Ottawa athletes snare five medals at Canada Games
Whether it was rowing, athletics or soccer, Ottawa athletes excelled Thursday at the Canada Summer Games, winning five medals.
Rowers Hunter Amesbury and Mary-Jo Weir Weiss delivered gold and bronze respectively, while Shyvonne Roxborough sprinted to a silver and Laura Amoi took bronze in triple jump.
The Ontario women’s soccer team including Ariel Young, Olivia Cooke, Emily Amano, Mollie Eriksson and Kayza Massey, earned the silver medal after losing 1-0 to Quebec in overtime.
Despite a string of 9.0s on his final dive, Ottawa Nepean Diving Club’s Henry McKay missed his second medal, when the one-metre champion finished fourth in the platform competition. He scored 382.45 points, missing the bronze by 3.15 points.
Amesbury, a Carleton University commerce student from Burlington, and five-year racing partner Luke Gadsdon battled a headwind and then a crosswind to win the men’s pair gold medal in rowing, which is being held in Kenora, Ont.
The Ontario team covered the 2,000-metre course in seven minutes, 13.26 seconds, while British Columbia was second in 7:16.13 and Alberta took third at 7:23.58.
“It’s one of the best feelings I’ve had in a while,” Amesbury said in an interview. “We couldn’t ask for a better race plan. We did everything we needed to do. We were focused.”
A satisfied Weir Weiss of the Ottawa Rowing Club earned a rowing bronze medal for Ontario in the women’s eight with coxswain. They were timed in 6:55.35 behind winner British Columbia, 6:47.29 and Alberta, 6:52.90.
“I am so proud of this medal and the other seven rowers and the coxie. This is the cherry on top,” Weir Weiss said. “It’s my first Canada Summer Games and it means a lot to represent my province because Ontario has a strong rowing program.”
Roxborough, who runs for the Speed River Track and Field Club in Guelph, took silver in the women’s 100 metres, missing the gold by five one-hundreths of a second. Quebec’s DeOndra Green won in 11.63, while Roxborough finished in 11.68, tying her personal-best.
Ottawa’s Nyoka Maxwell, running with a painful right big toe after losing the nail in an accident at the athletes’ residence, finished a tearful fourth in 11.89. Gatineau’s Audrey Leduc was fifth in 12.01. Hans Lafleur of Ottawa was fifth in the men’s high jump at 2.00 metres.
Roxborough was more nervous than normal before the race and it escalated when the start was delayed. She led until late in the race, when she tightened up, sensing Green was making ground.
“This was to be my last race of the season and I wanted to go out with a bang,” Roxborough said. “I’m very happy with the silver even though I was going for the win. A lot of athletes who have gone before me at the Games have gone on to do great things. I hope I can be one of those.”
After failing Monday to qualify for the long jump final, Amoi used it as a motivator and rebounded to win bronze in the women’s triple jump with a personal-best 12.29 metres. “I’m super excited, proud of myself and grateful of my coaches,” said Amoi, who cleared 12 metres for the first time outdoors.
Light winds allowed for only one 2.4m para mixed sailing race, which was won by Nepean Sailing Club’s Aaron Wong Sing, who has moved up to second place overall.
In baseball, Ontario defeated British Columbia 3-1 in the quarterfinals, but lost to Saskatchewan 7-0 in the semifinals and will play for the bronze medal Friday. Ottawa’s Angus Adams plays for Ontario.