Olympics 2012

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PinkSlipFrom Athletics Canada:

Ottawa – Athletics Canada announced important changes today to its technical leadership structure.  Effective immediately Olympic program Head Coach Alex Gardiner and Chief High Performance Officer Martin Goulet have been relieved of their duties.

Rob Guy, Athletics Canada Chief Executive Officer, “First and foremost I want to thank Alex and Martin for their many years of service to the organization.  They both played important roles and had positive impacts on Athletics Canada’s high performance program.”

“The feeling after London (2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games) was generally encouraging as a number of young talented athletes stepped up and made great strides.  However we still didn’t hit our performance targets of three and fourteen medals respectively.  We felt we needed a different style and leadership structure to ensure we reach our high performance objectives moving forward,” said Guy.

Guy adds, “These decisions are never easy to make, but the bottom line is we haven’t achieved our performance objectives as laid out in the association’s strategic plan for the last four quadrennials.  It’s part of my role to ensure our technical structure and coaching leadership provides the right vision and framework for our athletes and coaches to take the next step in Rio.”

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Olympic medal next on list

MohammedAhmedCourtesyStCatharinesStandard2013Jan22From St. Catharines Standard:

By Bernie Puchalski, St. Catharines Standard, Monday, January 14, 2013 9:34:04 EST PM

Mohammed Ahmed’s first Olympic experience has left him wanting more.

“It made me want to look at the big picture,” said the 22-year-old St. Catharines resident, who was back in the city for about two weeks before returning to the University of Wisconsin Monday. “I want to go back there in 2016 and I want to medal. I had no expectations for this one.”

At the London Olympics, the St. Catharines Collegiate graduate placed 18th in the 10,000 metres.

“I just wanted to go out there and see how it is and feel out the environment. The Olympics have given me the motivation that I made an Olympic team and I need to go and try and better myself as an individual every day in training.”

The medalists at the Olympics were several years older than Ahmed and he is early on in his running career.

“I’ll be 25 in 2016 and I’m really excited about those Olympics.”

Ahmed is coming off a fall where the scholarship runner placed eighth at the NCAA cross country championships to earn his fourth straight All-American honours. He also placed second at the Canadian senior championships.

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Vancouver set for 2012 Canadian Cross Country Championships Saturday

Image from Athletics Illustrated

From Athletics Canada:

OTTAWA– The 2012 Canadian Cross Country Championships take place this Saturday November 24th in Jericho Park Vancouver, B.C., serving as the selection meet for both the 2013 NACAC (North America Central America and Caribbean) Cross Country Championships and IAAF World Cross Country Championships.

2012 Olympians taking their mark 

Defending champion Cameron Levins of Black Creek, B.C., will face tough competition from fellow 2012 Olympic Games teammate Mohammed Ahmed of St. Catherines, Ont., in the senior men’s race. Both Levins and Ahmed finished in the top 20 in London in the men’s 10,000-metres. Kelly Wiebe of Swift Current, Sask., will also bring tight competition to the field as he recently was crowned the 2012 CIS (Canadian Interuniversity Sport) Cross Country Champion.

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Canadian Mo Ahmed 8th overall at NCAA cross-country championship

From Canadian Running:

November 18, 2012
By Michael Doyle

Canadian runner Mo Ahmed secured his fourth straight All-American season with the Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday when he placed 8th overall at the cross-country championships in Louisville.

The St. Catherine’s, Ont. native battled a series of in-race set backs, including a side stitch and what his coach described as a hip problem to crack the top ten in the prestigious American collegiate race.

Ahmed represented Canada at the London Games this past summer in the 10,000m, but since then has raced sparingly for his varsity team. He won a regional event leading up to the NCAA’s, but wasn’t certain about his outcome in Louisville. “I don’t know what emotions I feel right now,: Ahmed told reporters after his race. “I’m kind of still confused. I don’t know if I feel super disappointed, or if I feel happy.”

The raising Canadian star is just one of a handful of University of Wisconsin runners to garner All-American status four times. Ahmed has also improved his placing at the NCAA cross-country championship each year he has competed. In 2009, he placed 30th, then 12th in 2010 and ninth last year.

Texas Tech’s Kennedy Kithuku won the men’s race by creating and maintaining a substantial lead over the field, setting a course record in the process. Iowa State’s Betsy Saina won the women’s race by less than one second.

Ahmed will next travel to Vancouver to compete in the Canadian cross-country championships. He will be a top contender for the win, going head-to-head with fellow Olympian Cam Levins.

Canadian men’s 4x100m relay team at a loss for words and More

LONDON, UK- The Canadian men’s 4×100-metre relay team of Gavin Smellie of Etobicoke, Ont., Seyi Smith of Ottawa, Ont., Jared Connaughton of New Haven, P.E.I., and Justyn Warner of Markham, Ont., ran the race of their lives this evening at the 2012 Olympic Games.

Initial results awarded Canada the bronze medal behind the United States and Jamaica, who took gold in a world record time of 36.84 seconds; however Canada was later disqualified for a lane violation just before the final baton exchange. Camera review showed Connaughton stepping on the line as he rounded the corner. More…

Track and field team enjoys best showing since Atlanta Olympic Games

London, UK – Athletics Canada’s objectives coming in to the 2012 Olympic Games were to improve on Beijing’s showing of one medal and to improve on the sixteenth place finish in the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) country ranking.

The team closed out the 2012 Games today with one medal by Derek Drouin of Corunna, Ont., eight top 8 finishes, twelve top 12 finishes and seventeen top 16 finishes.  Overall the team placed 15th in the IAAF country ranking with 22 points. More…

Derek Drouin wins high jump bronze and More…

LONDON, UK – Derek Drouin of Corunna, Ont., has won Canada’s first track and field and Canada’s 11th medal at the 2012 Olympic Games. Day five at Olympic Stadium also brought three top eight performances and a personal best.  Drouin’s medal is the fist in the high jump since Greg Joy did in at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, Que. More…

Message from Mospeed…

Click on the image to read his message from London…

From Mohammed (in London, representing Canada).

7 track and field athletes qualify for semi final round on day 4 of athletics

From Athletics Canada:

LONDON, UK – Seven Canadian track and field athletes qualified into their respective events semi final round on day four of athletics competition at the Olympic Games. More…

Athletics underway tomorrow at the 2012 Olympic Games

From Athletics Canada:

London, UK – Athletics begins in a big way tomorrow morning at the 2012 Olympic Games with nine Canadians in action.  Leading the way on day one is Dylan Armstrong of Kamloops, B.C., who has been clear on his intentions; he’s looking for nothing less than a podium finish after narrowly missing doing so at the 2008 Games. More…