Short Trackers A Hair-Raising Bunch

This is one impressive looking crew, Canada's short track speed skating team, all decked out in their Olympic racing suits with the guys sporting a little extra facial hair.

They've got their Games faces on in this picture taken for Speed Skating Canada by Simon Pichette. Those are “playoff” beards you see, a little team building exercise, although it's an area in which baby-faced Guillaume Bastille (third from left) has certainly struggled.

Colleague Dave Feschuk returned from a media day in Montreal with the team this week (he got this story and a lot more for his story bank) and reports the team appears poised and primed to do some damage in Vancouver.

That's high praise, given that Fescher believes in compliments about as much as Leaf coach Ron Wilson does self-criticism or Mark McGwire self-reflection.

Feschuk is a grumpy young man. He's not afraid to ruffle feathers. Just ask the Raptors or Leafs. So it's good enough for me when he says he likes what he sees in this team.

Besides, Speed Skating Canada communications ace Mylene Croteau has been haranguing me all season for ignoring the short track team (Guilty as charged. Hey, it's hard to keep track of everybody! Short track has indeed gotten short changed.)

So here's the team from left to right: Olivier Jean, François-Louis Tremblay, Guillaume Bastille, Tania Vicent, Marianne St-Gelais, Kalyna Roberge, Valérie Maltais, Jessica Gregg, François Hamelin, older brother Charles Hamelin.

Keep an eye on them.

Hughes For Flagbearer: The story on Clara Hughes in today's Star gives you an idea of why she's such a great choice for flagbearer and the inspiring story she has to share. (Thought we might have gone a bit overboard on some of the headlines. It isn't an untold story. I actually wrote about the troubled past she overcame after the 2002 Salt Lake Games, but it's a tale certainly worth retelling at this point.)

But if you want to get another perspective on why Hughes will make a tremendous flagbearer, you should read the blog she posted on her website on Thursday about her relationship with the Four Host First Nations and the "brushing off" ceremony she attended. That's what she's all about, reaching out, making connections, trying to make a difference.

Scott Russell of CBC, who does a fantastic job on Olympic sport, also had a nice piece on Hughes.

Cool New Website: Elizabeth Etue probably knows women's hockey better than anyone. She's written a book with Hayley Wickenheiser, done a lot of documentary work on the game and now has established what's being billed as “the one and only site and forum with in-depth information and entertainment for fans, players, parents, coaches and media in the women's international hockey world.”

You should check it out at winih.com

They are also looking for people to send them stories and pictures during the Games.

Bringing The Athletes To Who Matters - The Kids!

It was quite the scene yesterday at Olympic Heights School in Calgary as Canada's bobsleigh and skeleton team for the 2010 Winter Games was unveiled in the gymnasium.

The hallway was lined with hundreds of kids dressed in red and white and waving small flags as people entered the school. It went all the way to the gym, where for the team announcement some 700 screaming kids eventually jammed in for the event, a sea of red and white again.

The school has had a theme of “Mission Impossible” all year for their gym program so the music from the old TV show played as athletes went up to the podium. Their names were each announced by a different student, the athletes low-fiving everyone along the way (see above pic of skeleton racer Jon Montgomery and below of bobsledder Pierre Lueders enjoying the moment, by photographer Todd Korol of Reuters.)

“It was like they were rock stars,” said Bobsleigh Skeleton Canada public relation director Chris Dornan, who came up with the idea.

It made them feel like rock stars for a moment, too.

“The kids had a blast,” said bobsleigh pilot Helen Upperton. “It was kind of like a boost of energy. Being out in the community and talking to kids and feeling how excited the country is to have an Olympics, you feel like what you're doing actually means something.

“Amateur athletes don't get a lot back of out what we do. We don't make any money. You do your sport because you love it and you want to challenge yourself and you want to inspire your country. This is one of the ways we get to see what we do actually matters so it's really fun.”

Mellisa Hollingsworth, the overall World Cup champion heading into the Olympics, hit the right note on the playground to podium theme.

“I am also a believer that the Olympics are about encouraging all of us to get away from our television sets and video games and living healthier lives through sport and recreational activities,” she said. “I believe this starts in our school gym classes so I think this is a fantastic place to hold our team announcement ... in a place responsible for a healthier world and the foundation of our Olympic journey.”

Check out this CTV video of the event. I believe what Dornan has done here is created the template for amateur sport on how this kind of event should be held in the future. Take it to the kids. Take it to the gyms. Yes, it was a media event, too. But too often the Olympic sport community has relied on the media to get their message out. The media is generally only interested when an Olympics is happening – or there's a drug scandal.

By taking it to a school, you're addressing the constituency you really want to directly without having to rely on the media. Yes, it's only one school. But one school at a time and who knows how many kids might be inspired. And if the media are there to relay the message, all the better. More than ever, the Olympic sports community needs to show the community the value of the message they have. They've got incredible messengers to do it, too.

Give this story from today's Star a read about the way that Shelley-Ann Brown of Pickering and Jennifer Ciochetti of Edmonton handled the incredibly stressful situation of competing against one another for an Olympic berth. You can't tell me kids – and we adults for that matter – can't learn something from that.

“One Grade 4 student came up to us after and said thank you so much, you gave me the best day of my life,” said Dornan. “That's pretty cool. That's the power of the Olympics.”

Olympic Prize Money Should Be Tax Free

With the issue of Olympic prize money in the news, let me get on one of my hobby horses. No, it's not that the men's hockey team shouldn't be getting the money. The Canadian Olympic Committee made the absolute right call in including them.

This has to do with the feeling in this corner that the money should be tax free for most of the athletes, not the men's hockey team, mind you.

It's tax free in such countries as China and Russia and probably many others, but not here.

The Aussies have really got it right. The Australian Olympic Committee waged a $1.1 million, 11-year court battle to make Olympic medal prize money tax-free for its athletes struggling to make ends meet. The only ones who pay taxes Down Under are those earning enough prize and sponsporship to be "carrying on a business of sport, " such as former swim star Ian Thorpe.

That two-tiered system makes perfect sense and let's hope someone in Canada with some clout takes up that fight for the athletes. Maybe it will be incoming COC president Marcel Aubut, a guy with a lot of passion for Olympic athletes and plenty of connections.

It bothers me that sport, in this case Olympic sport, gets treated as a bastard child when it comes to considering the merits of athletic contributions to society.

Prize money in the arts and sciences – book awards and such – can be considered tax-exempt by the Canada Revenue Agency as a "prescribed prize, " which are described in the regulations as those received for "meritorious achievement in the arts, the sciences or service to the public."

Well, winning an Olympic medal at a home Olympics is a “service to the public” these eyes when you consider the feelings of national pride that will be created.

When the COC introduced prize money for the first time for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, they requested and received an opinion from the CRA stating it was taxable income.

In Ontario, assuming an athlete had no additional income and was single, that meant a $2,140 hit on gold-medal prize money of $20,000 and $1,037 on the silver-medal award of $15,000. Bronze-medal winners wouldn't have to pay taxes on their $10,000 if they didn't make additional income.

Anyway, this is the perfect time for someone to take up this battle for Canada's Olympians. More than the money involved, it's the principle, that what they do should be seen as valuable to their country. Most certainly aren't getting paid much for it.

Hockey Money Makes Cents: The COC took the right decision in making the prize money for medals at the 2010 Winter Games open to the men's hockey team as well – it's $20,000 for gold, $15,000 for silver and $10,000 for bronze.

It would have been a bad signal to exclude them, even if it seems ridiculous that players earning such huge salaries would need the extra cash.

Let's hope that they do the right thing if they earn some bonus money – hopefully $20,000 – and donate it collectively to a worthy cause. That would be quite a statement.

It would not be surprising to see some of their Olympic teammates from other sports, who certainly aren't on the same pay scale, to put it mildly, share the wealth if they end up on the podium.

Speed skater Clara Hughes donated $10,000 to the humanitarian group Right To Play after winning gold at the 2006 Turin Games, where there was no prize money for Canadian athletes.

No-Brainer: Speaking of Hughes, there is a growing consensus that she will be the flagbearer when it's announced on Friday. She's definitely my choice, as declared last month.

My buddy, grumpy ol' George Johnson of the Calgary Herald, called it a no-brainer in his column today. Georgie is a bit of an expert in the area of no-brainers so let's hope this is a done deal.

Stories That Need To Be Told

Don't know if you had a chance to read freestyle aerialist Ryan Blais' heartbreaking story of missing the Canadian Olympic team for the second straight Games.

It's pretty compelling stuff, told with passion and class by Blais, the articulate 30-year-old from Grande Prairie, Alta.

His teammates might use adjectives other than articulate. Once Blais starts talking, there' really no stopping the guy.

Which brings me to an idea: Why not have athletes such as Blais going around to schools during the Olympics telling kids about their journeys?

Yes, they didn't make it to the Vancouver Games. But their experiences are so rich and they did what's most important – they put their hearts and souls into chasing their dreams.  Isn't that what it should be about?

Sure, it's a little late in the game (or Games) to organize something like this. But what school would turn down such an opportunity? One wonders if the Canadian Olympic Committee could mobilize something like this. It sounds like something that would be up the alley on the innovative CAN Fund, though their resources aren't so big.

Blais said something very poignant in an interview with the Star on Saturday, the morning after the most gutwrenching night of his life.

“I'm a dreamer,” said Blais, who started a fund to help young athletes. “I always have these fantasies and one of my fantasies is if I went to Vancouver and got on the podium, I would refuse to talk only about me to the media.

“I would remind them 'You have to remember what amateur athletes put on the line. There's a lot of people over there that you're not paying attention to and they're heartbroken and that's a story that needs to be told, too.' I don't get the chance to do that now.”

He should get that chance. And so should a lot of other athletes. There's a pretty special group who didn't make it to the Games this time around, people like aerialist Deidra Dionne, alpine skiers Gen Simard, John Kucera, Kelly VanderBeek, Francois Bourque, Anna Goodman, Larissa Yurkiw, Aleisha Cline and Davey Barr in ski cross, skeleton racer Carla Pavan, hockey players Delaney Collins and Gillian Ferrari, short track speed skater Amanda Overland ... I'm missing many others, but you get the idea. You would have a roster of pretty remarkable athletes to inspire kids.

Blais is right. It is a story that needs to be told.

Here's a nice video profile of Blais done by teammate Warren Tanner, another guy with a good story to tell who did not make it to the Games:

Quebec Speed Skaters Want To Raise The Roof

One of my favourite things about reporting on Canada's Olympic athletes – and probably what's kept me going for 25-plus years of it – is their passion for what they do. I know it sounds corny, but it is inspiring to be around.

In that vein, speed skater Shannon Sibold sent me an email recently to state the case for a roof for the speed skating oval in Quebec City. She was born in Calgary but trains in Quebec City, where they've longed for a covered oval but have yet to be able to pull it off.  She was hoping I would do a story on it, but I though she presented things so well that this was the best forum.

Here's what she had to write:

 

   Dear Mr. Starkman

    My name is Shannon Sibold. I am a member of the Canadian long track speed skating development team. You've probably never heard of me since my results have been far from news-worthy this season, but if you don't mind, I would like to pitch you a potential story.

    As you undoubtedly know, of the 16 members of the Olympic long track team, only one skater, François-Olivier Roberge, trains out of Québec City. In Canada our two national training centres are Calgary and Québec City, and I suppose you could say in the battle of national centres, Calgary dominated. Basically ever since the oval in Calgary opened, Québec City has been trying to get the funding to put a roof on its oval, because with each passing Olympics, fewer and fewer skaters from Québec are succeeding in reaching Olympic level. To give you an idea, in 1988, nine out of ten men and I think it was 80% of the womens' long track team hailed from Québec. Now they are down to one skater, well two if you count Mathieu (Giroux), but he trains in the West. That statistic is shocking when you consider that 90% of all speed skaters in Canada come from Eastern Canada.

    Herein lies the complexity of this issue. When one looks at the facts from an objective perspective, it seems obvious that if one wishes to reach the pinnacle of his sport, he should pack up and move to Calgary. That is what Mathieu did, and look at where he is now. For years I too was of that mindset, and having been born and raised in Calgary, but two years ago I took a leap of faith and moved to Québec to train under Gregor Jelonek. Having now seen how the two training centres differ in philosophy and training, I have much more sympathy for the Quebeckers who do not wish to move to Calgary, and I believe it is imperative for the growth of the sport in Canada that a covered oval be built in the province of Québec.

    Mr. Starkman, there is SO MUCH talent in this province, it is insane, and it breaks my heart that the young athletes of Quebec are not able to exploit their talents fully, because they don't have the facilities. Time and again we see young promising junior skaters from Quebec dominate at 18 and 19 years old, only to fade (especially in the longer distances) as seniors because they simply can't get the on-ice volume into their legs when they don't get ice until November. And the solution is not just to ship them to Calgary, because then you are asking the athletes to deal with post-secondary school in their second language, and a whole host of fish out of water English/French cultural challenges. In order for an athlete to perform optimally, he must have top-quality coaching, be well supported, have access to the best training facilities, but must also feel comfortable and at ease in his living and training environment. I have spoken at length about the cultural challenges of the training as a francophone in Calgary with Gregor and Robert Tremblay, and François-Olivier, and they are great sources of expertise on the issue.

    I guess you could call this training facility thing a uniquely Canadian problem, one that highlights the complexity of optimizing the performances of Canadian athletes coming from two distinct cultures. The point is, Canada is a power house in long track speed skating, there is no doubt. But if there was a covered oval in Quebec, I guarantee you that the percentage of Quebec-based Olympians would jump dramatically. Think of how many short track skaters would try long track if they could skate inside, close to home. Canada would be UNSTOPPABLE!

    Anyways, I hope my pitch to you sparked your interest. I know the Quebec Oval committee has been doing well in getting its message out to the French media, about the covered oval that is, but I think in English Canada the topic is largely unknown. I am hoping, for the good of the sport, that with the eyes of the country turned to Canadian sport during the upcoming Olympics, people will see how important a covered oval in Quebec is to the long term development of speed skating in Canada.

-Shannon Sibold

Hollingsworth has new crown heading to Olympics

Canada's Mellisa Hollingsworth will be wearing the leader's yellow bib at the 2010 Winter Olympics after wrapping up her second overall World Cup skeleton title in the last four years.

The 29-year-old from Eckville, Alta, is one of the country's hottest athletes heading into the Games, having won seven medals in eight World Cup races this season, including a third-place finish Friday in Igls, Austria, to sew up a title that was one of her major objectives.

It's a fairly similar story to the 2006 Olympic season when Hollingsworth had a breakout campaign, winning medals in every World Cup race and capturing a bronze at the Turin Games.

She has had some issues with the lightning fast track in Whistler, where she was leading after the first run at last February's pre-Olympic first run but had a disastrous second run and wound up ninth. She also struggled there in training last spring.

But she's done a lot of work with veteran sports psychologist Cal Botterill leading to the Games and is a very well grounded athlete who's able to stay in the moment.

“I just don’t want to get ahead of myself,” said Hollingsworth earlier this season. “Once you start thinking ‘I’m so great,’ that’s when things start falling apart. I think that’s the key is keeping an open mind and always be willing to learn. You’ll always learn, whether it’s from an experienced teammate or from a development slider. Somebody’s going to pick something up. I think that’s what life is.”

Hollingsworth beat out Shelley Rudman of Great Britain for the overall title. Anja Huber of Germany won Friday's race, followed by teammate Kerstin Szymkowiak, Hollingsworth and Rudman.

Congratulations, You're Not A Winner!

Tourism Whistler giveth.  Tourism Whistler taketh away.

Two emails arrive yesterday at 7:23 p.m. and 7:28 p.m. from Tourism Whistler, each telling me I am the lucky winner of a pair of tickets for the victory ceremony in Whistler Village during the Olympics.

Cool, I'm thinking, maybe I can pass them along to someone.

Two more emails arrive at 8:17 and 8:25 pm, again from Tourism Whistler, this time advising:

"On January 20, 2010, a technical error led to people in Whistler.com's consumer database receiving an email referring to Victory Ceremony Tickets.  The email was titled, "Congratulations! You have won Victory Ceremony Tickets". This email was sent in error, and does not represent a confirmation of being a winning entrant in any contest hosted by Tourism Whistler, whistler.com or VANOC."

That's a pretty BIG error.  If I'm not a journalist who has access to the festivities regardless, I'm gonna be pretty PO'd.

Green Eggs and Spam (aka Spamalot):  Speaking of email, seeing a rise in comments on the ol' blog as the Olympics fast approach -- unfortunately most of it is spam.  First, it was someone trying to promote essay writing services, then someone peddling iphone apps and the kicker came this morning under the header “how to stop snoring naturally." Hmmm, wonder if that's an editorial comment on this blog.  I can only imagine the erectile dysfunction people are next.

Hey, I know I'm not bloggin on the Maple Leafs -- where a post on tough guy Colton Orr's hangnail would generate 50 non-spam comments -- but take pity on a hard-working guy and if you're even a lukewarm follower of Olympic sport and athletes and excited about the upcoming Games drop me a line here.  Suggestions, criticisms, compliments are all welcome. 

Torch Sprint:  Well, speed skater Kristina Groves finally did it.  She finally got to fulfill her dream of running with the Olympic torch Wednesday in Calgary.

Here's photographic evidence from and an excerpt from her blog The Grovesline http://kristinagroves.ca/ about the experience:

"I was told by many to savour the run, to enjoy it, to take my time.  I even told myself to take it all in, to cherish every moment.  Turns out that is a lot of hooey.  By all accounts, the second my torch was lit, I took off like a rocket.  I don’t recall doing this,  but it was as if I had lit my feet on fire too.  I just wanted to RUN!  Like a kid, I ran with no real appreciation for what I was doing.  I ran off without a care in the world.  No thoughts, no ‘moments’, just running with the Olympic Flame."

As a kid, Groves was convinced she'd get to carry the torch in the leadup to the 1988 Calgary Olympics. She filled out countless ballots, even practiced by carrying a hammer aloft in the air while running -- but the anticipated letter telling her she'd get to carry the torch never came.

Ski Cross Tightrope: It was an exciting show as World Cup ski cross came to Collingwood this week, pretty much delivering what's been advertised -- roller derby on skis.

And while Canada has done a great job in developing the strongest team in the world, you also got the sense that if things don't fall the right way they could almost just as easily come up empty at the Olympics.

If Ashleigh McIvor had been the one to fall in her battle with Austrian Katrin Gutensohn in the women's final, the Canadians would have come up empty at the event.

“That's the nature of the sport," said Canadian coach Eric Archer. "If luck just happens to be on your side, you get a day like we had in Cypress last year (five of six medals on the Olympic course). The way it started out today in those first rounds, only one person didn't move on.

"You're excited, it's going great and then, boom, the hammer falls, you start having the bad luck creep in. That's the way it rolls in ski cross. ... You never know.”

Flat Stanley Ready To Rock n' Roll at Olympics

Here's Flat Stanley, courtesy of Vicki Steele's Grade 2 class at Allenby Public School in Toronto.  He's a hero to school kids around the world.  You can learn more about him here.  Check out some of his adventures from the 2006 Turin Olympics.

Here are the kids from Ms. Steele's class with Flat Stanley before handing him over for his big adventure.  Ms. Steele is a Flat Stanley fanatic, even bring him to her wedding.  I told the kids about Stanley's escapades at the Turin Games, pictures with Olympians like Cindy Klassen, Clara Hughes, Chandra Crawford and getting run over by a Zamboni.  When I asked them what they'd like to see Flat Stanley do in Vancouver, one of the responses was "Ride the Hamboni!"

Check out the coolest collection of Flat Stanleys I have ever seen!

Ms. Steele's class even sent a Flat Stanley to Afghanistan.

This is the back of Flat Stanley. They must have heard I sometimes lose things. Still have a few more Stanleys coming that I hope to pawn off on colleagues at the Games -- including one from New Zealand. 

Medal Hopefuls Versus Medal Favourites

As we start to hit the stretch run towards the 2010 Winter Olympics, I think it's important to differentiate between athletes who are “medal hopefuls” and those who are “medal favourites.”

In all the excitement around the performances at the Canadian Figure Skating Championships on the weekend, I could have sworn I read someone stating that Joannie Rochette was going to challenge world champion Yu-Na Kim in Vancouver if she skated the same way.

It's that kind of hyperbole that becomes dangerous. Rochette is a fine skater, she's the world championship silver medalist but she was also fifth at the Grand Prix Final when all the best were there. Her world championship medal was her first. It's not like she's been a consistent podium performer.

So to be fair, Rochette should be classified as a medal hopeful, not a medal favourite. Ditto for Patrick Chan, who's coming back from injury and is relatively untested at that level despite his world silver medal.

The problem with billing such athletes as medal favourites is the media and public turn on them when they don't deliver the anticipated medal, which wasn't as realistic a shot as it was made out to be.

Now, defending Olympic moguls champ Jenn Heil is a favourite after winning four straight events. Skeleton racer Mellisa Hollingsworth is a medal favourite after winning medals in seven of eight World Cup events.

That's my thinking, anyway. Maybe we can get more into it another day.

Hollingsworth and Heil Find Winning Formula

Two of Canada's hottest athletes heading to the Olympics are moguls skier Jenn Heil and skeleton racer Mellisa Hollingsworth.

Heil has three straight gold medals and four medals in five events, while Hollingsworth won a silver medal today in a World Cup in St. Moritz, Switzerland – missing gold by 4/100ths of a second – to make it seven medals in eight races, including two gold and two silver.

Heil's approach about always looking for that next challenge and pushing herself can be seen in today's story about her third victory in the Star, and it's an attitude shared by Hollingsworth.

“I just don’t want to get ahead of myself,” said Hollingsworth. “Once you start thinking ‘I’m so great,’ that’s when things start falling apart. I think that’s the key is keeping an open mind and always be willing to learn. You’ll always learn, whether it’s from an experienced teammate or from a development slider. Somebody’s going to pick something up. I think that’s what life is.”

Like Heil, Hollingsworth doesn't dwell on a good showing very long.

“After great races, I will instantly be like ‘Okay, what’s next?’” she said. “I think a good lesson to learn is you shouldn’t be dwelling in the past on good things or bad things.”

Here's a video multimedia ace Chris So put together on Hollingsworth:

LUDICROUS NOTION: The Globe and Mail has mentioned a couple of times now that there have been suggestions the Canadian alpine team should shut things down on the World Cup to preserve themselves for the Olympics, given all their injuries.

Just who is suggesting this? Haven't read it anywhere but the Globe so I'm assuming it's their idea.

To anyone who knows ski racing, it's totally ridiculous. And it was treated as such by Manuel Osborne-Paradis when put to him in Wengen, Switzerland, this week by the Globe.

These are ski racers. To back off because they might get hurt would destroy their pysches as ski racers. They might as well forget about the Olympics then. Injuries are going to happen. Because there's been more than usual this season doesn't mean you pack up your bags and go away.

For the men, the upcoming races in Wengen and Kitzbuehel, Austria, are like the U.S. Open and Masters for alpine skiing. In the case of Kitzbuehel, many downhillers have said they'd rather win the famed Hahnenkamm than win the Olympics.