Brassard sees big things for Canada
GOOD THINGS COMING: Former chef de mission predicts ‘best Olympics ever on the summer side’
CALGARY — Jean-Luc Brassard uttered a bold prediction last week, after stepping down as chef de mission for the Canadian Olympic team in Rio.
“I am convinced the Canadian delegation will probably have their best Olympics ever on the summer side,” he said. “These Olympics will be amazing, and one of the reasons is because of all these doping scandals that are going on around the world. For one of the first times in decades, our guys will compete at an equal chance with their opponents.”
Call Brassard an optimist, but he has a point.
Russian dopers sabotaged the 2012 London Games, according to an investigation by former World AntiDoping Agency chair Dick Pound. Russia is currently suspended by track’s governing body, the IAAF, and on the clock to prove their system is clean.
In a bid to receive permission to compete in Rio, Russia announced a plan Wednesday that will see all of its track and field athletes undergo three independent doping tests before the Olympics. A perfect solution? Not even close, but it’s better than nothing.
Kenya — another country at risk of missing the Games due to repeated doping violations and substandard testing — announced reforms Wednesday that would see convicted dopers serve jail time.
Here in Canada, Own the Podium chair John Furlong oozes a quiet confidence with just over 100 days to go before the opening ceremonies.
The official goals are modest, with Canada striving to surpass the 18 medals collected in London and to finish in the top-12 of the overall medal count.
“The competition is fierce,” Furlong said on a recent trip to Calgary. “We’re keeping up. We’re trying to be as ingenious as we can in finding ways to help our athletes get closer to a podium finish.”
Gymnast Rosie MacLennan (trampoline) was the only Canadian to win gold in London. Furlong hopes to see more Canadians grace the top of the podium in Rio, with perhaps the best chances coming in kayak (Mark de Jonge), heptathlon (Brianne Theisen-Eaton) and track cycling (women’s team pursuit.)
Infostrada sports is predicting Canada will win 18 medals in Rio and finish 16th in the overall medal count. Four of those medals are linked to Canadian divers (Roseline Filion, Meaghan Benfeito, Jennifer Abel and Pamela Ware) and four medals to Canadian track athletes Theisen-Eaton, Melissa Bishop (800 metres), Derek Drouin (high jump) and Shawn Barber (pole vault.)
No Canadian wrestler is a projected medallist, but Own the Podium believes the next Carol Huynh may emerge from the women’s team of Jillian Gallays, Michelle Fazzari, Dorothy Yeats, Erica Wiebe, Jasmine Mian, and Danielle Lappage.
Brassard resigned last week over what he called extreme fatigue from dealing with the aftermath of Marcel Aubut’s departure as president of the Canadian Olympic Committee.
Give Quebec City Mayor Regis Labeaume points for staying positive in the face of public rejection.
Labeaume is apparently undeterred by the United States Olympic Committee’s lack of interest in the idea of Lake Placid partnering up with Quebec City for a 2026 Winter Olympic bid.
“The United States Olympic Committee is 100 per cent focused on our bid to bring the Games to L.A. in 2024,” spokesman Patrick Sandusky said in a statement. “We have no intention of bidding for 2026.”
Labeaume does not see that as an outright no, choosing instead to look at it as a “not right now.” He told reporters Wednesday he expects Lake Placid Mayor Craig Randall to call if the Los Angeles bid fails.
Regardless, Labeaume is holding out hope for a long-distance bid partnership with Calgary or Vancouver, as Quebec City does not have a mountain approved for the men’s downhill and can’t go it alone.
Gymnast Jason Burnett battled back from a nasty injury in his other life as a stunt double to compete at the London Olympics
In what he calls a “stupid” trick gone wrong for a demo reel, he broke his fibula, dislodged an ankle joint and tore ligaments. After two surgeries and two years of rehab, the King City, Ont. native placed seventh in the trampoline event in London.
“I’m very relieved,” Burnett said by phone. “It’s been a pretty challenging process this time around. But the biggest job is done, and I’ve just got to stay healthy for another four months.”