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Post by Laura (Lori) on Aug 19, 2013 12:23:17 GMT -8
Wow, you most certainly did your homework! I suppose it's time I should take a closer look at our own selection criteria. I had a pretty good understanding of it before Vancouver, but this time, not so much!
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Post by mtnme on Aug 19, 2013 14:38:05 GMT -8
Oh Nooooooo! Redux Charles Hamelin injured at Canadian speed skating team trials
Hamelin said the injury likely won’t affect his preparation for the Olympics but that he’ll get a precautionary X-ray on Monday. Canada, a powerhouse at short-track, is led by an accomplished veteran group along with some promising emerging stars. On the men’s side, Hamelin, Charle Cournoyer and Olivier Jean are on solid footing to represent Canada at the Olympics. Marie-Eve Drolet, Valerie Maltais and Marianne St-Gelais are the front-runners on the women’s side. The Olympic team isn’t yet official, however. Speed Skating Canada will announce a list of five men and five women on Aug. 29. The athletes then have to confirm quota places for themselves and Canada at Olympic qualifying competitions in the fall. www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/more-sports/hamelin-injured-at-canadian-speed-skating-team-trials/article13835179/
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Post by sk8erfan on Aug 25, 2013 8:01:43 GMT -8
Today on Twitter Michael Gilday, François Hamelin and Jessica Gregg all announced that they have been named to the Olympic team! I assume Jessica Hewitt is the other person on the team given her fantastic performance at the trials even though I have seen anything yet.
The official announcement will be on August 29th.
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Post by mtnme on Aug 25, 2013 8:46:56 GMT -8
Wow! That is such great news! I'm so happy for them all. Michael especially must be over the moon with the decision. I'm assuming it is due to past performance despite Olympic Trials.
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Post by sk8erfan on Aug 29, 2013 8:07:25 GMT -8
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Post by sk8erfan on Aug 29, 2013 12:47:32 GMT -8
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Aug 30, 2013 9:03:41 GMT -8
I enjoyed reading the 'Things You Don't Know' piece! I'm happy to see that 'Jamaicanadian' is used by Olivier's teammates. We've been calling him that for years - never knew where it came from, and never knew if he would appreciate it or not! Question sk8erfan: You seem to be pretty up-to-speed about the Canadians. Were there any huge surprises - either in those who didn't make the team, or those who did?
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Post by sk8erfan on Aug 30, 2013 17:04:51 GMT -8
I liked that article too, it was definitely the most interesting one I read about team. I didn't think there was any real surprises, they pretty much went with the trials results and what I expected. Charle Cournoyer's performance at the was very impressive and to be honest I didn't think that he'd make the team before the trials started but after the first day of racing I quickly changed my mind . He did great at trials, he's already won 2 individual world cup medals and he was on the gold medal winning relay team at World Champs last year. He definitely has a bright future in the sport. Guillaume Bastille isn't on the team which is disappointing since he's such a talented skater but they can only take 5 men and at trials he faded at the end and finished 5th and they picked Michael, last years Canadian Champion, over him which was expected. For the women the discretionary pick was between Gabrielle Waddell and Jessica Gregg and they picked Jessica over Gabrielle despite the fact that Gabby finished 5th overall and Jessica finished 6th. For me, this wasn't a surprise because Jessica has Olympic experience and she is strong in the 500m when it comes to international competition. Also, Gabby has been part of the last 2 World Championship teams to be part of the relay and both years she wasn't chosen by the coach to skate. They must also feel Jessica is a stronger relay skater then Gabby. Lastly, Caroline Truchon and Liam McFarlane both competed internationally last year and I expected them to contend for an Olympic spot but they seemed to struggle through the competition and finished 9th and 11th overall in their respective competitions. Given how close Liam was to making the team in 2010 and how well he preformed at those trials, it's a shame he wasn't able to make it happen this time.
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Post by Canadian fan on Aug 31, 2013 17:19:36 GMT -8
Just an addition to the.information already given. Guillaume Bastille I believe was named as the alternate for the Olympic team. I'm not sure who the alternate for the women's team is. According to a bulletin on the Speed Skating Canada website they will be sending 6 skaters for both the men's and women's teams to the fall world cups so I am assuming that the alternates will be skating in the competitions.
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Post by sk8erfan on Aug 31, 2013 20:51:36 GMT -8
I didn't know that, thanks for letting us know! It looks like it is the Olympic team and the alternate that make up the World Cup team. It would make sense that Guillaume would be the 6th member for the world cup team. I think that Gabrielle Waddell would be the 6th skater for the women but that's just a guess.
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Post by sk8erfan on Sept 7, 2013 12:06:07 GMT -8
Speed Skating Canada posted the overall results for the trials. They only took the top 2 distances (500m, 1000m, 1500m) into account when they looked at overall results instead of all 3.
Men Overall: www.speedskating.ca/sites/default/files/2014_olympic_selection_results_best2_men.pdf Women Overall: www.speedskating.ca/sites/default/files/2014_olympic_selection_results_best2_women.pdf
Someone also let me know that they couldn't download the attachment I posted with the overall results so I saved it as a Google doc. It has a little more information then the Speed Skating Canada results so I figured I post the link. docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AtsFreQytkM3dHp4ZkRVNTd0M3dzbUl3VHM5cUl6MlE#gid=1
Also, the selection policy states that if Canada were to qualify all 3 spots in each distance for the Olympics then the winner at trials, the second place finisher at trials and a discretionary pick will get the spots. That means that if all 3 spots are earned then we already know 2 people skating in each distance.
Men
500m | 1000m | 1500m | Charles Hamelin | Charles Hamelin | Charles Hamelin | Olivier Jean | Charle Cournoyer | François Hamelin |
Women 500m | 1000m | 1500m | Valérie Maltais | Valérie Maltais | Valérie Maltais | Jessica Hewitt | Marianne St. Gelais | Marie-Ève Drolet |
If Canada only qualifies 2 spots then it's the distance winner and a discretionary pick and if they only qualify 1 spot then it's the distance winner.
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Sept 18, 2013 17:23:52 GMT -8
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Sept 21, 2013 17:40:34 GMT -8
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Post by sk8erfan on Oct 6, 2013 15:00:34 GMT -8
Here's a funny video that I thought I'd share. Michael Gilday and Jessica Hewitt were taking part in a Canadian Olympic Team series called "30 Seconds to Greatness" where Olympians or Olympic Hopefuls explain how they overcame obstacles and reached greatness in 30 seconds or less. Jessica Gregg decided to "photo bomb" not realizing that it's a video.
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Post by sk8erfan on Oct 16, 2013 14:36:28 GMT -8
P&G started posting videos their "Raising an Olympian" series for the 2014 Olympics today and one of the first videos features the Hamelin brothers. This is my favourite Olympic series because the videos are so sweet and endearing. I'm kind of a sap so these videos always make me a little teary eyed and this video no exception, I definitely teared up a bit near the end. Anyway, here’s the video!
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