Best Part of this Olympic Reporter's Job

The best part of the Olympic beat for me isn't going to the Games.

Yes, they're incredibly exciting and it's neat to watch sporting history be made firsthand, but my favourite thing is trying to get to know the athletes on the road to the Olympics.

Getting to do long interviews with them during a relaxed part of their schedule -- okay, that doesn't really exist -- and to spend some time watching them in their natural environment (this is starting to sound like National Geographic) is really the fun part.

This photo was taken Saturday of three-time world champion boxer Mary Spencer with a group of kids she is mentoring at Cape Croker Reserve. Mary's father is Ojibway and was a United Church minister at Cape Croker.

It was a magical day. We'll be featuring Spencer soon in the Star as part of a pre-London Olympic series. She's a remarkable young athlete for a lot more than her prowess in the ring.

These Olympians great role models as sports parents

There's a couple of things that have become evident now that I've reached the stage where I'm writing about the kids of Olympians that I once covered.

One, I'm getting old.

Two, these athletes certainly seem great role models as sports parents.

I'm thinking specifically at the moment of sprinting great Bruny Surin, whose tennis playing daughter Kimberley-Ann was featured on the front of today's sport section in the Star and also of Olympic rower Doug Hamilton and basketball standout Lynn Polson, whose hockey playing sons Dougie and Freddie Hamilton are currently trying to make Canada's world junior team and dream of playing in the NHL.

For one thing, these kids were allowed to choose their own sporting path. Their parents haven't tried to mould them in their own image. Kimberley-Ann Surin states flat out she hates running. The Hamilton boys went in a rowing scull once with their Dad. That was enough. They played a bit of basketball, but it wasn't their thing.

These parents stand out when they go to watch their kids in action because they're not shouting instructions at them or hurling invective at the officials.

“I think it sends a bad message to the kids," said Surin. "If I would see my parents going crazy and basically saying not to respect my opponent, that's not right. Of course, I want to win. Everybody wants to win. But it's not the reason not to respect your opponent and be going crazy. Is shouting and swearing at the referee and telling him the ball was in going to make your kids better? No. It's ridiculous.”

The Hamilton boys have benefitted from a balanced approach. They played other sports. They didn't play a lot of spring and summer hockey unless their winter teams had something planned. It was never about creating NHL players and education has always been emphasized – in fact, Freddie was a 99 per cent student in high school and Dougie scored 94.

"It's about opening doors and creating opportunities," said Doug. "It's got to be their drive. At the end of the day, you've got to drive yourself, you can't be driven by anybody else. It's not going to happen.

"We keep telling them, there's a lot of time, be patient, there's a process to follow here, and it's a long process. Another thing we keep telling them, too, is sport's something you do along the way. It's not a final destination by itself. It's an activity you're doing while you're moving through your life; it's not an end point."

There's another thing, too, that stands out about these Olympians as sports parents. Their humility. Kimberley-Ann's veteran coach Roberto Brogin is an interesting guy with a unique take on what made her father great as an athlete.

“He has one of the best qualities an athlete can have and that's to be humble," said Brogin. "He's still humble. I say to all my kids you can be the best player in the world, but if you don't have this quality you won't make it.”

Not sure I believe that based on the number of braggart athletes out there, but it's a nice sentiment.

Another humble Olympian who I have no doubt will be a model sports parent is 2006 Olympic skeleton champion Duff Gibson. You should check out his blog sportatitsbest.com for a lot more stories about what it should all be about.

Here's the Hamilton family -- Dougie, Lynn, Freddie and Doug

Here's Bruny with Kimberley-Ann -- she's got her mom Bianelle's smile

Would Pro Boxers Even Want Part of Olympics?

Imagine the likes of boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao fighting for Olympic gold.

That's what the governing body of amateur boxing (AIBA) has in mind for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro under new plans unveiled this week by the association president. As has been done in hockey, basketball, tennis and other Olympic sports, they want to open it up to the pros.

But would that necessarily be a good thing? And would the pros be interested?

One aspect that would be lost is the fresh-faced kids getting their chance to fight for Olympic glory. Some of the great memories in Olympic boxing have been the emergence of future greats like Cassius Clay (later Muhammad Ali) and Sugar Ray Leonard, not to mention Canada's Lennox Lewis.

Even today there are hockey diedhards, although they love the best-on-best format, miss that element that Canadian teams had in the days of Father Bauer, when the players were together for more than just a day or two to get ready for the Olympic tournament. These teams had an underdog flavour that carried tremendous appeal.

Another dangerous aspect with the pros would be in the increased gambling aspect and chance of fixed matches, although we've seen that happen at the Olympics without the pros being involved.

Will boxing's biggest stars want a piece of this action?

As the Star's boxing expert Morgan Campbell points out, it's a totally different style of boxing at the Olympic level, a style that most of the pros are extremely happy not to have to deal anymore with once they leave the amateur ranks. Campbell also wonders why pros used to fighting perhaps once or twice a year for big money would suddenly want to put that at risk to fight four or five times in the space of two weeks.

They will if personal sponsorships make it worth their while. Let's face it, it will be about money in the end. That's why AIBA is taking this avenue. They figure the big stars will make them a bigger player in the Olympic sphere.

But bigger isn't necessarily better.

 

Road to London: It's Crunch Time for Canada's Athletes

Clara Hughes will see just how realistic her cycling comeback is.

For hurdler Perdita Felicien, it's chance to gauge the effects of all the changes she's made.

In paddler Mark Oldershaw's case, it's perhap his best opportunity to prove he's the best in the world.

Canadian athletes will find out in the next two months where they stand in the world one year out from the 2012 London Olympics. Besides all the world championships being staged, there are pre-Olympic events in London such as the triathlon in Hyde Park this week.

The swimmers just got their chance at the worlds in Shanghai and for Canada it was probably the most they could have hoped for – two silver medals from long distance freestyler Ryan Cochrane, a silver from freestyle sprinter Brent Hayden and a bronze from Martha McCabe in the 200-metre breaststroke.

World record holder Annamay Pierse was eighth in the race where McCabe won bronze. Her result should only serve to motivate Pierse – she trains with McCabe – and she does seem like an athlete who would fare better in an underdog role.

That's the thing. Winning gold at worlds can be a detriment to some. The increased pressure and spotlight has undone athletes in the past.

We know Hughes can handle the pressure, but has she bitten off even more than she can chew in coming back from speed skating to take on the best women's cyclists in the world in the time trial and road race?

“If it wasn’t Clara Hughes, I would say it’s pretty much impossible,” said her coach Chris Rozdilsky in a recent interview with The Star. “Because it’s a short time, every day is crucial. Her gains have to be massive to get where she needs to be.”

The road cycling worlds in Denmark in September will tell Hughes if her dream is doable or is she's spinning her wheels.

This will likely be Felicien's last crack at Olympic glory. It hasn't been a season to inspire great confidence and has seen her relocate to Calgary from Michigan, but Felicien has shown she can be a big game performer.

Everyone remembers the crash at the Athens Olympics, but often forget the gold and silver captured at worlds. The world championshps in Daegu, South Korea, Aug. 27-Sept. 4 mean give the Pickering hurdler a chance once again to show her pluck.

Shot putter Dylan Armstrong has had a strong season, but has yet to be on a worlds or Olympic podium. He's never had a better chance than in Daegu.

Oldershaw has been largely overlooked in the pre-London hype, but the former double world junior champion seems in a better position than ever to win his first world senior title. He defeated the reigning world champion in taking gold in the C-1 1,000 metres in May at a World Cup in the Czech Republic.

Meanwhile, his teammate and good friend Adam Van Koeverden finds himself in the role of the cagey veteran trying to fend off the young guns as he heads towards London.

Speaking of cagey veterans. There are few cagier than Simon Whitfield, who thrilled Canadians with his gutsy silver medal performance in Beijing. Whitfield will be competing this week at a pre-Olympic triathlon in London. It's likely he'll use it as much as a reconnaissance mission as a chance to prove his mettle.

There's only one race that matters to Whitfield – and that's Aug. 7, 2012, in London.