Nearing Christmas, 1975. Two months out from the XII Olympic Winter Games being held in Innsbruck, Austria and a 20-year-old Sue Holloway was, in her own words, “definitely on the bubble.” “I was in no way a shoo-in to make that team,” admits the first Canadian athlete to ever do the double, competing in both a Winter (cross-country skiing) and Summer Games (canoe/kayak).” I had to work very hard. “So, I was very nervous. There was a lot of stress. “Of course, I...
School, refuting the claim of shock rocker Alice Cooper’s anthem of the early ‘70s, is never out, at least for Emily Nishikawa. And won’t be, at least not for the next three decades or so. “Awesome,’’ is the way 11-year member of Canada’s national women’s cross-country team describes the beginning of her first full year teaching Grade 2 students at Golden Horn Elementary School in Whitehorse, Yukon. “I’m loving it. “I’ve known this is what I wanted to do for a...
The sport has given much to Roy Strum. And he, in turn, to it. “I love skiing,’’ says the Calgary elementary school principal. “It’s something I do. “I started off racing as a young person. I’m in my 50s now. I’ve got that kind of a background. When there was an Alberta College Athletic Conference, I was cross-country ski champion when I was going to school in Red Deer. Skiing is something that’s a part of me; is a part of my life.” Strum has segued from...
Quite understandably, after missing out on Pyeonchang 2018 and the culmination of a lifelong dream by nothing more than a whisper, a heartbeat – one slender second – Maya MacIsaac-Jones’ high beams are locked in on one thing. On February, 2022. On the Kuyangshu Nordic and Biathlon Centre and the XXIV Olympic Winter Games. “At the moment,’’ she acknowledges, “my racing is for sure my first priority. “Beijing is something I’m obviously so very...
“It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.” — John Wooden The legendary Wizard of Westwood, the man who piloted the UCLA Bruins to 10 NCAA men’s basketball championships in a dozen years, remains an iconic figure, cutting across eras and sporting disciplines. Wooden’s message of willingness to always consider new ideas, no matter how experienced or how successful or how revered someone may be, that ability to adjust and implement,...
