Heartbeat Highlights

Here are some highlights from the past week in Canadian sports.

The SportCafé website is a great place to see posts from athletes about their personal experiences. The Latest News section also have news from Canadian sports organizations.

This week's highlight posts include:

• Andréanne Pichette at the Canada Cup mountain cycling (in French) with photos and video link. Click here.
• Alexandra McGee securing her spot on the Slalom kayak national team. Click here.
• Rob Watson planning on running the Ottawa 10K and ending up winning the National Championship (Ottawa) Marathon. Click here.

Canoe Kayak Piešt’any International Regatta U23

Canada will be hosting the World Junior and U23 Championships in Welland August 1-4. Canada's junior and U23 team including SportCafé co-founder Antoine Meunier represented Canada at the Piešt’any International Regatta in Slovakia this past weekend.

Here is the video for the C1 U23 200m. Antoine is in lane 8 (second from the bottom) and Ben Tardioli is in lane 5.


The strong Canadian team collected 19 medals including wins in:
U23 Women's K2 500 - Andreanne Langlois and Lissa Bissonnette
U23 Men's C1 1000 - Marc Tarling
U23 Women's K2 1000 - Madeleine Schmidt and Andreanne Langlois
U23 K2 Women 200 - Andreanne Langlois and Lissa Bissonnette
U23 C2 Men 200 - Antoine Meunier and Ben Tardioli

Full Canadian results
Full race results
YouTube Videos

Gymnastics

The Canadian Gymnastics Championships were held in Ottawa. Performance videos are available to view on Gymnastics Canada YouTube channel by clicking here.

Men's Gymnastics Champions:
Senior Floor - Robert Watson
Senior High Bar - René Cournoyer
Senior Parallel Bars - Jayd Lukenchuk
Senior Pommel Horse - Anderson Loran
Senior Rings - Kevin Lytwyn
Senior Vault - Brandon O'Neill
Senior All Around - Hugh Smith

Women's Gymnastics Champions:
Senior Floor - Gabriella Douglas
Senior Uneven Bars - Kaitlyn Hofland
Senior Beam - Ellie Black
Senior Vault - Megan Chant
Senior All Around - Ellie Black (video beam)

Senior Trampoline Champions:
Jason Burnett (video)
Samantha Sendel (video)

Judo World Masters in Russia

Antoine Valois-Fortier was disappointed with his 5th place finish but he was rewarded with the Ippon of the day. Click here to see it. His bronze medal match is at the 4:40 mark of this video.

Kelita Zupancic won the silver medal in the 70kg category. You can see her final match at the 1:26:00 mark by clicking here.

CanoeKayak Slalom Canada National Team

Team trials were held this past weekend in Minden, Ontario. More info and results.

Senior Men's K1
Five-time Olympian David Ford (Elite, National)
Ben Hayward (Elite, National, C2 Elite)
John Hastings (Elite, National)

Senior Women's K1
Jessica Groeneveld (Elite, National)
Thea Froehlich (National)

Senior Men's C1
Cameron Smedley (Elite, National, U23, C2 Elite)

Senior Women's C1
Haley Daniels (Elite, National and U23)
Alexandra McGee (National and U23)

The full list can be found here.

The Heartbeat

This week's edition of The Heartbeat includes the following events held in Canada:

• Canadian Gymnastics Championships in Ottawa
• Canadian Wheelchair Rugby Championships in Calgary
• Women's Field Hockey Canada vs Argentina in Vancouver
• Women's Basketball team in Hamilton
• Canoe Kayak Whitewater Slalom Canadian Championships in Minden, ON
• Swimming Canada Cup in Vancouver
• Diving Canadian Summer Championships in Québec City
• Canada vs USA Rugby in Edmonton
• Coupes Québec et Canada - Vélo de Montagne in Baie Saint-Paul, QC
• Marathons in Ottawa, Saskatoon and Calgary
• Soccer - Canada vs Costa Rica in Edmonton
• Boxing - Canada vs Puerto Rico in Regina
• Wrestling in Niagara Falls
• Synchronized Swimming in Ottawa
• Team Canada Volleyball in Quebec City and Mississauga
• Bouldering (Sport Climbing) World Cup in Hamilton
• Pan Am Decathlon/Heptathlon in Ottawa
• International Track & Field in Halifax and Toronto

Sports events being held around the world include soccer, cycling, beach volleyball, athletics, judo, volleyball, badminton, water polo and canoe/kayak.

Heartbeat Highlights

Here are some highlights from the past week in Canadian sports.

The SportCafé website is a great place to see posts from athletes about their personal experiences. The Latest News section also have news from Canadian sports organizations.

This week's highlight posts include:

• Lex Albrecht with a post that includes a behind-the-scenes video at the Chrono Gatineau this past weekend. Click here (will be added to SportCafé website shortly).
• Rachel Siemens competed at the Canadian Weightlifting Championships where she finished 3rd. I love her enthusiasm and insight in her post. She also shared great photos. Click here.
• Sport Climbing isn't in the Olympics yet, but it is in the running to be included in 2020. Sean McColl was 4th this past weekend at the Innsbruck World Cup. He wrote a great photo blog that gives us an appreciation for sport climbing. Click here. If you prefer to read the post from his World Cup victory the week before in Log-Dragomer, Slovenia, click here. If Sean's posts have piqued your curiosity, check out the IFSC Climbing channel with videos from the Innsbruck and Log-Dragomer World Cups. You can also see him compete at the World Cup being held in Hamilton on June 1st and 2nd. Click here for more detail.

Canoe-Kayak Sprint World Cup #2

Canada's Canoe/Kayak team competed in Racice, Czech Republic this past weekend.

If you missed Sportsnet telecast on the weekend, you can view race videos by clicking here.

You can view full race results here including A finals, B finals, semi-finals and heats.

Result highlights include three gold medals for Canada, although in non-Olympic events. Unfortunately these events were not televised on Sportsnet (and videos are not available on ICF's website).

Laurence Vincent-Lapointe won gold in the C1 200m and partnered with Sara-Jane Caumartin to win the C2 500m. You can view an interview with Laurence here. Last fall the International Canoe Federation decided to not include women's canoe at the 2016 Olympics however it will be at the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto.

Paul Bryant won gold in the C1 5000. He was 5th in the C1 500.

Other medallists included Genevieve Beauchesne-Sevigny and KC Fraser winning bronze in the K2 Women 500m (view race video here) and Gabriel Beauchesne-Sevigny and Roland Varga in C2 Men 500m (no race video).

Diving

Jennifer Abel and Pamela Ware won the silver in the 3m synchro event at a World Series event in Guadalajara, Mexico. Click here to watch the event video.

Jennifer Abel won the bronze in the 3m springboard event. Click here for the video.

In the 10m platform event, Roseline Filion won the bronze. Click here for the video.

Maxim Bouchard and Philippe Gagné were the silver medallists at a Grand Prix event in San Juan, Puerto Rico in the 10m platform event. Philippe Gagné also won the silver in the 10m platform event. At the same competition, Emma Friesen won the silver in the 3m springboard.

The Canadian diving team will be competing at the Summer Senior National Championships in Québec City this weekend to earn spots for the World Championships. The live feed will be available here starting Thursday.

Women's Sevens World Series

Rugby Sevens has been added for the 2016 Olympics.

Canada were finalists at the Cup Event held in Netherlands on the weekend.

Click here to watch video from the event.

They played the USA in the Quarter Finals (at the 1:15:15 mark on the video)

Canada met England in the semi-final (at the 4:16:30 mark)

The finals consisted of Canada and New Zealand. (at the 7:18:41 mark - although I wasn't able to get the video to work at this point. Hopefully it's an issue with my computer rather than with the video).

Here's a great article about Olympic champion Heather Moyse (bobsleigh) who played five of the six games at the event and is hoping to be chosen for the World Cup team.

Track and Field

Athletics Canada have posted Canadian results here.

Off the track, Olympian sprinters Nikkita Holder and Justyn Warner announced that they're expecting their first child on October 29th. You can read a great article about them here. Perfect timing to still be ready for Rio 2016.

Here's Justin's tweet from last week:

Justyn Warner ‏@justynwarner15 May

Look what I made #4months #October #JusKita http://instagram.com/p/ZVo4UHE8Qg/ 

2014 Olympians Get Together

(photo taken from CdnOlympicTeam twitter feed)

The 2014 Olympic Games are 9 months away but over 100 athletes gathered in Vancouver last week to prepare for the Games. The event included the Olympic Excellence Series that included workshops and inspiration as well as a Media Summit that gave the athletes a preview of the intense media attention the Olympics provides.

From the Olympic website:

"The primary goal of OES is to prepare athletes and staff for podium success by providing practical skills and strategies for the upcoming Olympic or Olympic Winter Games. The secondary objective is to inspire and motivate athletes, coaches, team leaders and media attachés, leaving everyone with greater sense of confidence and drive in their quest for the podium."

It was an opportunity for athletes to prepare for what to expect at an Olympic Games on and off the field. Past Olympic athletes shared stories about their challenges and triumphs to help each other be ready when the Games open on February 7, 2014.

Chef de Mission Steve Podborski and Assistant Chef de Mission Luc Brassard inspired the athletes as did COC President Marcel Aubut. There were multiple tweets expressing the inspiration felt after hearing Clara Hughes and Women's Soccer coach John Herdman.

During the Olympics, there are athlete profiles, interviews and photos that are shared by the media. This was an opportunity to record athlete interviews and take the athlete photos that will be seen on the Olympic websites and television programs.

Here are a couple of news reports from CBC, the official Canadian broadcaster for the 2014 Olympics:





I loved reading the media and athletes' tweets and getting a sneak peak at what was going on at the event. Click here to see an article that includes some of those tweets and photos from the Olympic.ca website and here for the CBC Olympics website.

How inspiring for these athletes to have spent a few days together. If this doesn't motivate them to give their everything in the months to come in preparation for the Games, I don't know what would. Alex Bilodeau has a great quote in the video: "Every athlete has a great story to tell". This may be a biased opinion, but I love that SportCafé is giving the platform for every athlete to continue to share their story.

The Heartbeat

This week's edition of The Heartbeat includes the following events held in Canada:

• Canadian Gymnastics Championships in Ottawa
• Team Canada Volleyball in Gatineau and Kingston
• Road Cycling in Gatineau
• Canadian Weightlifting Championships in Edmonton
• Canadian Fencing Championships in Gatineau
• Archery Canada Cup in Edmonton
• Canadian Wheelchair Rugby Championships in Calgary

The Heartbeat

This week's edition of The Heartbeat includes the Canoe-Kayak National Team Trials in Montreal and Team Canada volleyball in Gatineau and Kingston.

Sports being televised or streamed include triathlon, canoe/kayak, swimming, diving, athletics, cycling and table tennis.

The Heartbeat

This week's edition of The Heartbeat include events in Ottawa, Markham, Toronto and Gatineau.

Sports being televised or streamed include diving, beach volleyball, athletics, wheelchair tennis, taekwondo, cycling, athletics, judo, pentathlon and squash.

The Heartbeat

This week's edition of The Heartbeat include events in Montréal, Québec, London, Toronto and Gatineau.

Sports being televised or streamed include diving, beach volleyball, sailing, athletics, wheelchair tennis, karate and badminton.

Look For The Helpers

Last Monday morning, I watched the Boston Marathon online before going out for the afternoon.

I couldn't believe it when I returned home to learn of the news of the bombings.

So many stories have been written and shared since then, but the favourite quote I read was from Mr. Rogers:

"When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping"

From first respondents to competitors to spectators, countless people helped others last Monday.

To see examples, all you have to do is google Boston Marathon helpers and there are numerous articles detailing those who helped while facing adversity.

Yesterday, Toronto held the Yonge Street 10K run. It starts a block from my house and I have often gone to watch the start.

Seeing runners wearing special bibs reading "Runners United In Support" made this Yonge Street 10K more memorable and special.

Race director Alan Brookes who was in Boston last Monday (and London during the week) spoke at the start of the event saying that the spirit of the marathon and running would not be diminished. He said that "while we are still very much in shock and sadness, the whole community, globally, seems to have come together in shows of support and it’s wonderful that we have the opportunity in Toronto". There was then a 30 second moment of silence for Boston before the start of the event. 

The elite runners taking the start included Olympian Eric Gillis (red sleeves and black vest near the left). He would finish the race in 2nd place behind Kip Kangogo (black shorts white vest - 2nd from the right). Click here for a race recap.

The women's eventual winner Lanni Marchant is seen to the left and behind Eric.

Over 7500 runners ran the race. It was inspiring to see so many fit and happy people ready to challenge themselves. 

This is the 4th group starting.

The first group that started were the handcycles:

Unfortunately at the London Marathon yesterday, the wheelchair athletes did not start first. This in part lead to Canadian paralympian (and 2012 Boston Marathon champion) Josh Cassidy being involved in an accident when the 2012 Olympic women's marathon winner veered left at a watering station into the path of Josh who was in the process (along with multiple other wheelchair athletes) of passing the group of women leaders. The accident ruined both their chances of winning the race, but luckily not their season or careers.

The London Marathon paid tribute to Boston as did the Vancouver Sun Fun Run which saw over 48000 runners participating. The city of Boston will pause today at 2:50pm to mark the moment of the bombings a week ago.

Running (and races) are happy events where many people achieve their dream of simply completing the race or reaching a personal best. They share their achievements with family, friends and supporters. Continuing to run and pursue their passion is another way that these runners are helping everyone recover from the Boston bombings. 

The Heartbeat

This week's edition of The Heartbeat include events in Whistler, Montreal, Longueuil, Vaudreuil, Toronto and Fredericton.

Sports being televised or streamed include Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships, Federation Cup tennis, triathlon, judo, curling, diving and snowboard.

An event to meet Simon Whitfield is being held in Vancouver.

The Heartbeat

This week's edition of The Heartbeat include events in Whistler, Montreal and Vaudreuil.

Sports being televised or streamed include figure skating, swimming, Boston marathon, Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships and synchronized swimming.

An event to meet Simon Whitfield is being held in Vancouver.

The Heartbeat

This week's edition of The Heartbeat include events in Victoria, Vancouver, Edmonton, Québec and Ottawa.

Sports being televised or streamed include Men's World Curling Championships, Women's Ice Hockey World Championships, Davis Cup tennis, swimming, para-swimming, women's soccer, and triathlon.