Sport Shorts: London Bound
Splashing Silver: The FINA World Aquatic Championships are underway in Shanghai, and Canada has its first medal. After an eighth-place showing in their qualifying session, Émilie Heymans (Brossard, Que.) and Jennifer Abel (Laval, Que.) came back to win the silver medal in the women’s three-metre synchronized springboard Saturday. The pair finished with 313.50 points, qualifying Canada in the event for next year’s Olympic Games in London.
The World Championship continues through July 31, so make sure to tell us where Canada’s final medal ranking will be in our latest poll on our homepage!
Champion of the Court: Canadian tennis player Stéphanie Dubois (Laval, Que.) outlasted fourth-seeded Zhang Ling of China 6-2, 2-6, 6-1, to win the Granby Challenger Tennis Tournament in Granby, Que., Sunday. The victory marked Dubois’ ninth career title.
Judo Gold Rush: For the second week in a row, judoka Amy Cotton has won gold. At the Judo World Cup in San Salvador, El Salvador, Sunday, Cotton (Antigonish, N.S.) triumphed over Ukraine’s Maryna Pryshchepa in the -78 kg. category. Alexandre Émond (Quebec City) also finished first in the -90 kg. event, improving upon his bronze medal from last week.
Masters of the Track: Several Canadian athletes competed in Toronto last week at the National Track League Finals at the Varsity Centre. World number one shot putter Dylan Armstrong (Kamloops, B.C) had another stellar result, winning the competition with a throw of 21.23 metres. In addition, Perdita Felicien (Pickering, Ont.) finished second in the 100-metre hurdles behind Phylicia George (Markham, Ont.),by one one-hundredth of a second. George finished in a time of 12.87 seconds. For all the NTL’s final standings go to: www.nationaltrackleague.ca/standings.php
Three-time Champion: Olympic cyclist Catharine Pendrel is once again a National champion. The Kamloops, B.C. native won her third consecutive title in the elite race of the Canadian Mountain Bike Championships in Canmore, Alta., Saturday. Pendrel completed the race in 1:31:51, more than two minutes faster than Marie-Hélène Prémont (Château-Richer, Que.). On the men’s side, Max Plaxton (Victoria, B.C.) unexpectedly won his first Canadian title, over heavily favoured Goeff Kabush (Courtenay, B.C.) with a time of 1:38:28. Kabush, who finished second, was looking for his record-setting eighth straight National victory. For complete results go to: www.2011mtbnationals.com/home/2011-canadian-xc-mtb-championships-results
Montreal’s Coral Olympic Anniversary: A Canadian Olympic anniversary occurred over the weekend. July 17 marked the 35th anniversary of the opening of the Olympic Games in Montreal. The Games of the XXI Olympiad were the first ever to be hosted by Canada and paved the way for Canada’s other two Olympics – the Winter Games of Calgary 1988 and Vancouver 2010.
