Clara Hughes Plays Tour Guide At The Wall

       

 
Speed skater Clara Hughes plays tour guide on her website this week. During a recent World Cup event in Berlin, on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Wall coming down, Hughes took a trip to the East Side Gallery in Berlin.

The East Side Gallery has more than 100 paintings on the once impenetrable Wall, done by artists from all over the world to express -- as the gallery’s website says -- “that time of change and express the euphoria and great hopes for a better and different future that characterized the time of when the Wall came down.”

The postage stamps up above really don’t do justice to the two galleries of photos that Hughes and put together. Do yourself a favour and check it out here.

Cool Opportunity: Speeking of speed skating, one of the neat things about the Olympics is the way it can inspire kids to get active. Despite the over-commercialization and other ills of the Games, it still has that power.

Hughes got inspired by watching Gaetan Boucher at the 1988 Calgary Olympics. So did her teammate Kristina Groves.

This year’s Canadian speed skating team will undoubtedly inspire youngsters with their performances and because of the kind of people they are.

If you want to get a head start on seeing what the sport’s about and how you might get your kids involved, the Markham Speed Skating Club is hosting an Olympic Celebration Race Meet on Dec. 5  and inviting speed skaters from across Ontario to come for a fun day of racing.

The meet is just two weeks before the Olympic torch comes to Markham and the event is an Olympic celebration designed to encourage future Olympians.

Sounds like a great idea. You can find out more at about the club and the event at http://www.markhamspeedskating.org/index.html

Torch Issue Still Burning: Former Globe and Mail columnist William Houston offers an interesting update on the controversial decision of his one-time bosses and colleagues to become full participants in the Olympic torch relay at his website http://www.truthandrumours.net/

Snow Dreams: Are We Ready For This?

Canadian cross country ski ace  Alex Harvey training in Sweden (above) with teammate and buddy Graham "the Nish" Nishikawa. Below, they take a breather at what another teammate Devon Kershaw reports is Harvey's living quarters high in the mountains.  He's gotta be pulling our chain, something these guys like to do a lot with each other on Twitter.

Shortly after doing an interview yesterday on Skype on his computer in a coffee shop -- where Kershaw said you leave your boots at the door and the floors are heated (Sweet!) -- Harvey delivered the following tweet: "Spying on Kershaw while he's giving an interview. I heard my name way too many times...we need to have a talk later."

 

Kicking back with Mellisa Hollingsworth

When she’s not skeleton racing, Canada’s Mellisa Hollingsworth gets her competitive kicks from barrel racing on her prized horse Rascal.

She says there are comparisons between the two.

“It is competitive,” said Hollingsworth. “You have the same adrenaline and the same nerves and there’s also speed involved and the tactics of making sure that you are setting your horse up with the right pocket, meaning far away enough from the barrel that you’re not going to knock it over but tight enough so that you’re gaining speed and accelarating off. I think there’s a lot of parallels to skeleton.”

But there’s one very different aspect when it comes to barrel racing.

“You’re working with a horse. It has a mind of its own,” she said. “Sometimes, we say our sled have a mind of their own but it’s not quite the same.”

No Offence Intended -- But Some Taken: It seems I have offended the good people of Eckville, Alt., Hollingsworth’s beloved hometown.

This email came in from a reader first thing this morning:

Good article.

Yes,we are all proud of her.

HOWEVER,To say Eckville is a "remote village", is a bit of an insult.

It is 40 kms. west of Red Deer (Jamie Sale) and just down the road from where Brent and Brian Sutter live (Sylvan Lake).

Hardly as remote as Sudbury,Ontario ... for example.

To say that a place just 200 Kms. from the premier city in Canada (CALGARY) is remote, is a perfect example of the pompous, arrogant and insufferable attitude of most who live in and around Canada's best example of sport's futility........Toronto.The land of the Laffs.

Did you actually visit her home town or did you write your article from the comfort of your Toronto office??

Really, no offence intended.

Rush to Victory Highlight of Good Week for Canada

Here are some of the highlights of a busy week for Canada as things heat up on the Road to Vancouver:

* The biggest development had to be Lyndon Rush’s victory in the season-opening World Cup four-man event in Park City, Utah.

The last time anyone not named Pierre Lueders won a World Cup for Canada was Chris Lori in the mid ‘90s (They don’t keep great records of these things). Even Lueders has struggled in the four-man event for years. Hence the development of the Whistler Bomber for the 2010 Games and it hasn’t panned out so far.

It’s only one race, but what a race. This could be Rush’s big breakthrough. Plus, you know an athlete of Lueders’ calibre is likely to put himself back into the mix.

* The Canadian short track team finished their World Cup season on a strong note with seven medals at a three-day meet in Marquette, Mich. Their five individual medals came from five different skaters, indicating a depth that could pay off at the Olympics.

Their most significant win was probably in the men’s 5,000m relay Sunday, where they knocked off the powerhouse Koreans for the first time this season, a feat achieved without top skater Charles Hamelin, kept out for precautionary measures after suffering a concussion in an earlier race.

“We showed everybody we are strong and ready to win anytime,” said Francois Hamelin, Charles’ younger brother, a relay member and winner of a 1,000-metre bronze Sunday.

They won’t race again at this level until the Olympics. It’s kind of strange their World Cup season is already over and the speed season hasn’t even begun for the alpine skiing racers. But it sure gives them a lot of time to prepare.

* The Canadian men’s cross country team really bears watching this season.

They’ve got a young and confident star on the rise in Alex Harvey, a strong supporting cast in the likes of Devon Kershaw, Ivan Babikov, George Grey and others, a tremendous esprit de corps and a motivated coaching staff led by Dave Wood and recent addition Inge Braten.

Kershaw won a 15-kilometre FIS skating race Sunday in Sweden. When he couldn’t get a post-race report on his own website, Harvey let him use his. Nice teamwork. You can check it out here.

* Christine Nesbitt is dominant on the ice right now for Canada’s long track speed skating team, but some of her most impressive performances are coming in the post-race teleconferences held by Speed Skating Canada.

Nesbitt hasn’t been all that comfortable doing interviews in the past, but has done a great job this season and really sounded poised Sunday after her third World Cup victory, offering a lot of good insights and giving reporters plenty to work with.

That bodes well given the increasing exposure she will get if she keeps up these results.

* Olympic champion Chandra Crawford raced this past weekend for the first time in more than a year, placing 20th in a classic cross country sprint FIS race in Sweden. She missed all of last season with various problems, most prominently with her ankles. She is now racing in custom boots made by Fischer.

We checked in with Crawford after the race:

“It was a real doozy,” wrote Crawford in an e-mail. “With the goal of being very fast three weeks from now to make my Olympic criteria in Dusseldorf I let my ambition off the leash to let it run and did a big week of hard work. Enough of it to make it very hard to race today. And yet as I shuffled off into the woods to mull over my abysmal lack of zip today I couldn't squeeze out a single tear for today's rough performance. I can't help but feeling lucky to be racing and like everything is ultimately going in the right direction... down the track, one foot in front of the other and with tricks and treats to take home from each experience.”

Even the kid’s emails have verve.

We’ll do our best to keep you updated on this blog an at twitter.com/TheStarkSide  . Please feel free to pass along any suggestions.

IOC Likely Jumping Over Decision Against Women

International Olympic Committee members can sleep well tonight in their comfy beds -- you know, the four-poster types with chocolates on the pillows -- because the B.C. Court of Appeal has turned down the women's ski jumpers attempt to get into the 2010 Winter Games.

The Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC), which has never wanted women's ski jumping from the get-go despite all protestations to the contrary, is undoubtedly breathing a sigh of relief with today's decision, too.

But let's not forget that the courts have found that there's merit to the women's claims they are being discriminated against. They just decided that VANOC could not be held responsible for it because they could not force the IOC to put women's ski jumping on the roster.

Well, they could have strongly lobbied for it -- which again we emphasize they didn't.

The women jumpers focused their case on VANOC, arguing that because public money was involved they were compelled to stage events for both women and men or else be in violation of the Charter of Rights.

The ski jumpers had the support of great past athletes like Olympic ski legend Nancy Greene, now a senator, and Olympic cross country champion Beckie Scott, because they both recognized the great opportunity to further the cause of women in sport on home snow.

Too bad that VANOC and IOC didn’t have the same foresight.

Now, VANOC doesn't have to worry about having to pull out extra resources it obviously doesn't have, as they continually talk about scaling back all their original plans.

One has to wonder, though, if they're going to scale back the hospitality for the IOC members and their guests. Wouldn't want to bet on that.

Let These Women Jump

Here’s hoping the B.C. Court of Appeal rules in favour of the women’s ski jumpers still fighting for their right to compete at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

These women deserve that opportunity. They’re certainly as worthy as the athletes who will compete in 2010 in the new Olympic sport of ski cross.  And that’s no slight on ski cross, which is going to put on an exciting show to be sure.

But in terms of the International Olympic Committee’s arguments against women’s ski jumping because they lack for number of competitors and competing countries, they could have used the same logic against ski cross.

But they chose not to because the TV networks wanted a sport like ski cross, because it’s basically roller derby on skis and snowboard cross was such a huge hit at the 2006 Turin Games.

What women’s ski jumping needed was skintight suits and bigtime crashes to get any help from the dinosaurs at the IOC and the TV networks.

In July, a B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled that while it may be discriminatory not to let the women jump at the 2010 Games, it was not the Vancouver Organizing Committee’s (VANOC’s) decision and that VANOC didn’t have any jurisdiction over the IOC.

But it’s been said here before that VANOC never had any interest in adding women’s ski jumping to the 2010 Games, despite public protestations to the contrary. Strong support from VANOC would have been a huge boost for the women and could have ultimately helped swayed the IOC.

The ski jumpers have had the support of great past athletes like Olympic ski legend Nancy Greene, now a senator, and Olympic cross country champion Beckie Scott, because they both recognized the great opportunity to further the cause of women in sport on home snow.

Too bad that VANOC and IOC didn’t have the same foresight.

(You can follow the tweets of the women's ski jumping campaign at LetWomenJump)

In Defence of Pierre Lueders

As someone who rode to Olympic gold for Canada with Pierre Lueders, Dave MacEachern believes his old partner gets a bad rap.

Although the two had their share of battles during their competitive days, MacEachern said he grew to appreciate Lueders over the years and was upset to see the way he was portrayed in yesterday’s story in the Star , detailing his personality clash with top Canadian brakeman Lascelles Brown, who refuses to push for him.

“Pierre, love him or hate him, he is the best damn thing that’s ever happened to this sport in Canada,” said MacEachern, a bobsleigh commentator for CBC Sports. “And I’m really proud of all the stuff we did together. It was an amazing ride.

“For me, I think it’s such a positive thing. Pierre’s going to his fifth Olympics. He’s got probably 27 World Cup victories, a gazillion other accomplishments, 90something World Cup medals. I just hate to see such a positive thing being dragged down by something that should be resolved by numbers.

“Put you feelings in your briefcase and go to work. If the team doesn’t recognize the situation and put the top driver with the top brakeman, then that’s the problem.”

MacEachern goes on.

“The funding comes from results. And if it wasn’t for Pierre, the funding wouldn’t be there. Yeah, he’s a bull. But he’s a bull that’s really good at what he does. He can win. People take different approaches. I was a baby of 11 and Pierre was a first generation Canadian, one of two kids. We were polar opposites. I couldn’t understand this guy for the world. After our first Olympics together, I just decided to embrace Pierre.”

As a fierce competitor, MacEachern can’t understand why Brown is potentially giving up a shot at an Olympic gold medal. MacEachern was the brakeman with Lueders when they tied with Italy for gold at the 1998 Nagano Games. Brown won a silver with Lueders in the two-man event at the 2006 Turin Olympics, but they've since had a serious falling out.

“At the end of the day, I wasn’t there to make a longlasting friendship with a group of guys,” said MacEachern. “I was there to win an Olympic gold medal. I would expect if someone’s training the way you have to train to be the top brakeman on the Canadian team, that he’d be training for an Olympic gold medal and you get on the fastest bus that’s going to get you there. And in my opinion, that’s Pierre Lueders.

“I can’t imagine not wanting to win an Olympic gold medal. I know Robert Esmie and Bruny Surin and Donovan Bailey and Glenroy Gilbert didn’t have a lot in common, but they got the stick around the track and won an Olympic gold medal.”

But Brown told the Star that friendship is more important to him than an Olympic medal.

“That’s awesome,” said MacEachern. “That’s a very admirable trait and quality to have. But I would love to see them win a gold medal. If he’s (Lascelles is) that good, with a properly structured four-man sled, Pierre could win two medals.

“I don’t think Pierre’s going to comment on this story. I don’t think he’s going to comment on anything Lascelles says. He’s moved on and if Lascelles doesn’t want to push him, I think he’s going to try to find athletes as good or better than him to push him. That’s hopefully what he’s done.”

Sliding into the Season: You can watch the World Cup men's and women's skeleton season opener on live streaming today from Park City, Utah, on the CBC Sports website. First run begins at 10:50 a.m. 

It should be interesting to see how Michelle Kelly fares after being reinstated Tuesday night following a disqualification for manipulating her runners that originally cost her a spot on the World Cup team and put her career in jeopardy. Read a story about Kelly from today's newspaper here.

Remembrance Day and Auntie Mickey

 

This is May Gillman -- my Auntie Mickey -- and she served over in London during World War II.

She is among a special group of veterans featured in this tremendous article in the Star by Nancy J. White.

She was an Air Force Paymaster and was buried amid the rubble in a dance hall for three days when a German buzz bomb hit. She sang to keep her spirits up.

She's still singing.  Amazing, amazing lady.  We love her so much.

Mr. Colbert, Meet Canada’s New Complaints Commissioner

Canada cheating to win medals at the 2010 Winter Games? Doping with beaver musk? Being labelled as “syrup suckers” and “Saskatch-e-whiners with frosty sphincters”?

These are among the allegations levelled last week at Canada by funnyman Stephen Colbert on his popular late night show.

You can check it out here in its entirety here on the Comedy Network (the juicy stuff starts at about the 5:45 mark).

Olympic speed skating champion Joey (I Will Not Turn The Other) Cheek went as far as calling the limiting of access to 2010 facilities to other nations leading to the Games “a dick move.” Of course, conveniently forgetting the U.S. did the exact same thing at the 2002 Salt Lake Games.

Well, Canada is not taking this lightly.

Deeply chagrined and embarrassed at being called out by Colbert, Canada has appointed an official complaints commissioner to deal with this serious assault on its integrity, not to mention the maligning of the merits of beaver musk. (BTW, the Saskatchewan Frosty Sphincters would be a helluva hockey team name.)

Anyway, after a long search, Canada has even decided to dip into its own ranks of Olympic athletes for its new 2010 complaints commissioner.

Meet Olivier “Ollywood” Rochon, a 20-year-old sparkplug and up-and-coming freestyle aerialist (Featured last week in the Star).

We’ve been able to obtain footage of Rochon training for his new duties at the end of last season in Thailand at a pub featuring Muy Thai boxing.

That’s him in the red trunks in the headgear going against a professional Muy Thai boxer. (Yup, that's really him.) This guy is going to be great in this role. He can take a lot of punishment and never stops coming.

Syrup suckers, eh.

2015 Pan Am Games Needs A Strong Ombudsman

As one of its first acts in organizing the 2015 Pan Am Games, Toronto needs to appoint an effective and unfettered ombudsman.

These projects are way too rife with opportunists and nepotism -- not to mention a whole lot of other “ists” and “isms” -- and it’s critical that the committee that runs this project to not only be seen to do the right thing but TO DO the right thing.

There’s a lot of skepticism about the Games and every decision taken has to be made with the best interest of the city, sport, kids and athletes at the forefront, not personal interests or ambition.

Please send along any suggestions as to who you think would fit the bill. I'm sure those running the 2015 Pan Ams would appreciate the help.

One person who comes to mind from personal experience is Doug Hamilton, an Olympic rowing bronze medalist and world champion who is now a successful lawyer. He was Rowing Canada’s high performance director during the glory days of Marnie McBean, Silken Laumann and Derek Porter during the 1992 and 1996 Olympics.

He got involved because the rowing program was a mess at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, where he last competed. He did it all as an unpaid volunteer and declined to travel to events because he knew the coaches and athletes didn’t need him there to do their jobs. In other words, he definitely was not there for personal glory.

He was heavily involved in Toronto’s unsuccessful bid for the 2008 Olympics -- the athletes and others who worked with him sang his praises. Again, it was all unpaid volunteer work. He was part of the 2015 Pan Am bid, but apparently walked away because he found too many people with their own agendas.

Sounds like a perfect ombud to me – if he would take such a role. Also sounds like the kind of guy some people involved with the Games might not want around.

A Touch of Klassen: There was a very good sign that speed skater Cindy Klassen is on the right path in her difficult comeback from double knee surgery at the World Cup in Berlin this past weekend, her first competition in nearly two years.

Klassen was paired with Christine Nesbitt on Sunday in the women’s 1,500 metres and she stuck right with her teammate off the start, which is usually Nesbitt’s strong suit at that distance. Nesbitt thought she wasn’t going fast enough because she hadn’t put more distance between herself and Klassen after one lap, but she’d underestimated her teammate.

Nesbitt wound up winning by nearly a second and a half, while Klassen was a solid ninth in the race.

“To be honest, she’s way further ahead than I expected her to be at this point,” said Nesbitt.

Sweet Ride: The Canadian speed skating team takes about an eight-hour bus ride from Berlin to the Netherlands today for the next World Cup, but it should be a sweet one.

The medalists at the Berlin World Cup all got big chocolate bears on the podium along with their medals and flowers. Nesbitt and teammate Britanny Schussler, third in the 1,500 metres, planned on cracking open the hollow bears on the bus ride to share with their mates.

Blurring Lines: The Globe and Mail has an article on Olympic ambush marketing, always an interesting topic. The only thing they forgot to mention is that the Globe is the “official” newspaper of the Olympics.

Wonder if that has any effect on all their fawning coverage of the torch relay, in which nine members of the Globe – including Phillip Crawley, publisher and ceo; John Stackhouse, editor-in-chief and prominent columnists Roy MacGregor, Stephen Brunt and Gary Mason – are carrying the Olympic torch.

Blurred lines, indeed.