Disqualification shouldn't take shine of De Grasse
By
Rob Longley, Toronto Sun
First posted: Saturday, July 25, 2015 11:30 PM EDT | Updated: Saturday, July 25, 2015 11:36 PM EDT
Through his seven races in five days and the two gold medals he won, Andre De Grasse became more than just the emerging force of Canadian track and field.
He learned a little bit about himself and what awaits over the next 12 months and beyond.
And on Saturday night, he learned a little of the politics of the sport as the third Pan Am Games gold medal he thought he had in his hands was stripped away as the men’s 4x100-metre relay team was disqualified.
De Grasse had another stirring run as the track competition wound up at York University, running the second leg in what had appeared to be Canada’s victorious relay. It was going to be a nice cherry on the top of a breakthrough games for the 20-year-old phenom from Markham.
Instead, it came with a gutting defeat. A three-pronged protest from the U.S., Trinidad and Tobago and Brazil was successful as Gavin Smellie, who ran the first leg for Canada, drifted out of his lane in the opening strides.
It was a familiar story for the Canadian men relay sprinters, who lost an Olympic medal in London in 2012.
While the drama may have taken away from the De Grasse extravaganza — and his medal count — it didn’t diminish the shine of a brilliant performance before sellout crowds at the new York U stadium.
Exhausted as he was in his first major international performance, De Grasse showed that he can handle the pressure just fine. His body, meanwhile got an indoctrination into the rigours of moving up from being a star in U.S. college meets to a contender on the world stage.
“It took a lot out of me,” De Grasse acknowledged when asked about a marathon week of sprinting. “I’m going to go back and rest for two or three days and then get ready for the world championships in Beijing.
“It’s different than the NCAAs. It’s been a long season. I’m not used to running that much, but as my coach told me, this is how it’s going to feel when you run in the Olympics next year, so get used to it now.
“I feel like my body is adjusting to it, so I’m going to be ready for next year.”
He has given every indication that he will do just that, with a heap of maturity mixed in as well. De Grasse is justifiably proud of his efforts here, but he knows that the competition will get tougher. It’s one leap forward to go from NCAA champion to Pan Am Games gold medallist — but quite another to line up against a superstar such as Jamaica’s Usain Bolt, which if his progress continues, could happen.
“I feel like for them they might not think this is a big games because it’s the Pan Am Games,” De Grasse said of what the big names of the sport might think of his Canadian coming out party. “Until you prove at the world championships ... I think I have to go there and still make a name for myself.
“I feel as though I have accomplished so much here, to other people it might not be that impressive. I’ve got to go out there to the world championship and try to make the final and get a medal there.”
De Grasse clearly got a thrill out of what he thought was going to be his third gold after taking the baton from Smellie, handing it to Brendan Rodney and then watching his University of Southern California teammate Aaron Brown kick it home.
The lengthy protest and ultimate DQ was a downer to end a successful Pan Am run for Athletics Canada — with 26 medals, 11 of them gold — but one the team was attempting to take in stride.
“You step on the line, you step on the line,” Athletics Canada head coach Peter Eriksson said. “However, it happens many times and people get away with it.
“This happens all the time. It’s part of the game.”
DROUIN SOARS TO GOLD
With the gold medal secured and his confidence (as well as his body) soaring, Derek Drouin decided to put on a show for another sellout crowd at York University on Saturday night.
The Pan Am Games title is just another step for Drouin on the road to Brazil next summer, where he hopes to improve on the bronze medal he won at the 2012 London Olympics.
Drouin cleared a season-best 2.37 metres and shared the podium with Canadian teammate Mike Mason, whose 2.31 metres earned him silver. But after the result was clinched and he was the lone competitor remaining, Drouin tried — and failed — to clear 2.41 as the crowd enthusiastically urged him on.
“My last two meets were season-bests also,” said Drouin, of Corunna, Ont. “I was carrying in some confidence. I knew being in Toronto and being in front of a big crowd like this, it was going to be a great opportunity to jump high.
“I wanted to keep improving on what I have done the last few meets and I’m doing that. I really feel like I’m shaping up and being in the exact right spot I want to be a month out from the worlds.”
Besides winning a big meet at home, Drouin wanted to make sure he was on form after a slow start to his season. The world championships in Beijing will be the focus of his season.
“This was a big stepping stone,” Drouin said. “I had to trust I was going to improve as (the season) went on and that’s what’s been happening. (Saturday) was a real confidence boost for me.”
Canada’s Andre De Grasse celebrates after winning the 4x100 metre relay. The team was later disqualified for a lane violation. (STAN BEHAL/Toronto Sun)
Disqualification shouldn't take shine of De Grasse | Other Sports | Sports | Tor
Toronto's 'Officer Boogie' strikes again
NICK WESTOLL, Toronto Sun
First posted: Saturday, July 25, 2015 11:55 AM EDT | Updated: Saturday, July 25, 2015 02:31 PM EDT
A Toronto Police officer was caught on camera displaying some fancy footwork in front of City Hall.
A video is going viral of Const. Milton Ferguson breaking out in dance at a Pan Am Games celebration event in Nathan Phillips Square recently.
This isn't the first time Ferguson, who goes by
@officerboogie on Twitter, has been caught moving to the beat on video. He can be seen on YouTube busting a move to the song "Jump and Wave" at the Beaches Jazz Festival in 2014 as well as dancing at the Taste of the Danforth.
Toronto's 'Officer Boogie' strikes again | Toronto & GTA | News | Toronto Sun
Love on a roll at the Parapan Am Games
By
Mike Strobel, Toronto Sun
First posted: Saturday, July 25, 2015 06:42 PM EDT | Updated: Saturday, July 25, 2015 07:01 PM EDT
TORONTO -
Adam Lancia and Jamey Jewells are two of our brightest Parapan Am stars.
Better yet, they are head over wheels in love.
“I mean, look at her,” says Adam. “Your readers will see Jamey’s photo and know how beautiful she is.”
“He’s my rock,” says Jamey.
With luck, their daughter Lennyn will get to see them medal at Toronto 2015. That’s if the games don’t go past her bedtime.
Lennyn is two.
“We’re trying to keep life as normal as possible for her,” says Jamey, 25, point guard on Canada’s women’s wheelchair basketball team.
Our women are world champs and favoured for gold in Toronto.
Adam, 35, Jamey’s husband, is a veteran power forward for the national men, also expected to medal next month.
Both teams will set up base at Brock University this week to fine-tune their games. The women need a top-four finish to qualify for the Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro next year. The men need top-two.
The Americans and Mexicans, in particular, stand in their way.
Well, not so much stand, as roll.
Likely, you have never seen elite wheelchair basketball. It is not for the meek. Those are not La-Z-Boys on wheels, but $3,000 speed machines straight out of Mad Max.
Players ask no mercy and give none. Why should they? Life has already delivered them a low blow — and they have overcome it with a counterpunch.
In 2003, Jamey Jewells was already a point guard — but with two sturdy legs. She starred for Donkin Junior High in Cape Breton.
In fact, she was off to practice when the car she was in lost a tire and rolled. Now, Jamey is a 1.0, the most disabled grade of wheelchair basketballer, the least mobile.
Adam was born without lower legs but gets around fine with prosthetics, off the court. He’s a 4.0. (A team can have no more than 14 points on the floor at one time.)
“Tough breaks,” I hear you say. So it might surprise you that Jamey says otherwise.
“I feel pretty blessed,” she tells me.
“Twelve years ago, when I broke my back, mostly I was just concerned about staying alive.”
She spent 22 months in hospital. What does not kill you can make you a champion.
“My outlook on life — and some people would say it’s insane — was, alright, next chapter, let’s get on with it.”
Lo and behold, the next chapter included her prince. They met in Saskatoon, of all the romantic places.
Adam was winning MVP honours at the 2010 national championships and Jamey was with her own team on the sidelines and thinking, “Who is that guy? He’s really cute, but where are his feet?”
So she started cheering.
“What’s with that accent?” Adam wondered, while banking in a shot from the low post.
One thing led to another, led to a memorable date at a pub in Germany, led to a seaside wedding near Donkin — “she’s unlike anyone I’ve ever come across,” Adam told me back then — led to Lennyn. More or less in that order.
Woven through it all, wheelchair basketball.
“She’s a cunning player,” Adam says of his wife. “She has to rely less on the physical stuff than I do, but she’s by far the smarter player. And she’s hypercompetitive.
His admiration is palpable.
“She’s had to deal with things I never did. She acquired her disability. I was born with mine.”
Until after the Rio Games — touch wood — they’ll rent in Scarborough, close to training sites like Variety Village, and to Adam’s folks. Likely, they’ll return to Nova Scotia draped in assorted medals. If not, well, what does it really matter?
“There’s a lot of love there,” men’s coach Steve Bialowas tells me. “When Lennyn is around, especially, you can really feel it. They’re not just two of the world’s best wheelchair basketball players, they’re wonderful parents and outstanding role models.”
This week, they’ll hardly talk, each focused on his or her team. “We’re lucky that way,” says Adam, “because we’re both athletes and we understand how it works.
“Our relationship will take on an independent, fluid dynamic. Spending time together gets tricky to say the least.
“But we know it’s all good. We’re rock solid.”
Remarkably so, for a couple with not one functional leg between them.
The Parapan Am tournament opens Aug. 8 at the Ryerson Athletic Centre, the men against Venezuela, the women versus Guatemala.
Uh-oh, Lennyn, they’re night games.
I hope you can stay up.
Strobel’s column usually runs Monday to Thursday. Hear him at 94.9 The Rock FM, Tuesday and Thursday mornings.
mike.strobel@sunmedia.ca
Adam Lancia, left, and Jamey Jewells. (Supplied photos)
Love on a roll at the Parapan Am Games | STROBEL | Toronto & GTA | News | Toront