Canadian roundup: Black wins silver, skaters on a roll, IOC approves 40 recommendations
It’s a busy time for the Olympic sport world. Canadian athletes are doing what they do, while issues around the Olympic world continue to evolve. But let’s start with some sport stories.
FINA World Swimming Championships (25m)
Bottom line: Two-time Olympic medallist Ryan Cochrane won bronze in his premiere event, the 1,500m freestyle in Doha, Qatar.
The (25m) above means Cochrane won the medal in a short course pool which is half the size an Olympic pool (50m) so 1,500m is twice the laps (60 to be exact). Cochrane raced to 14 minutes 23.35 seconds, a personal best by five seconds to improve his own Canadian record.
Despite the personal best, Cochrane was critical of his performance saying, “It’s not exactly where I want to be but at least it’s continuously getting better, I know I have a bit more under my belt so hopefully I’ll get another chance to do that at some point.”
The medal is Canada’s first at short course worlds in 10 years.
Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri won with a meet record time of 14 minutes 16.10 seconds, and the 2008 Olympic champion Oussama Mellouli was second in 14 minutes 18.79 seconds.
Speed skating World Cup – Berlin
Bottom line: Laurent Dubreuil won a silver and bronze, plus Ivanie Blondin won a silver at World Cup stop number three in Berlin, Germany.
Blondin is three for three at World Cups when it comes to winning medals. On Sunday, her final time of 8:32.94 in the mass start was only 12 one-hundredths of a second behind Dutch skater Irene Schouten. Korea’s Jun Ye Jin was third. The Sochi Olympian has been on the World Cup podium four times this season.
“I’m kicking myself in the head a little bit about the last turn. I should have stayed tight,” said Blondin. “But I’m always happy with a medal no matter what colour it is. It would have been nice if it was gold, but silver is always good too.”
Levis, Quebec’s Dubreuil skates in two 500m competitions at each World Cup. On Friday he won silver and on Sunday he won bronze. On both occasions he raced to a time of 35.09 seconds. Dubreuil now has three 2014-15 World Cup medals.
World Cup Gymnastics – Glasgow
Bottom line: Ellie Black won a silver medal in all-around competition at the FIG Glasgow World Cup
Ellie Black managed a podium result by using her prowess on the beam, coming second in that event only to the competition’s all-around gold medallist Larisa Iordache of Romania. Black was fifth on vault, third on uneven bars, and fourth on floor.
“Everything wasn’t perfect but I did improve on some of the things I had trouble with last week, and to finish on the podium was amazing,” said Black, who had a 7th place all-around finish at a World Cup meet last weekend in Stuttgart, Germany.
SEE ALSO: Ellie Black achieves Canadian best-ever worlds result
Track Cycling World Cup – London
Bottom line: Canada nabbed a bronze medal in women’s team pursuit at a World Cup stop in London
Jasmin Glaesser, Stephanie Roorda, Allison Beveridge, and Kirsti Lay were third in the team pursuit as Canada extended their World Cup / World Championship podium streak to seven. In their bronze medal race, Canada actually lapped China, automatically ending the heat. Great Britain won in front of a home crowd, Australia was second.
Also, in the UCI C1 Women Points race, London 2012 Olympian Jasmin Glaesser won a silver medal. “I think this was actually one of the hardest points races I have done; I knew that looking at the start list, which is similar to each World Cup and World Championships. I knew the talent level would be very high here,
Tokyo Grand Slam
Bottom line: Olympic judoka Kelita Zupancic won a bronze medal in the 70 kg category in the birth country of her sport
The 24-year-old beat Japan’s Karen Nun Ira, ““I was able to get my revenge in the bronze finale, defeating the other Japanese who beat me this summer at the World Championships,” said Zupancic on Judo Canada’s website.
Ski Cross World Cup – Nakiska
Bottom line: Olympic gold medallist Marielle Thompson won a gold and fellow Canadian Olympian Georgia Simmerling was second
Simmerling (L) celebrates with Thompson (R) on the Nakiska podium.
Marielle Thompson is making a habit of going 1-2 with teammates at international events. Remember? In Sochi she won gold while Kelsey Serwa was second. At the opening World Cup of the 2014-15 season, it was West Vancouver’s Georgia Simmerling in the silver spot.
“To finish first and second for Canada at home is fabulous”, said Thompson on the Alpine Canada wesbite. “It was tight, but I managed to pull it off.” Top Canadian finisher on the men’s side was London, ON’s Dave Duncan in 5th.
Notables
Humphries completes World Cup requirements
Bobsledder Kaillie Humphries is good to go for the 4-man World Cup season. On Sunday she, along with American pilot Elana Meyers Taylor, completed the final FIBT requirements for eligibility. Now that she has the experience it’s only a matter of time until you’ll see Humphries racing against men at the World Cup level. The expectation is she’ll debut at World Cup #2 in Calgary, December 15-20.
Olympic recommendations accepted
The IOC session is currently in progress in Monaco. Almost all IOC members are present. Today the session unanimously accepted all 40 recommendations put forward in Olympic Agenda 20+20.
SEE ALSO: Major Olympic recommendations revealed ahead of Monaco vote
“I hope very much this will prove to be an important and positive day for the Olympic movement. I’m confident today we made the right decisions with a vision for the future,” said IOC president Thomas Bach. The Olympic movement is aiming to remain relevant with a younger audience, increase transparency and improve the Games bid process among much more.
ICYMI: Canada lands China for opening match of FIFA Women’s World Cup
