Sport Shorts: Pendrel Leads Mountain Bike Standings
Pendrel Back on Top: Catharine Pendrel has launched herself back to the top of the World Cup standings in the Olympic sport of mountain biking. On July 31, the Kamloops, B.C. native captured the silver medal at a World Cup in Val Di Sol, Italy. That result allowed her to reclaim her No. 1 ranking, from which she had slipped last week. In the race on Saturday, she finished just five seconds back of Poland’s Maja Wloszczowska who took gold. Marie-Hélène Prémont (Château Richer, Que.) took the eighth spot, and is also a medal contender in any race. The next World Cup race is Aug. 26-29 in Wyndham, N.Y.
Meet Your Canadian Champs: The 2010 Canadian Track and Field Championships unfolded in dramatic fashion in Toronto last weekend. The big 100-metre hurdles match-up didn’t disappoint as Perdita Felicien went head-to-head with Priscilla Lopes-Schliep. Felicien edged the Olympic bronze medallist by 0.03 seconds to win her 9th national title. In the marquee 100 metres, Sam Effah took gold on the men’s side while Toyin Olupona took the women’s crown, her 5th Canadian title.
Now a three-time champion in hammer throw is Sultana Frizell, now a five-time champion in heptathlon is Jessica Zelinka, and now a four-time champion in 200 metres is Adrienne Power. Jared Connaughton, who reached the 2008 Olympic final in 100 metres, won gold in the 200 metres. Dylan Armstrong was no surprise winner in the shot put as he threw 3 metres further than any competitor. Other Canadian champions include Megan Wright and Dylan Wykes in 5,000 metres, Simon Bairu in 10,000 metres, Derek Drouin in high jump, Jamie Adjetey-Nelson in decathlon, Karl Jennings in 110-metre hurdles, Sarah Wells and Gabriel El Hanbli in 400-metre hurdles, Carline Muir and Daniel Harper in 400 metres, Diane Cummins and Andrew Ellerton in 800 metres, Malindi Elmore and Olivier Collin in 1,500 metres, Chantel Spies in discus, Tabia Charles in long jump, Curtis Moss in javelin, Gabriella Duclos-Lasnier and Jason Wurster in pole vault. Look for many of these names in London 2012!
Tobin’s Great Month: Open water swimmer Simon Tobin (Quebec City) finished a stunning 2nd at the elite 32 km Traversee du Lac-St-Jean on Saturday. That caps a great month for Tobin. He finished a very strong 6th at the World Championships in Roberval, Que. in the 25 km swim. Last week, he was 14th in a World Cup 10 km event. All of these great results happened in the waters of Lac-St-Jean in Quebec. The top woman on Saturday was Gabrielle Trottier (Roberval).
Two Swim Greats Honoured: Two Olympic medallists were honoured over the weekend by being inducted in Swimming Canada’s Circle of Excellence. There are Marion Lay and Marilyn Corson, who won bronze in the 4×100-metre freestyle at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City.
Rowers Finish on Top: Welland, Ontario hosted the Commonwealth Rowing Championships on the weekend, and Canadian rowers were the story of the regatta. With the strength of 10 gold medals, Canada won the overall points standings with 186, 33 more than second-place Scotland.
