‘ Happy’ Gilmore wants to get back on track
After rough season, speedskater targeting podium at World Cup
Gilmore Junio’s mission heading into the 2015- 16 World Cup season is simple: To prove nice guys can, and do, finish first.
The 25- year- old Calgarian is considered a Canadian folk hero for voluntarily giving up his spot in the 1,000- metre race at the Sochi 2014 Olympics to teammate Denny Morrison, who went on to win a silver medal.
“That’s really cool just how much that story resonated with the country,” Junio says. “It’s not something I’m going to ever forget. But as athletes, we’re always looking forward to the next thing. It’s nice to have built that base where people know me as a person, rather than just as a skater. I’m trying to build that portion of me as a skater right now.”
His new coach, Kevin Crockett, is more blunt and to the point.
“I want him to be Gil, the medallist, not Gil the nice guy who gave up his spot,” Crockett says. “I mean, he’s got a lot of notoriety for that and good on him ... But it’s time to get down to work now and separate himself from that a little bit. He is a super- talented guy. I want him on the podium and I want him on the podium soon.”
Junio roared into the Sochi Games as a medal contender over 500 metres, having won three World Cup medals that season ( gold, silver and bronze). In 201415, however, he failed to even flirt with the World Cup podium and wrapped up the season with an eighth- place finish at the World Single Distance Championships.
Chronic back and shoulder injuries no doubt played a part in what he considers a dismal season, and Junio dedicated last summer to rehabbing his upper body with an eye to skating without pain.
“My Twitter handle is Canadian Happy Gilmore (@ cdnhappygilmore), so everyone expects the chipper Gil and the excited Gil,” Gilmore says. “But last year, for sure, was pretty tough. At points, it was hard to be that person. I see myself as among some of the best sprinters. I want to put myself back up there. That’s what this year is all about.”
The 2015- 16 World Cup long track season opens Nov 13- 15 in Calgary.
Injury bay: Track cyclist Hugo Barrette is scheduled to be released from hospital after crashing through a guardrail at 80 km/ h a week ago during training at a World Cup stop in Cali, Colombia. Barrette, 24, suffered a concussion and what he calls a “small” laceration to his spine. Barrette still hopes to compete at the next World Cup stop Dec. 4- 6 in New Zealand.
Entering the ‘ real world’: Ryan Cochrane took a grand total of five days off in August after the World Swimming Championships in Kazan, Russia. The Olympic silver and bronze medallist logs 15 km over five hours in the pool each day mixed in with three to four hours of lifting weights, callisthenics and stretching. But somehow, the 27- year- old has also taken a parttime job as an RBC Olympian in Victoria. Cochrane will focus on community outreach events for the next 10 months before hopefully moving into the bank work some time next year.
Medal contender: Ellie Black may have finished seventh in the balance beam final at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, but don’t be fooled. The 20- year- old is a legitimate medal threat on the beam at the 2016 Summer Games in Rio. She fell in Glasgow while attempting a back tuck with a full twist. If she lands that element in Rio, the Halifax native has every chance of becoming Canada’s first Olympic medallist in artistic gymnastics since Kyle Shewfelt won gold in the floor exercise competition at the 2004 Summer Games in Athens.
Captain Canada: Yes, that’s MariePhilip Poulin wearing the ‘ C? for the Canadian women’s hockey team at the Four Nations Cup in Sundsvall, Sweden. The 24- year- old Beauceville, Que., product is truly the Sidney Crosby of the Canadian women’s team, having scored the golden goal in both the Vancouver and Sochi Olympics.
Athlete to watch: Kaillie Humphries, bobsled. The 30- year- old Calgarian’s ongoing quest to shatter the gender barrier continues at the World Cup bobsled selection races in Whistler, B. C. Humphries and her new team of Dan Sunderland, Mozac Samson, Luke Demetre and Olympic gold medallist Lascelles Brown head into the weekend sitting third behind Lyndon Rush and Chris Spring in the Canadian fourman rankings.