News
Ones to watch in Vancouver
Laurel Myers
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UPDATED JAN. 26, 2010
Members of the Canadian women's Olympic hockey team are sporting gold medals around their neck for the third time, and two Sudbury athletes helped the team claim that victory.
Tessa Bonhomme and Rebecca Johnston were all smiles last night (Jan. 25) after their team defeated its arch rivals, the United States, 2-0 in the gold-medal match in Vancouver.
The Canadian and American teams have dominated the event, typically losing only to each other. The United States won the first tournament in 1998, while Canada won in 2002, 2006 and now 2010.
Both rookies on the Olympic squad, Bonhomme and Johnston, combined for three goals and seven assists throughout the tournament.
In preliminary play, the Canadian team downed Slovakia 18-0, Switzerland 10-1, and Sweden 13-1, and nabbed the semi-final victory over Finland 5-0.
Finland and Sweden faced off in the bronze-medal game, with Finland taking the victory 3-2 in overtime.
As well, Sudbury is represented by Devon Kershaw (cross-country skiing) and Chris Del Bosco (ski cross).
Because of the international depth of Nordic skiing, Kershaw said, “There will be no contender for the podium against whom I haven’t competed already numerous times on the international racing scene.”
Kershaw began his cross-country skiing career with the Laurentian Nordic junior racing program when he was 12 years old.
While he has been “officially” training in the sport for the past 14 years, Nordic skiing has always been a big part of his family’s life.
“The story goes — I took some of my first steps with skis strapped to my feet,” he said.
“Aside from doing the sport my whole life, the interest in racing competitively was sparked once I started racing. I was good at it, I would win races, and I got hooked. Simple as that.”
Kershaw left Sudbury at 18, after graduating from Lockerby Composite, to head to Canmore, Alta., to join the Canadian National ski team.
Kershaw said representing Sudbury on the international stage will be a tribute to the community that helped him realize his Olympic dreams.
“Sudbury was the foundation where all my athletic achievements began. Sudbury is full of enthusiastic, passionate and athletic people. We have great volunteers who allow kids like me to partake in a plethora of programs, clubs and groups throughout the city, and they are the building blocks to any kid’s Olympic dreams.”
Sudbury at the Olympics
Gord Appoloni was the Canadian Olympic Team boxing coach in Atlanta (1996).
At the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, Alex Baumann was selected as Canada's flagbearer for the opening ceremonies. He won gold medals in the 400-metre individual medley, setting a world record time of 4:17.41, and the 200-metre race, lowering the world mark to 2:01.42. The 400-metre gold was Canada's first in swimming since 1912. In September 2006, Baumann was hired to take over Canada's Road to Excellence initiative for the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics.
Boatmen John Beedell and Joe Derochoe competed in the single-blade tandem event in Rome (1960).
Rob Campbell (1996, Atlanta) – Canadian delegate that represented Swim Canada’s board of directors
Maija Ceming (1984, Los Angeles) – rhythmic gymnastics trial judge
Todd Bertuzzi got three assists in six hockey games for Team Canada in Turin, Italy (2006).
Boxer Phil Boudreault competed in Atlanta (1996).
Figure skater Jeff Buttle won a bronze medal in Torino in 2006.
Competing in Innisbruck, Austria, in 1976, ice dancer Sue Carscallen and her partner Eric Gillies of North Bay finished 11th overall.
Peter Ennis, the former Laurentian University women's basketball coach, coached the 1996 national women's team in Atlanta.
Robert Esmie won a gold medal in the 4x100 m relay at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
Omer Gagnon was a boxing official and judges in Montreal (1976) and Atlanta(1996).
Speed skater Alex Hurd competed in 1932 at Lake Placid and won silver in the 500-metres. He was named captain of the 1936 Canadian team, but the team didn’t attend Winter Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, due to finances.
Wrestler Matti Jutila competed at the Tokyo Summer Olympics in 1964 (freestyle and Greco-Roman groupings).
Cross-country skier Devon Kershaw, born in Sudbury in 1982, competed in Torino in 2004.
Louis Lukanovich, along with partner Al MacLean of Cartierville, competed in the kayak tandem event in Rome (1960).
John MacKibbon played basketball for Canada in Rome (1960) and Tokyo (1964).
Gino Roy Pella competed at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki. The Sudbury native finished 14th in the discus event.
Eli Pasquale played basektball for Canada in Los Angeles (1984) and Seoul (1988).
Leo Roininen competed in shot put in London in 1948.
Weightlifter Aldo Robert Joseph Roy, born in Sudbury in 1942, participated in Mexico City in 1968 and finished 15th overall. He was CBC Sports' weightlifting analyst in Athens in 2004.
Kevin Roy, born in Sudbury in 1963, competed in the weightlifting event at the 1984 Olympic games in Los Angeles.
Jeno Tihanyi coached the Canadian swim team in Los Angeles in 1984.
Dave Turcotte played basketball for Canada at the Summer Olympics in Seoul in 1988.
Rob Schinke went to the 1996 Atlanta Olympics as part of the Canadian administration contingent. He served as a sports psychologist.
David Spears, born in Sudbury in 1963, was on the cycling team in Seoul, South Korea in 1988.Q
Paddler Don Stringer competed in Melbourne, Australia. in 1956 and Rome in 1960. In Rome, he competed in the 1,000-metre single blade singles final and finished in seventh place
Former Laurentian University professor and writer Ron Wallingford went to the 1976 Olympics in Montreal as the director of the marathon.
Cyclist Eric Wohlberg competed in Athens in 2004.
James Zavitz finished 13th in the free pistol-shooting event and 25th in the rapid-fire pistol event at the 1956 Games in Melbourne, Australia.
