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Post by mtnme on Jun 3, 2009 9:57:30 GMT -8
Athlete Biography: Michael GildayHometown: Yellowknife, NT Date of Birth: 01/05/1987 Current Residence: Calgary Coach: Jonathon Cavar, Club: Yellowknife Speed Skating Club Training Centre: Olympic Oval (Calgary) Years on National Team: 1 year Occupation: Student Highlights Established a new World Record in the 1000m in the Fall of 2007 Won a silver medal at the 2007 World Cup #2 in the relay Finished 2nd overall in the 2008 National Team Selection #3 Ranked 6th in Canada in 07-08 In his first year on the national development team, he was selected to take part in 2 World Cups His first international medal was a silver in the relay at the 2006 Montreal World Cup Placed 4th in the 1000m and 8th overall at the 2006 Canadian Junior Championships His family was awarded the 2007 Gagné Family Award for their contributions to speed skating in Canada NWT Junior Male Athlete of the Year in 2003 and 2005 Quick Facts Started speed skating at age 4 Hobbies and interests include: Cross-Country Skiing, camping, hiking and spending time outdoors Cross-Country Skiing Western Canadian Champion in the 2003 Juvenile Category To read more stats on Michael, go to his link on Speedskating Canada: www.speedskating.ca/team-page2.cfm?memberID=7012&teamID=146&memType=Athlete
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Post by mtnme on Jun 3, 2009 10:00:27 GMT -8
Michael also has a wonderful blog that is usually a very interesting read. Here is the link: mgilday.blogspot.com/___________________________________________________________________ We need to take a moment here on Michaels thread to give props to his dad, Dave, who gave us the idea to take TRF 'viral' and get all our endeavors on facebook as a way to promote donations to US short track skaters. Before that, Lori and I weren't all that versed on the site. (Although the argument could be made that we still don't know what we're doing on facebook! LOL)
Unexpectedly, those pages have garnered many 'fans' from all over the world. (..although me thinks American skaters won't be getting much in donations for their training expenses from other countries...LOL)
...but hey, it was an interesting side effect.
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Post by mtnme on Aug 22, 2009 12:09:44 GMT -8
Oh, it's so agonizing just to post this. I was really rooting for Michael. He still has a shot, depending on what the powers that be decide for Flou... but still.... _____________________________________________________________________ Heartbreak for GildayJames McCarthy Northern News Services Friday, August 21, 2009 nnsl.com/northern-news-services/stories/papers/aug21_09holder.htmlSOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE- Thirteen one-hundredths of a second. That was all it took for Yellowknife's Michael Gilday to miss out on a guaranteed spot on the Canadian Olympic short-track speed skating team. Yellowknife speed skater Michael Gilday (37) puts his head in his hands as Guillaume Bastille (34) celebrates a victory in the men's 1500m event at the Short-Track Team Selection Meet at Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, Aug. 17. The loss cost Gilday an automatic spot on the 2010 Olympic team. - Adam Johnson/NNSL photo On Aug. 17 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, Gilday finished second in the final men's 1500m race at the Short-Track Team Selection Meet, a race he had to win in order to punch his ticket to the 2010 Winter Olympics. "It's big time disappointment," he said. "To come that close stings. It's disappointing." Gilday was actually in the lead for part of the race, but a slip inside the final two laps of the race gave Quebec's Guillaume Bastille an avenue to jump into the lead he would not relinquish. Gilday said he caught an edge coming out of a turn. "I slipped and lost some speed," he said. "I tried to get back in, but I just couldn't pass him." Gilday was in good position after winning the first 1500m race on Aug. 9. The win meant he had to win just one of the remaining two races in order to make the team. His first chance ended in disqualification on Aug. 15 after he was judged to have impeded with the progress of his competitors during the race. Gilday said the last race was a carbon copy of the first race. "I felt strong going in," he said. "I got the lead near the mid-point, but I think I put myself in a situation where I became desperate and it made the difference." Knowing he was one win away from the Olympics put pressure on him, but Gilday said he managed the situation all right thanks to some outside help. "I had been working with a sports psychologist brought in by Speed Skating Canada to work on nerves," he said. "She was great. I think this was the one event where I was best-focused and relaxed. The big positive for me is knowing I did everything right, but I just got beat and I have no problem admitting that. There were better skaters on the day." David Gilday, Michael's father, said even though his son fell short on the day, he should hold his head high. "He should be proud of what he's achieved," David said. "Thirteen one-hundredths isn't much in short-track, but he's still one of the top 10 in the country. He went up and shook Guillaume's hand right away after the race. He skated terrificly and he's a terrific kid." There's still an outside chance Gilday could land one of the discretionary spots on the team, but he said he's not thinking about that right now. "I'm coming back to Yellowknife on Friday (today) to spend some time with friends and relax," he said. "Everything is so far away right now. I'm going to take some time to analyze and break down what happened. The 2014 Olympics are so far away." Gilday had some words of thanks for those who had thrown support behind him leading up to the trials. "I know tons of people back home were pulling for me," he said. "I want to thank everyone for pushing me on." – with files from Adam Johnson Attachments:
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Aug 23, 2009 23:11:24 GMT -8
Thanks for the article - this young man has proven himself to me and to many others, both on and off the ice - whether he makes the team or not.
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Aug 27, 2009 23:07:07 GMT -8
A bittersweet tale of what it's like to work so hard for something that's just beyond your grasp... mgilday.blogspot.com/We're so proud of you, Michael!
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Dec 15, 2009 8:53:59 GMT -8
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Post by mtnme on Dec 15, 2009 19:20:31 GMT -8
Well, doesn't that completely suck. Poor Michael just can't seem to catch a break this year.
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Dec 15, 2009 19:32:24 GMT -8
Well, all of his peers know who 'owns' the world record! Years ago, the great racehorse Secretariat broke all 3 Triple Crown records (Derby, Preakness, Belmont) - but the official clock malfunctioned in the Preakness, so he never got credit for it. However, every 'railbird' with a stopwatch had him smashing the record, and to this day, you never hear 'em talk about the Preakness record without mentioning this fact. I don't think anybody can even name the horse who holds the official record. BTW, didn't something similar to Michael Gilday's situation happen a few years ago - also in Canada? A Canadian ST skater broke a world record in a non-ISU competition?
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Post by mtnme on Jan 22, 2010 12:52:32 GMT -8
This was tagged as Michael...but I dunno. And I don't know where it came from either....
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Sept 6, 2010 7:48:11 GMT -8
Michael has posted a new blog entry, comparing the growth of ST to women's hockey. Even without the comparisons to hockey, this is a thoughtful analysis of 'superpowers' in short track. A good read... Competitiveness in Short Track SpeedskatingSunday, Sept 5, 2010 mgilday.blogspot.com/2010/09/competitiveness-in-short-track.htmlMichael Gilday / Short Track Speedskating
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Oct 27, 2010 19:13:55 GMT -8
Gilday wins gold, silver in first World Cup eventOctober 27, 2010 Yellowknife, N.W.T. - The NWT's top speedskater is off to a good start to the World Cup season. Michael Gilday finished with strong results at the Korean Air World Cup Short Track event in Montreal, including a silver in the men's 1000 metres. Despite the solid finish, Gilday got off to a rough start and was in the back of the pack through much of the start of the race. Read More: hqyellowknife.com/news/9979/Gilday%20wins%20gold,%20silver%20in%20first%20World%20Cup%20event/ +++ Tags: Michael Gilday / Short Track Speedskating The Yellowknifer rebounded to finish with silver and said the key was not forcing any big moves. "You're better off waiting for a little bit of an opening and trying to take advantage of that then really just trying to force a pass into an area where there's no space and end up getting disqualified or falling," he said. "So in one sense, it's tough to stay calm and relaxed because you don't want to be where you are but it's also the best thing to do." Gilday said he's pleased with the second place finish in the 1000 metres, but felt he could've done better. He also helped earn the team a gold medal in the men's relay event. In all, Canada finished with seven medals over the weekend at the Korean Air World Cup Short Track event in Montreal. The next World Cup event is this weekend in Quebec City.[/img]
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Nov 24, 2010 19:48:37 GMT -8
Relay Gold Medal, World Cup 1 - Montreal (Oct 24, 2010). L to R: Charles Hamelin; Michael Gilday; Charles Hamelin ~ Photo Credit: Elena Viviani (Italian World Cup team) Tags: Charles Hamelin / Michael Gilday / Francois Hamelin / Elena Viviani / Short Track Speedskating
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Dec 5, 2011 17:19:35 GMT -8
This is a screen grab that I got from the ISU broadcast: L to R: Kwak Yoon-Gy (KOR - silver); Charles Hamelin (CAN - gold); Michael Gilday (CAN - bronze)
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Feb 3, 2012 16:19:51 GMT -8
Oh, Booooo - I'm sorry to hear this! Injury takes N.W.T. speedskater out for seasonMichael Gilday fractured his shoulder during practice in MoscowCBC News / Feb 1, 2012 Northwest Territories speedskater Michael Gilday is out of competition for the rest of the season, after he injured himself Monday during a practice in Moscow. His father, David Gilday, said Michael hit the wrong spot at the wrong time on the ice, fell, and injured his shoulder. "I don't know the medical specifics, but probably for five to six weeks he's going to be incapacitated," the elder Gilday said. Read More: www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/story/2012/02/01/north-gilday-injured.html
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Mar 3, 2012 8:14:46 GMT -8
More on Michael's shoulder injury: Shoulder injury knocks Michael Gilday out of short track worlds By Beverley Smith / Globe and Mail Update / Mar. 02, 2012 ...Gilday, of Yellowknife, NWT, is on the sidelines with his arm in a sling after fracturing his shoulder during training at a World Cup in Moscow on Jan. 30.
Gilday’s first method of recovery: as soon as he landed at home in Montreal, he drank some maple syrup straight from the can.
The fracture to the ball and socket joint in his shoulder ended his season. He underwent surgery in Montreal, where surgeons found the injury more extensive than originally believed...Read More: www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/more-sports/shoulder-injury-knocks-michael-gilday-out-of-short-track-worlds/article2357042/Tags: Michael Gilday / Charles Hamilen / Olivier Jean / Liam McFarlane / Guillaume Bastille / Francois-Louis Tremblay / Marianne St-Gelais / Marie-Eve Drolet / Valerie Lambert / Gabrielle Waddell / Caroline Truchon / Short Track Speedskating
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