Etienne Beauchesne:

and many more.

Results:
Men's Kayak
1. Mark de Jonge
2. Richard Dober
3. Ryan Cochrane

Women's Kayak
1. Kathleen Carole Fraser
2. Genny Orton
3. Mylanie Barre

Men's Canoe
1. Richard Dalton
2. Gabriel Beauchesne-Sevigny
3. Andrew Russell

Women's Canoe
1. Laurence Vincent-Lapointe
2. Mallorie Nicholson
3. Taylor Potts

Can't wait for London 2012!!

Don't blame Steve Nash!

I wanted to see the Canadian basketball team qualify for the London 2012 Olympics like every other Canadian Olympic fan or Canadian basketball fan.

As I watched the dying seconds of their loss to Panama, my heart went out to the team. Winning that game did not mean that they were going to the Olympics there was still a long road ahead. The loss meant that the dream was over. At the time, a lot of thoughts went through my head but the last thing I thought of was blaming Steve Nash.

I was shocked to read Steve Buffery's article entitled Thanks a Lot, Nash! I chalked it up to a sports writer who didn't do proper research, preferring to check Steve Nash's tweets in the last couple of months instead of checking Steve Nash's history. I also imagined he was just looking for a reaction. I wasn't going to give him one.

This morning, I saw an article written by Michael Grange for Sportsnet entitled Same Old Story also blaming Steve Nash along with other NBA players by declaring "Until our players truly want to play for Canada, the basketball program will continue to suffer."

I couldn't keep quiet when another sports writer was pointing the finger at Steve Nash.

Twelve teams qualify for the Olympics, we are ranked twenty third. We lost to #28 ranked Panama. Are these sport writers suggesting that Canada should upset higher ranked teams, but no one should upset Canada?

The writers I imagine are assuming that our ranking wouldn't be #23 if Steve Nash was playing. I won't argue that point, but in 2003 Steve Nash played for Team Canada and they failed to qualify for the 2004 Olympics.

Having Steve on the team is not an automatic berth to the Olympics.

Buffery says that a hockey player would be vilified for not playing for Canada and so thinks we should vilify Steve Nash. This is like comparing apples to oranges. Canadian hockey players don't have to qualify for the Olympics. Their standing at the World Championships automatically qualifies them. The Olympics are held during the NHL season. The hockey players don't give up their summers to represent their country.

When Steve helped Team Canada achieve "Mission Impossible" to qualify for the 2000 Olympics, they upset much higher ranked teams. By winning their group at the Olympics, they upset even better teams. Being ranked higher in the quarter finals, they lost. Yesterday, Canada was ranked higher on paper, but lost on the court. This is what sport is about.

After the 2000 Olympics, Steve Nash said "Hopefully kids [in Canada] will be inspired to play. That's what I really hope."

This was more than 10 years ago. Where are those kids now? Where are the sports programs and sponsorships to help those kids become the next Steve Nash? The flame has passed. Steve Nash is 37 years old and the 6th oldest active NBA player. He's not the one we should look at to get us to the Olympics Games. He's been there, done that! And did us proud!

He has often talked about the toll playing at the highest level has on his body, especially with the style of play that he and his team play. He understands his body and knows its limits. He chose to allow his body to recover in between NBA seasons. Perhaps if he was a hockey player, he would still be representing his country. He's not.

Steve Nash has made Canada proud. He spent 10 of 12 summers playing for Canada between 1991 and 2003. He helped us qualify for the 2000 Olympics. He got Canada excited about basketball. He lit the Olympic cauldron at the 2010 Olympics. That is the thanks he deserves; not those articles.

Sports writers, feel free to point your finger here or there to explain why Canada's basketball team failed to qualify for the 2012 Olympics, but don't point it at Steve Nash!

Triathlon Olympic Trials

London is hosting a World Championship triathlon this weekend in Hyde Park where athletes have the opportunity to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games.

From the London 2012 website, this is the description of the course:

At London 2012, the Triathlon will begin and end in Hyde Park. The events will begin with a 1,500m swim in the Serpentine; continue with a seven-lap, 40km bike ride around a course that takes in Buckingham Palace and the Wellington Arch; and end with a four-lap, 10km run around the Serpentine to the finish.

CBC Canada will be televising (same day tape delayed) the women's race today August 6th from 3-4:30pm and the men's race tomorrow August 7th from 2-4pm. The races can be seen live on the CBC website in the morning.

Paula Findlay is Canada's new triathlon phenom. Last month she withdrew from her home race in Edmonton at the last moment when she felt a twinge in her quad. She's still not 100% but hopefully she will be in the top 8 today which would qualify her for London 2012.

The men's race will feature Simon Whitfield who won gold at the 2000 Olympics and silver at the 2008 Olympics. London would be his fourth Olympics.

Upcoming events:

Canadian National Championships in Kelowna August 20-21

Grand Final in World Championships in Beijing September 10-11

FINA World Aquatic Championships 2011

The Aquatics Championships are being held this week.

Schedule:

Diving: July 16-24

Synchro: July 17-23

Swimming (Open Water): July 19-July 23

Swimming: July 24-31

Water Polo: July 17-30

In Canada, CBC is showing a highlights show every evening at 11:30pm. Highlights can also be seen on their website www.cbc.ca