Sport Shorts: Paddlers, Lifters and Gymnasts
Seven-Medal Weekend: Canadian paddlers are heating up. At a World Cup in Szeged, Hungary, 13 canoe-kayakers combined for seven medals. On June 6, the women’s K-4 500 team (Geneviève Orton, Émilie Fournel, Kristin Gauthier, Kia Byers) won silver. The next day, Adam van Koeverden took silver in the K-1 500 while Gabriel Beauchesne-Sevigny and Andrew Russell took silver in the C-2 500. Bronze medals were won in the men’s C-4 200 (Beauchesne-Sevigny, Russell, Mark Oldershaw, Adam Klevinas), women’s K-1 200 (Karen Furneaux), men’s K-2 200 (Andrew Willows, Richard Dober) and the women’s K-4 200 (Gauthier, Orton, Fournel, Mylanie Barre).
Canadian Crowns: Hamilton was the backdrop for the Canadian gymnastics championships where the country’s best prospects for the future competed. The women’s trampoline title went to Rosannagh MacLennan (King City, Ont.) who edged triple Olympic medallist Karen Cockburn (Toronto), both of whom train at SkyRiders Club in Richmond Hill, Ont. Jason Burnett (Etobicoke, Ont.), who also trains at SkyRiders with coach Dave Ross, won his fourth straight men’s trampoline title. The all-around women’s champion is Sydney Sawa (Calgary). The all-around men’s champion is Casey Sandy (Brampton, Ont.), who returned to the Canadian scene following a scholarship to Penn State University where he was recently named the top U.S. college gymnast. Many medals were also awarded for events – these included three by veteran Ken Ikeda (Abbotsford, B.C.) who won gold in pommel horse and parallel bars as well as bronze in high bar. He also finished second to Sandy in the all-around final.
Olympic Sports? It’s an important time for seven summer sports. On June 15 and 16, the International Olympic Committee’s executive board will gather in Lausanne, Switz. to meet with representatives from golf, baseball, softball, karate, roller sports, rugby sevens and squash. Each sport’s mission: to present a compelling case why they should be included in the 2016 Olympic Games. For baseball, softball, golf and rugby, it would be a reinstatement while karate, roller sports and squash hope for their first opportunity to join the Olympic Movement (though they have been Pan Am sports). The final IOC vote is set for this fall.
Champion Lifters: The Canadian Weightlifting Federation held its national championships May 16-17 in Kelowna B.C. The COC congratulates Canadian champions in their respective categories. On the women’s side: Marilou Dozois-Prévost (53 kg), Emily Quarton (58 kg), Tania Whalen (63 kg), Marie-Ève Beauchemin-Nadeau (69 kg), Jeane Lassen (75 kg) and Sarah Moreau (75+ kg). In the men’s bracket: Enrique Wiebe (56 kg), Jasvir Singh (62 kg), Dominic Lussier (69 kg), Francis Luna-Grenier (77 kg), Paul Dumais (85 kg), Buck Ramsay (94 kg), Sacha Amédé (105 kg) and George Kobaladze (105+ kg).
