Thursday, January 31, 2002
Calgary 'real' City of Champions
By ERIC FRANCIS -- Calgary Sun
In eight days, 156 Canadian athletes will march into Rice-Eccles Stadium to kick off what is widely expected to be the most successful Winter Games in Canadian history.
And as Catriona Le May Doan officially marches the team into the 19th Olympiad, Calgarians can take pride in the knowledge the majority of athletes who will follow her call Alberta home.
More specifically, 85 athletes were either born in Alberta or have been training in the Calgary area for at least a year.
In other words, when the athletes return from the Salt Lake Games with a medal haul expected to be well above the previous record of 15, Calgary could be transformed into Canada's Gold Rush city.
Yes, the REAL City of Champions.
"That's exciting," said Cindy Klassen, who moved from Winnipeg to Calgary in 1999 after watching her heroes Jeremy Wotherspoon, Le May Doan, Susan Auch and others on TV at the Nagano Games.
"Especially in speed skating, we have so many medal hopefuls because this is the best place in the world to train. The ice is fast and there are such elite athletes here that you can look up to and learn from."
By far the No. 1 destination in Canada for Winter Olympic hopefuls, athletes are being expertly trained to go higher, swifter and faster with the help of the world-class facilities and money that are the legacy of the 1988 Games.
"There's a high-performance culture in Calgary," said John Mills, president of CODA, which oversees the legacy fund that invests in preparing Canadian Olympians and maintains Olympic facilities such as the Oval and Canada Olympic Park.
"Calgary attracts some athletes because of the facilities, some because of the concentration of Winter Olympic activities and some because of the relocation of national sport headquarters like hockey and skiing. Certainly the spirit of the '88 Olympics stimulated that."
Leading the medal charge for Canada will undoubtedly be the 16 speed skaters who train year round at the world-renowned Oval. Wotherspoon and Le May Doan are both expected to strike gold and quite possibly grab two podiums apiece.
Mike Ireland, Calgary's Dustin Molicki and Klassen are a few of the others who could help contribute more than half of the country's medals if it is indeed going to finish third in the medal standings.
In all, more than 2,000 elite athletes from around the world trained at the Oval's multi-sport facility this year, which includes members of the Canadian bobsleigh, luge, skeleton, speed skating, women's hockey team and ski team. Most of the same athletes also take advantage of the brilliant servicing and knowledge of the National Sport Centre in Calgary, which provides them with everything from trainers and massage therapists to psychologists and physicians.
"While we've created an environment that attracts athletes from all over the country, more and more of our athletes here are born and bred in Alberta," boasts NSCC president Dale Henwood. "So that tells me we're doing something right in the province."
Calgary natives competing in the Games include downhiller Darin McBeath, freestyle skier Ryan Johnson, speed skater Arne Dankers, snowboarder Mike Michalchuk, lugers Grant Albrecht, Kyle Connelly, Chris Moffat, Mike Moffat and Tyler Seitz as well as bobsled's Ahmed Marshall and Christina Smith. The Calgary-based skeleton squad boasts four Calgarians with podium potential in Lindsay Alcock, Michelle Kelly, Duff Gibson and Jeff Pain.
Members of the women's hockey team have been based here almost half a year and say it's motivating to see so many top athletes training in their midst.
Yesterday, a large number of the Olympians were honoured at a luncheon at the Convention Centre where Olympic medallist Nancy Greene Raine recognized the contributions Calgary will make to the Games.
"It's fitting Calgary play host to this event because it's a perfect example of what hosting the Winter Games can do for a city," she said. "It leaves a legacy not only of venues and training facilities but in the heart and soul of the city."
Those hearts are sure to start pounding with pride in just eight days.
2002 Games Columnists
