Sport Shorts: Worlds Wrap-Up
Armstrong has Strong Arm: The IAAF World Championships concluded on September 4th in Daegu, Korea with a landmark finish for Team Canada. Shot putter Dylan Armstrong (Kamloops, BC) won the silver medal on Friday with a throw spanning 21.64m – the first ever World Championship shot put medal for Canada. Armstrong currently holds the world-leading shot put for the season at 22.21m, thrown at the Canadian Championships.
Rowers take home silver and bronze: After eight days of competition, Team Canada returned from the 2011 World Rowing Championships with some hardware in tow. Veteran coxwain , Brian Price (Belleville, ON), guided both the men’s eights and coxed pair (Kevin Light, Sidney, BC; and Steven Van Knotsenberg, Beamsville, ON) to bronze medals in Bled, Slovenia. Price was a member of the gold medal-winning Canadian eight at the 2008 Olympic Games. The women’s team also finished the weekend with a pair of medals. The women’s eights rowed their way to the silver medal last Friday, while Victoria, BC natives Lindsay Jennerich and Patricia Obee claimed silver in the lightweight women’s double. Four more Canadian boats secured their berth to London 2012: the men’s pair, double, lightweight double, and four.
Best in the World: Catharine Pendrel (Kamloops, BC) entered the UCI World Mountain Biking Championship ranked number one and she didn’t disappoint. The Canadian mountain biker finished the 31.8km cross-country course in 1:46:14 – good enough for the gold medal. “I knew I was ready, I knew I had done all my preparations,” Pendrel said following the event. “I just tried to control the nerves, and my Canadian teammates were just awesome in keeping me grounded.” Emily Batty (Brooklin, ON) finished eighth, and Marie-Hélène Prémont (Chateau Richer, QC) finished ninth in cross-country. Lauren Rosser (Squamish, BC) and Clair Buchar (Whistler, BC) also found the podium, both earning bronze medals in downhill events. These strong performances help rank Canada’s women’s program as the best in the world.
More Competitions: The Canadian men’s volleyball team defeated Puerto Rico in three sets to win the bronze medal at NORCECA. The men’s basketball team continues into the second round this week at the 2011 FIBA Americas Championship. They face Uruguay on Wednesday and Panama on Thursday.
