Wednesday, December 5, 2001
Canuck blades of gold
Spoon speeding toward Olympics
By STEVE BUFFERY -- Toronto Sun
Jeremy Wotherspoon's nickname, oddly enough, is Spoon, which is appropriate, given that he had the competition eating out of his hand at last weekend's World Cup on the Olympic oval near Salt Lake City.
Born in Humboldt, Sask., Wotherspoon won four gold medals in Utah and is on pace to capture a couple of gold in the Olympics, two months down the road.
So what makes this 25-year speed skating star so good?
Teammate Susan Auch believes it is a combination of talent, hard work and just being a grounded individual.
"He has skating and life in perspective," said Auch, also an Olympic medallist. "That's what makes him so good at what he does. Jer is pretty amazing."
Wotherspoon, who is widely ignored between Olympic years, may be a laid-back, quiet prairie dude, but he's anything but boring. Away from the rink, he enjoys fly fishing on Calgary's Bow River, installing car stereos, researching wine vineyards with the dream of owning his own vineyard in B.C.'s Okanagan Valley, bartending, and dreaming of becoming a rally car driver when he retires.
HERE AND THERE
Canadian Sports Minister Denis Coderre sounded a bit like Neville Chamberlain when he returned from a meeting with International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Monday.
But instead of "Peace in Our Time," the message was "An Olympics in Our Time" -- pointing his finger squarely in the direction of the Vancouver/Whistler 2010 Winter Games bid.
"Frankly, I'm pretty sure we will win that bid," Coderre told The Toronto Sun yesterday. "We will certainly do everything to make it happen."
Actually, the unstoppable Coderre sounded more like the Neville Brothers the way he was singing the praises of Canada as a place to hold events.
The Montreal MP pointed out that, geopolitically, the time is absolutely right for Vancouver/Whistler -- with the three Games leading up to the 2010 Olympics held outside of North America (2004, Athens; 2006, Turin; 2008, Beijing). Not to mention that there may be a sympathy vote for Canada with Toronto getting the shaft for the 2008 Summer Games.
Coderre certainly did get one thing done (especially if it's in Quebec, some would argue). He was instrumental in landing the World Anti-Doping Agency for Montreal. A huge coup.
Not to leave Toronto out in the cold, Coderre added that he would be building a "Toronto agenda for sport." What that means, we'll have to wait and see.
OUCH
Hermann (The Herminator) Maier hopes to be back on skis by the end of December and competing in Salt Lake in February, despite a catastrophic motorcycle crash on Aug.24 which left him with a shattered right leg and numerous internal injuries. Nobody is doubting the 28-year-old skier will be back. This is the same guy who crashed spectacularly in the downhill at the 1998 Nagano Games, only to get back up and win two gold medals in the next few days.
Alpine skiing is made up of incredible men and women of courage. Throw in a little insanity as well. Already this year, many of the game's biggest names have suffered brutal injuries, not to mention the incredible tragedy of Regine Cavagnoud, the Super G world champion from France, who died of massive head injuries when she collided with a German coach while training on the Pitztal glacier in Austria on Oct.31.
Some other Olympic contenders who experienced season-ending injuries this year include Christophe Saioni of France, who injured his right leg during training, Austrian downhiller Hannes Trinkl, sidelined for four weeks after breaking his sternum and injuring his face and neck in practice last month, and Canadian Emily Brydon, who wrecked her knee for the second time in a year while training in Colorado.
"Off the top of my head, I can't think of one top skier who hasn't at least been out for one season, and that's with a serious injury, a knee replacement, some type of disc problem or something," Canadian downhill ace Edi Podivinsky said.
"It's truly an unforgiving sport. But that's what makes our sport what it is, that's what drew me in. It's like the Crazy Canucks, they'd either be on the podium or they'd crash. But it always was exciting."
Podivinsky, who will retire after this season, has had his share of bumps, bruises and contusions, including surgery on both knees. Like most World Cup skiers, he's worried about being able to function normally when he's a geezer.
"I use the older guys from the Canadian team as a reference," he said. "I look at Todd Brooker. Man, he's hard-pressed to walk nine holes on a golf course."
FIVE-RING CIRCUS
Doctors manning the 35 clinics at or near the Olympic venues in Salt Lake City won't be taking any chances during the Games. On top of the usual supplies to treat flus, cuts and other minor ailments, they will stockpile the antidote for certain nerve agents, in case of a biological or chemical attack ... The best thing about the Winter Olympics? Getting to see the two Yang Yangs -- Yang Yang A and Yang Yang S -- race for China in short track speed skating.
Steve Buffery's Olympic column appears on Wednesday. He can be reached at sbuffery@sunpub.com
2002 Games Columnists
