"Best on Best" is Toronto Pan Am 2015 mantra

Pan Am 2015 head honcho Ian Troop acknowledges it's going to take a "paradigm shift" to deliver the kind of sporting competition they want in four years in Toronto.

Troop kept uttering the phrase "best on best" during a media conference call on Friday morning as if it were the 2015 Pan Am Games mantra. It probably is at this juncture. And it's a ambitious one, to be sure, considering that it's been generally regarded as a 'B' Games for a long time.

But Troop and his cohorts recently met with the poobahs of the United States Olympic Committee and the leaders of their sports federations and he says they came away feeling strongly about a possible buy-in from the Americans when it comes to supplying their best athletes.

Troops reasons for optimism included:

-- the attractiveness of a large market like Toronto

-- the ease involved because of time zones, similar culture and a safe environment (the 2011 Games are in Guadalajara, Mexico, where raging drug wars have prospective travellers worried)

-- the 2015 Games are a great opportunity for athletes headed to the 2016 Rio Olympics to get a multi-Games experience, not to mention the last one before Rio

-- it's virtually a home Games for the U.S., giving their fans a chance to come and cheer them on

None of that helped the last time the Pan Ams were held in Canada in Winnipeg in 1999. The organizers there tried to pump things up by paying Olympic sprint champion Donovan Bailey to show up, but he arrived disinterested and only ran the relay.

Toronto organizers definitely have their work cut out for them. Paradigm shifts aren't easily achieved.

Special Olympics Fundraiser: There's a neat event happening Saturday at Havergal College (1451 Avenue Road) – motionball's Marathon of Sport -- to help raise funds for athletes headed next month to the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Athens

There will be 40 teams of motionball supporters, each having raised at least $2,500 for Special Olympics Canada, competing with Special Olympics athletes in everything from flag football and volleyball to bocce ball and tug of war.

The event will have a frozen yogurt bar, lunchtime performance by Low Level Flight featuring lead singer Ryal Malcolm and a Family Fun Zone, where participants' children can play with Special Olympic athletes aged six and under.

The event begins at 8 a.m. and will happen rain or shine.

 

Olympic Athletes Drilling -- But Not For Gold

Olympic athletes armed with power tools.

Sounds like a horror move theme, but it was anything but Thursday in Calgary as some of Canada's top Olympians teamed up with Habitat for Humanity to do their part.

No strangers to team building, they demonstrated a knack for home building, too.

In fact, so eager were they to help out that when the Calgary Sports Centre sought recruits for the one-day event, there ended up being a waiting list of athletes.

Among those helping out was three-time Olympic gold medalist Carla Macleod of the Canadian women's hockey team, who said via telephone that she was the foreman on the basement drywall duties.

"That might have been self appointed," admitted Macleod.

Helen Upperton, an Olympic silver medalist in women's bobsleigh, jumped at the opportunity to get her hands on some power tools to work as a framer.

"It's kinda neat knowing we're doing something for people in need of a place to live and Habitat for Humanity has done so much for so many people," said Upperton,pictured above centre. "We're strong and we're fit and we're team workers who can follow instructions really well. I think we're pretty useful hands around a construction site."

Also lending a hand Thursday were four-time Olympic medalist speed skater Kristina Groves, Upperton's bobsleigh teammates Amanda Stepenko, Melissa These and Justin Wilkinson, luge ace Alex Gough, Olympic skiers Brad Spence and Trevor White, 2012 Olympic cycling hopeful Monique Sullivan, cross country skier Kevin Sandau and 2012 Olympic wrestling hopeful Gen Haley.

"Bulding homes like this brings the community together because there's so many people involved," said Macleod. "I've always want to do something like this so I jumped at the chance. You can't help but walk away happy afterwards because you were part of it. It's part of giving back."

As Upperton put it: "We've had so much support from Canadians across the country so it's amazing to be able to give some of that support back."

Not So Easy Riders: The 4th annual Toronto Criterium Bike Race is this Sunday, May 29 in the heart of St. Lawrence Market, kicking off Toronto's Bike to Work Week.

The event organized by ZM Cycle Fitness has events for all ages between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m., highlighted by the elite pro/am race starting at 11:15 for a heart pounding 90 minutes – as the organizers put it, "Think spin class at 60 km/hr!"

For future Tour de France stars, there's a race for 3 to 10-year-olds from 11 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.

The race is held on a close loop in St. Lawrence Market. Toronto's bike racing heritage dates back to 1895 when the city hosted the annual Dunlop Trophy Race featuring riders from across North America.

Admission is free for the races, which could have prizes worth up to $20,000.

 

Simon Says Kids of Steel is Where it Starts

Before he was an Olympic champion, Simon Whitfield was a Kid of Steel.

We're not talking in the superhero sense, though we certainly could be, given the remarkable accomplishments Whitfield has gone on to achieve in the sport.

Whitfield got his start in Ontario’s Sharbot Lake Kids of Steel triathlon nearly a quarter of a century ago, and today tens of thousands of Canadian children do local Kids of Steel races across Canada.

Canada’s biggest Kids of Steel is talking place Sunday (May 29) in Caledon, Ontario. The C3 Kinetico Kids of Steel Triathlon regularly attracts 700-800 children each year. Whitfield’s friends in Caledon, Ontario started their local Kids of Steel Triathlon 11 years ago to honour his victory at the Sydney Olympic Games.

The event’s largest –- and perhaps most entertaining -- age category is the 3-6 year olds who can wear life-jackets for the indoor swimming portion, ride on tricycles and jog the 200m to the finishing line where they get the same finishers medal that Whitfield got back in Sharbot Lake so many years ago.

“Our goal in Caledon is to create an environment for the entire family to participate” said former Olympic coach Barrie Shepley, the tireless organizer of the event (Yes, we've used that adjective to describe him before but anyone who knows him knows it to still be true).

The May 29th event starts off with the teenagers in draft-legal racing in the morning, before the 3-6 year olds participate at noon. The afternoon is saved for the 7-13 year old participants.

“While another Simon Whitfield might be in our May 29th event, our real priority is creating a fun and safe opportunity for all kids to just be healthy,” said Shepley. “It's been 11 years of our incredible C3 volunteers working hundreds of hours each to make sure our event is memorable for each and everyon.".

Families can still register by going to the C3 website at www.c3online.ca

 

Latest allegations may prove tipping point for Armstrong

I used to have a running debate about Lance Armstrong with the woman who ran the cafeteria in the Star building. She was a big Armstrong fan and staunchly believed he was as clean as he's always claimed to be when it came to doping, while my view was where there's that much smoke, there's definitely got to be some fire.

It was a friendly debate, though one day she did say in frustration: “Who cares if he really did it? Look at all the good he's done.”

Well, it's starting to look as if people do care.

The confession of Armstrong's former right-hand man Tyler Hamilton on CBS' 60 Minutes that the two were involved in doping together on the U.S. Postal appears to be the tipping point against the American cycling icon.

You can see it in the outrage of people posting comments on Twitter -- “Lance Armstrong – the biggest fraud in professional sports history” wrote one tweeter – to the mainstream media as Business Insider has a piece entitled: It's Almost "Game Over" For Lance Armstrong.

Michael Specter of the New Yorker writes a piece “Say It Ain't So, Lance” in which he says he wants to believe Armstrong but “my support is starting to seem a little silly, even to me” and compares the seven-time Tour de France champ to Richard Nixon, yet in the end doesn't give up on him just yet.

There are still supporters to be sure.

Canadian lightweight world champion rower Lindsay Jennerich tweeted: “drugs or not, lance, your record will still stand for a very long time!”

But then there's Canadian freestyle skiing aerials legend Steve Omischl who wrote: “First tiger falls from grace. And now it looks like a matter of time b4 lance is dead to me #myheroesarefrauds #nosantaclauseither”

If you want to read two superb takes on this whole issue, check out David Walsh's story from The Sunday Times. Walsh and his paper were sued by Armstrong for a piece he did raising questions about doping. It was settled out of court in 2006 but Walsh writes it may be revisited after the federal investigation concludes.

Walsh also resurrects a chilling line he got from Armstrong nemesis Greg LeMond some 10 years ago: “If the [Armstrong] story is true, it is the greatest comeback in the history of sport. If it is not, it is the greatest fraud.”

Bonnie D. Ford at ESPN.com has also been right on top of the story and breaks down the key points of the Hamilton interview.

Count me among those who think it matters if Armstrong has cheated. Yes, he has done a phenomenal amount to help in the fight against cancer. He deserves to be lauded and applauded bigtime for that. But it doesn't give him immunity to dope at will as a cyclist.

You get the sense that Armstrong does see it as the proverbial “get out of jail free” card.

Around the time that the CBS exclusive with Hamilton's confession was airing, the head of Armstrong's foundation, Doug Ulman, tweeted: “913 people lost their battle with cancer in the last hour. We must not lose sight of "our" focus.”

Armstrong then directed a tweet at Ulman saying: “I definitely won't. Ever.”

But this isn't about the cancer fight. This is about whether Armstrong and his team systematically cheated to help him win seven Tour de France titles. This is about their contributing to a legacy of doping in the sport, a legacy that can only be stopped if the truth is exposed.

Along with Hamilton's riveting confession, CBS reported George Hincapie, Armstrong's most trusted lieutenant, has given testimony to the grand jury that the two supplied each other with the blood booster EPO.

Hincapie later said he had not spoken to CBS, but he didn't deny saying that to the grand jury. It's disturbing to hear Hincapie remark "I continue to be disappointed that people are talking about the past in cycling instead of the future."

What future does it have if it doesn't confront its past?

This is not going to be an easy time for those who put their faith in the Armstrong legend. As one father of a huge 12-year-old Armstrong fan tweeted: “What do I tell him now?”

Let's hope he gets to hear the truth.

 

 

 

Cycling body reckons Canadian riders are no dopes

You can always count on the French sports daily l'Equipe to come up with interesting stuff – such as today's scoop on a list created by cycling's governing body (UCI) rating the doping risk of each rider in last year's Tour de France.

The good news for Canadian cycling fans is that our lads – Victoria's Ryder Hesjedal, who was a rousing seventh last year in cycling's most storied race, and Toronto's Michael Barry – are pretty much above suspicion, according to the UCI.

The ratings went from 0 to 10, with 0 being "no suspicion" and 10 being "very suspicious." It was based on the riders' biological passports, which are an electronic record of their doping results collected over the years, plus a doping control test taken the day before the Tour started. UCI and the World Anti-Doping Agency then compared notes and targeted certain riders for more testing.

Hesjedal, whose Garmin racing team has tried to be a leader in promoting clean sport, was rated at 1/10, while Barry riding for Team Sky was among the riders in the "no suspicion" category.

By contrast, the top five in last year's race had an average rating just a shade under 6/10. Here's how it broke down according to l'Equipe:

1) Alberto Contador, Spain 5/10

2) Andy Schleck, Lumxembourg 3/10

3) Denis Menchov, Russia 9/10

4) Samuel Sanchez, Spain 4/10

5) Jurgen Van den Broeck, Belgium 8/10

6) Robert Gesink, Netherlands 1/10

7) Ryder Hesjedal, Canada 1/10

Contador tested positive for the steroid clenbuterol when he provided a sample on a rest day during the Tour. He claimed it was because of contaminated beef and the Spanish cycling federation bought the excuse, though the Court of Arbitration for Sport will have the last word.

You might recall that Hesjedal finished fourth behind Contador among others on one of the sport's most grueling climbs, the Tourmalet. It was the best ride of his life and defined his Tour de Force performance.

Instead of Alberto beef, maybe Hesjedal was fueled by good ol' Alberta beef.

 (The AP photo above shows Hesjedal greeting a Canadian well wisher at the end of last year's Tour.)

Alex Baumann gets help in battle against prostate cancer

Just ahead of Alex Baumann's courageous step forward to talk about his battle with prostate cancer came this email from veteran figure skating judge Jean Senft, one of the really fine people in that sport and the woman who blew the whistle on behind-the-scenes vote swapping at the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics:

Friends and family, I can hardly contain myself. On Saturday May 7, our son, Dr. Riley Senft, will embark on an incredible challenge. For over a year, Riley has quietly talked about his goal of running across Canada to raise awareness and funds for prostate cancer. Many didn’t believe he was serious, others thought he was nuts, and the rest likely figured they’d believe it when they saw it.

The time to believe is now. Riley has jumped over, smashed through and tip-toed around the barriers placed between him and his vision. He expects more challenges along the way, but there is no turning back – he couldn’t be more excited, scared, enthusiastic and overwhelmed. Leaving for Newfoundland on Friday, May 6, he will begin in Cape Spear at mile zero, the same spot at which Terry Fox began his Marathon of Hope.

At this point, you may be wondering why he would submit his mind and body to such an ordeal. His motivation began at home. He lost hıs grandfather to prostate cancer, and hıs father is currently battling the disease for the second time in 5 years. This statistic more than doubles his and his brother Derek’s chances of getting the disease.

Early diagnosis, in the first stage of cancer has demonstrated a 90% success rate and offers the least invasive treatment options. Knowing that 1 in 6 Canadian men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer and 1 in 34 will die from it, Riley wants to spread the word that early detection is the first step to action.

There are many ways that you can support Riley and the cancer’s future victims: www.StepIntoAction.ca will be the central hub of information, with up-to-date progress reports on the run, awareness and fundraising efforts, as well as blogs by Riley and the team chronicling their journey West. (The site is currently a “work-in-progress”, once it is fully operational you will be able to click to learn and “commit” to knowing the Steps to Action.)

"like" our Facebook community page Step Into Action (Click on link here)

Follow Riley’s progress on twitter http://twitter.com/#!/StepIn2Action

AND, SPREAD THE WORD!

Thank you SOOO MUCH!!! Blue Skies.

Jeannıe

 

No Magic Bullet for Alpine Canada But Some Ideas

Give Alpine Canada full credit for holding their two-day safety summit which wrapped up yesterday in Calgary.

There's no denying the injury problem that's decimated the team over the past few seasons – 10 skiers have been knocked out (including downhill world champ John Kucera, who in this picture is being helicoptered from Lake Louise after breaking his leg in 2009). About 40 to 45 per cent of their athletes currently have their points frozen by the International Ski Federation (FIS), which means they have a long term injury.

"The numbers are frightening," said Alpine Canada president Max Gartner. "They've been at an elevated level for the last four or five years. To me, it's our No. 1 priority -- the health of the sport in the long term."

The tough part is going to be getting the co-operation of FIS, the sport's international governing body.

Canada is thought to be the only nation to have convened such a safety summit to date. When it comes to safety sensibilities, there's long been a clash between Canadian authorities and the FIS, who tend to have  "the show must go on" mentality.

One of the big issues are the dangers being created by the current ski and boot technology and Gartner acknowledges they are probably one season away from seeing any changes on that front.

"You can't just make a quick change and expect the results accordingly," said Gartner. "The last time they made equipment changes, it backfired."

So what the coaches, athletes, doctors, scientists and equipment specialists at the summit tried to concentrate on were things that could be changed now.

Here's the list they came up with:

- Consistent snow preparation: Avoiding the use of water injection when building courses for domestic ski racing

- Quality course setting: Ski courses in Canada to be set according to conditions, with a focus on reducing speed

- Jump progression: Specific jump training to be introduced for young Canadian skiers, to improve their skill level

- Suits: ACA to lobby for different ski suit materials to be used at the elite/World Cup level to increase padding and slow down ski racers

- Helmets: Alpine Canada Alpin to conduct safety testing of helmets used by national team athletes

- Mouth guards and back braces: Their use will be strongly recommended at all levels of ski racing

- Nationwide tracking system for athletes to be introduced to monitor physical testing, injuries suffered by Canadian skiers of all ages

- Team selection criteria: Young Canadian skiers to be encouraged to race technical events (slalom, for example) before they focus on downhill racing, which will not commence until age 18. There’s a bigger injury risk factor with downhill racing due to increased speed.

- Examine use of sleeves and other devices to reduce the risk of knee injuries

- Improve the management of skiers

As Gartner noted: "When you dig into it, it's a really multi-factored problem. You need to address it from a number of areas. I was looking for a magic bullet. There is no magic bullet."

 

Patrick Chan versus Dwight Howard no mismatch

It's hard to picture Patrick Chan going up against Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic.

Even with the incredible height Chan gets on those majestic quad jumps, it'd be hard to avoid getting stuffed by the towering Magic center.

Good thing they're not competing on the court then. They're nominated for male athlete of the month by the U.S. Sports Academy.

Chan is in pretty heady company that also includes Masters winner Charl Schwartzel of South Africa; Kenyan Geoffrey Mutai, winner of the Boston Marathon in world record time; Belgian Philippe Gilbert, winner of three Ardennes Classics this season; and Australia's record-breaking cricketer Shane Watson.

Already in the Guinness Book of World Records with the three marks he set in winning the men's world title in Moscow last week, Chan is getting some well-deserved recognition.

That he's a unique personality is evident in the fact he's not off to join the figure skating show circuit at the moment, but is in Dubai learning about commodities training from an American businessman who is among the best in the field. The businessman's daughter trains out of the same club as Chan in Colorado Springs.

Chan wants to be ready for life outside of figure skating. He's also going to become a full-time student this summer at Colorado College, a prestigious liberal arts college.

You can vote for Chan here.

Save the Last Dance for Sochi: Among those who'd like to see Olympic ice dance champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir stick around for another Olympics is Evgeni Platov, a two-time Olympic ice dance champion for Russia with Oksana Grishuk.

Now a coach, Platov has been a huge fan of the Canadians since seeing them at the 2005 world junior championships and telling friends they'd be Olympic champions one day.

“To stay another four years, that's when you're learning who you really are,” said Platov. “Can you take the pressure? Everyone knows right now they're the best and everyone's looking at them. So what do they do? What kind of program? What kind of costumes?

“It's much easier to climb on the top of Everest or any mountain. It's very hard to hold that position, because everybody wants that place. It will be great if they stay another four years until Sochi. Then they will recognizable as super champions.”

Platov had predicted before the free dance at the worlds that endurance would be an issue for Virtue and Moir, who did seem to flag towards the end in winning a silver medal behind Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White.

Platov faced a similar situation at the 1995 worlds in Birmingham, England, where he didn't compete for the whole season before the championships because he had a knee injury.

“The free program, I'm telling you, was not easy to skate,” he said, adding he thinks Virtue and Moir have a great future ahead if they continue skating.

“You have to really have some guts to win with no mistakes at the Olympics. We've all seen many people don't have that strong mind. I think they're amazing. They've got amazing abilities and great style.”