Canada's thin ranks; P is for Petitclerc

If the London Olympics were happening right now, Canada would be in a spot of trouble because two of their big chances for gold medals next year are dealing with injuries.

That would be triathlon phenom Paula Findlay (right) who's been dealing with a hip issue, and world champion rower Tracy Cameron, who has a slightly fractured rib that could keep her out of this year's worlds.

The reality is that this country's ranks remain pretty thin when it comes to bona fide contenders for an Olympic title and we can't really afford to lose any of them.

The good news is that the Olympics aren't right now (and that's especially a good thing given the riots that have been going on in London).

Findlay wrote an insightful blog entry this week on her race in London – she finished a distant 29th with her bum hip after dominating the international circuit with four wins in five tries.

Findlay wrote:

I heard someone say as I ran by “I’ve never seen her run that slow before!”… Yes, that’s how slow I was running. I could hear people’s full conversations as I passed by. I absolutely hated being passed by the other girls and watch them pull away from me while my legs wouldn’t respond. This is not something that I’ve experienced before in a triathlon, and it’s very mentally defeating! I knew that I wouldn’t be able to stay with the leaders, but in all honestly I didn’t think that I’d do THAT badly, and naturally I was upset and frustrated after the race.

P is for Petitclerc: Chantal Petitclerc has made some history by becoming the first Paralympic athlete to appear in the prestigious Le Petit Larousse dictionary in France, which has more than 100 years behind it.

"There's a bit of controversy because it wasn't someone from France," said Petitclerc. "But they don't have a Paralympian with the same record. They are a bit behind with the Paralympic movement in France so I think it's good for them."

The honour has received a lot of attention in the Quebec media. But Petitclerc, the most celebrated Paralympian ever with 14 gold medals, isn't the type to get a swelled head.

"It sounds like something that should be done once you're dead, not while you're still alive," she said. "It was a shock, but it's fun, it's cool."

 

Comments

[Ian Warner]

It is always a bummer to see our top athletes go down. As an athlete myself I have seen people bounce back from worse injuries. I only hope these two can do the same. We are really thin as a country, but I think slowly funding is coming around and in the next few olympics after London we should be in a better position as a whole.

[peter]

The good news from her Blog was that she DIDN'T aggravate her injury. The risk of taking the approach that one will stop immediately if one feels some aggravation of the injury is that, 1. you may not feel it until after the race and, 2. It's REALLY HARD to drop out.
She'd had her hardest training run only a couple of days before the event so it's likely that her running performance was a combination of appropriate caution combined with the interruption in her season and the lack of any kind of peak.
She'll be great next year. She's taken the positives out of this experience.