SLU Cycling

Philomena Mensah won the silver medal in the 100 metres at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She became a Canadian citizen in the 1990s. Like Margaret Simpson (track & field), Fredua Koranteng “Freddy” Adu (soccer) and Alice Annum (athletics), she was born in Ghana (Africa).

George Orton won the gold medal in the 3,000m steeplechase at the 1900 Olympics. He won the Canada’s first Olympic gold medal.

This country has hosted many international Games:

The 1930 British Empire Games-Hamilton, Ontario

The 1954 British Empire Games-Vancouver, British Columbia

The 1967 Pan American Games-Winnipeg, Manitoba

The 1976 Summer Olympics-Montreal, Quebec

The 1976 Summer Paralympics-Toronto, Ontario

The 1978 Commonwealth Games-Edmonton, Alberta

The 1981 World University Games-Edmonton, Alberta

The 1988 Winter Olympics-Calgary, Alberta

The 1994 Commonwealth Games-Victoria, British Columbia

The 1999 Pan American Games-Winnipeg, Manitoba

In the 1940s and 1950s, Joseph Henri Maurice “Rocket” Richard was one of the best professional ice hockey players in the world. He was born on August 4, 1921 in Montreal (Quebec, Canada). Maurice Richard is a sports icon in his homeland.

From 1974 to 1976, the Canadian women`s volleyball team was trained by Park Moo, one of the best coaches of South Korea. For the first time, it was trained by a foreign coach.

Vancouver (British Columbia) will be host to the Winter Olympic Games in 2010.

Cindy Klassen was selected to carry Canada’s flag during the closing ceremony at the 2006 Turin Winter Olympic Games. This skater won a medal bronze at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City (USA).

Canada did not participate in the 1951 Pan American Games in Buenos Aires (Argentina).

From 1924 to 2006, Canada has won 119 winter Olympics medals, including 38 gold. It competed in the Winter Olympics 20 times.

Ottawa – the capital city of Canada- has hosted the IV Francophone Games in 2001. There were 3,000 sportspeople from 50 countries and territories.

Canada boycotted the 1980 Olympics in Moscow (USSR) in protest over Soviet policies against Afghanistan. Famous Canadian athletes did not participate in these Games: Ray Takahashi (wrestling/ Commonwealth gold medalist, 1978), Bruce Simpson (athletics/ Pan American gold medalist, 1979), Greg Joy ( track & field/ Olympic silver medalist, 1976), John Wood (kayak /Olympic silver medalist, 1976), Scott Neilson (athletics/ Pan American gold medalist, 1979), Claude Ferragne (athletics/ Commonwealth gold medalist, 1978), Jules Sobrian (shooting/ Commonwealth gold medalist, 1978), Shannon Smith (swimming/ Olympic bronze medalist, 1976), Roger Fortin (boxing / Commonwealth gold medalist, 1978), Gordon Singleton (cycling/ Pan American gold medalist, 1979), Nancy Garapick (swimming/ Olympic bronze medalist, 1976), Elki Schlegel (gymnastics/ Commonwealth gold medalist ), Jean-Marc Cardinal (weightlifting/ Commonwealth gold medalist, 1978), Cheryl Gibson (swimming/ Olympic silver medalist, 1976), Louis Jani (judo / Pan American gold medalist, 1979), Claude Langlois (cycling / Pan American gold medalist, 1979), Carmen Ionescu (track & field/ Commonweath gold medalist, 1978) and Diane Kanihowski (athletics/ Pan American gold medalist, 1979).

This country competed in the Winter Games for the first time at the 1924 Winter Olympics in Chamonix (France). The Canadian men`s ice hockey team finished first and won Canada`s first gold winter Olympic medal.

Canada sent 450 athletes to the 1984 Olympics in the United States: archery (3), athletics (66), baseball (20), basketball (24), boxing (9), kayak (15), cycling (13), equestrian (11), fencing (14), soccer (17), gymnastics(13), field hockey (32), wrestling (21), rowing (52), shooting (34), swimming (60), tennis (2), Volleyball (30), weightlifting (7) and sailing (13).

This country has won a gold medal in men’s hockey field four times at the Pan American Games: Caracas (1983), Indianapolis (1987), Winnipeg (1999) and Rio de Janeiro (2007).

Canada won 86 medals at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne (Australia).

The Canadian team did not win any gold medal at the 1976 Olympic Games. It won five silver and six bronze medals.The Olympic team had training in Havana,Cuba.

Canada won the silver in basketball in the 1936 Olympic Games in Germany. Canada’s basketball team celebrates after winning the silver medal for the first time in their history at the Olympics.

This North American country won two gold medals at the 1920 Olympic Games in Belgium. The Olympic champions were: Earl Thompson (track & field / 110m hurdles) and Albert Schneider (boxing/ welterweight).

Canada won 19 gold medals at the 1975 Pan American Games. The Canadian medals winners were: Wayne Erdman (judo), Bruce Pirnie (track & field), Joyce Yakubowicz (athletics), Rainier Fisher (judo), Diane Jones (track & field), Chris Clarke (boxing), Joselyn Lovell (cycling), Howard Strupp (wrestling), Christilot Boylen (equestrian), Brand Farrow (judo), Russ Prior (weightlifting), Egon Beiler (wrestling), Lynn Chenard (swimming) and Janet Nutter (diving).

Bruny Surin was born on July 12, 1967 in Cap Haitien, Haiti. However, he moved to Canada when he was seven years old. Who is Surin? He is one of the best sprinters of the 20th century. He once said: “”Getting to work in the field you want to work in is such luck … It’s a privilege. The 100 metres and the 4×100 metre relay have given me a chance to push my limits, to go down into the core of myself to find the strength to achieve my goals. I think perseverence is the key to my success. When things went badly, the disappointment was a source of motivation.” Like many foreign-born Canadians, Bruny loves his country. He established the Bruny Surin Foundation, which is dedicated to helping children in need with education and physical health. Currently, he is Goodwill Ambassador for Quebec (Canada).

Top performances:

1990: Francophone Games-4th 100m

1991: World Athletics Championship-8th 100m

1992: Olympic Games-4th 100m

1993: World Athletics Championship-5th 100m, 3rd-4×100m relay

1994: Francophone Games-1st 100m

1995: World Indoor Championship-1st 60m; Canadian Championship-2nd 100m; World Athletics Championship-2nd 100m,1st- 4×100m relay

1996: Olympic Games- 1st 4×100m relay

1997: World Indoor Championship-5th 60m; Canadian Championship-3rd 100m; World Athletics Cup-2nd

100m, 1st- 4×100m relay

1998: Canadian Championship-1st 100m

1999: World Indoor Championship-8th 60m; Canadian Championship-1st 100m; World Athletics Championship-2nd 100m

By: Alejandro Guevara Onofre

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Extreme sports are the rage since the entry of the new millennium. They used to be free time hobbies of a select segment of hardcore enthusiasts, but extreme sports have grown in popularity with millions of fans worldwide. The term often refers to a group of sports which originally are hobbies – skateboarding, cycling, motor cross, bungee jumping, to name but a few – but has since found its way to enthusiasts with competitive streak.

For fans of extreme sports, the fun factor of the games would be in the high adrenaline levels that comes with the games which are, more often than not, have a certain level of risk of personal injury which is certainly higher than the more traditional game. The advent of competition has however dull this risk factor a bit as the gamers and their competition organizers try to entice a bigger group of fans as to spur the game further,.

Most extreme sport needs little but courage. The thrill would be in the skills level of each competitor, and the greater the risk involved in a certain move, the higher would be the score. This is true for skateboarding, to take just one example. The simple moves would not garner any thing from a fan base now accustomed to the wildest of stunts, so the competitors try their level best to boost their chances of winning with more creative moves.

The popularity of extreme sports has also seen a new group of fans in the motoring genre. Rallies and motor cross used to be the main contenders fitting the adrenaline boosting risk taking of extreme sporting events, but the scope is certainly limited with high cost being the prohibitive factor which has seen fans restricted to those viewing such events anyway. Not anymore with the introduction of the all terrain vehicle, or ATV for short.

Suddenly, fans who would normally be hard pressed to go the extra mile to fork out valuable dollars found themselves with a brand new toy which is within reach of their wallets. The beauty of the ATV is that, unlike the aforementioned rally and motor cross events, there is no real need for a hard core and specific route or site for one to enjoy the machine. A beach, a farm, an empty parking lot which some obstacle placed would be good enough as a track. It is thus small wonder than to realize that there have been many advert of ATV for sale in even car magazines.

Enthusiasts would probably scoff at cheap ATV from non-traditional automakers, but they do make sense to popularize the sport further. What is important is, again, the skill factor, as it is not the machine that decides but the man or woman riding them. Just as any other extreme sports, the riskier the move, the higher the adrenaline quotient involved. Being a four wheel vehicle, ATV are at least a much more stable machine over the rough than, say a motorcycle. Spins and jumps can therefore be executed with greater gusto.

Men and women alike have found their way to using the ATV. Even if you do not own one, there are nowadays businesses which make their living by renting out ATVs to such groups who wants to have a go without having to invest into actually buying one of the four wheelers for sale at specialty outlets for extreme sports. In a way, this is a good way to introduce oneself to the sport as you could then start by learning the ropes with a trainer and invariably, they would often have a track at hand and ready for the testing.

Be ready to be charmed into realizing that buying one is not at all something to be shunned. Extreme sports entice the novice with the challenge that you could do it and more especially after you’ve learned the basic skills. Be it on the ATV or bungee jumping, once you do take the plunge – no pun intended, of course, you are hooked into thinking that it is not such a bad thing after all. Having your own ATV would certainly help once you are up for some adrenaline boosting ride after work, for example.

Roaring up and down the neighborhood might seem a tad juvenile delinquent, but hey, it might just entice others to join in the fun as long as you limit the risk to only yourself.

By: Hamm K Morgan

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The Cuckoo Trail in East Sussex goes between Eridge and Polegate, and, like many cycle routes around the UK, follows the route of an old railway line that closed down. Another instance of this happening is the Tarka Trail in Devon. The route originally opened in the 1880s, and it was whilst trains still ran upon the tracks that it became known as the Cuckoo Line. Supposedly, the first cuckoo of the year was heard at the Heathfield fair, and as the line had created a direct route for people in London to reach Heathfield and enjoy the fair every year, it became known as the Cuckoo Line.

The trains stopped running along it in 1968, but it wasn’t until the 1990s that work began to remove the remains of the tracks and convert the route into something for walkers and cyclists. Once this did happen, the name “Cuckoo Line” was no longer fitting, and so “Cuckoo Trail” became used instead, much as the “Tarka Line” in Devon became the “Tarka Trail”.

Unfortunately, the complete Cuckoo Line was not converted into a smooth path due to the unwillingness of owners of some of the sections of track to part with it. What there is to walk along is still excellent though, and walkers, cyclists and horse riders of all ages regularly make use of the route. There are plenty of benches installed by the council, as well as uniquely sculpted signposts set along the trail. This means that should anybody become tired, it won’t be long until there’s somewhere to sit down and take a load off. The regular benches and beautiful views also make the trail perfect for a picnic.

As the entire line remains unusable, the Cuckoo Trail hasn’t been joined with another trail nearby called The Forest Way. The hope had been that the two could be joined and become one of the better parts of the National Cycle Network, which aims to have routes all around the UK which join up for cyclists and walkers to enjoy, and which will minimise the danger that roads prove to both.

By: Tom Sangers

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