Niagara sends its best
Niagara will be well represented at the 2012 Summer Olympics that open Friday.
Rower Natalie Mastracci and cyclist Joseph Veloce, both of Thorold, runner Mohammed Ahmed of St. Catharines and wrestler Tonya Verbeek of Beamsville are all expected to compete for medals. As well, Niagara Falls native Joe Fletcher will be on the pitch as an assistant referee for soccer matches while Colin Russell, a Toronto resident who attends Brock University, made the grade as a swimmer.
Missy Franklin, a swimmer who will represent the United States, also has local ties. Her father, Dick Franklin, is a St. Catharines native.
Mastracci, a 23- year- old graduate of Denis Morris High School, will make her Olympic debut as part of Canada’s women’s eight rowing team, which placed second to the United States at last year’s world championships and also took home a
Mastracci realized her Olympic dream after walking away from a full- ride scholarship at Syracuse University to go to Rowing Canada’s national women’s training centre in London.
“That was a big decision,” Mastracci said. “It was very hard.”
Ahmed, who came to Canada 11 years ago from Somalia via Ethiopia and Kenya at age 10, qualified in the 10,000metre race. He graduated from Queen Mary Elementary School before attending St. Catharines Collegiate, then blossomed in high school thanks to a strong work ethic and the coaching of Stuart Gallaway at the Niagara Olympic Club. Ahmed did so well at the high school level, he landed a full-ride scholarship at the University of Wisconsin.
He might be considered a longshot to medal, considering his age and lack of experience, but that doesn’t mean he’s simply satisfied to be going.
“What I’ve learned over the years is don’t limit yourself,” he said. “Go out there with an open mind and an open heart and compete to the best of your abilities.”
Verbeek, on the other hand, has been there and done that, in terms of Olympic experience.
The 34- year- old teacher/ public speaker already has silver ( 2004) and bronze (2008) medals to her credit.
This time, she’s going to try and savour the experience as much as possible in what could be her curtain call at the Olympic level.
“If I was to walk away from the Olympics without something around my neck, I promised myself that it’s still OK to walk away from the sport,” she said.
Verbeek will attend the Opening Ceremonies, but won’t compete until near the end of the Games on Aug. 9.
Veloce, a graduate of Notre Dame College School in Welland, only learned in mid-June he would represent Canada. He got official word in an e- mail while sitting through his convocation ceremony for McMaster University engineering.
“It was a bit of a surreal moment, with two big life events in the same day and the same hour,” he said.
Veloce will compete in the men’s keirin, a six- rider race where riders follow a pace bike. The pace bike takes the competitors up to a speed of 50 km-h over the first 5.5 laps, then pulls off the track. The final 2.5 laps are a race to the finish.
Fletcher, a 35- year- old accountant who now calls St. Catharines home, won’t know his schedule until two or three days before a match. It’s a procedure FIFA adheres to in order to deter match-fixing.
His role will be to help the referees in any way, with the primary responsibility for calling offsides.
Russell, a 27-year-old applied health sciences graduate student, will participate in the 4x100 and 4x200 relay races.
Franklin, who has family living in Ontario, B.C. and Nova Scotia, is a 17-year-old Colorado high school student. She is scheduled to swim in the relays and her specialty, the 200-metre backstroke. Her father, who develops clean technology for start- up businesses, now lives in Denver.