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RIO DE JANEIRO— It was a historic day for Lions athletes as both Melissa Bishop and Farah Jacques will compete for Olympic medals after both advancing to finals on Thursday.
Bishop was second in her 800m semi-final, crossing the line in one minute 59.05 seconds, just beating Poland’s Joanna Jozwik in 1:58.93. It marks the first time a Lion has qualified for an individual event final at an Olympic Games.
 
Bishop kicked her way home over the final half lap, distancing her self from the bunched up pack. “When there’s eight of us trying to run in one lane, it gets pretty tight,” Bishop said of a couple of bumping incidents. “I think it’s just making yourself aware. You know how long your stride is. You just have to gauge it off what everyone else’s is. It’s tough.
“I’m really excited. This is my first Olympic final, but certainly not my first final. So I think if I can rest up and recover well and come here on the day with everything at 100 per cent, I’ll be okay.” Bishop races Saturday night 8:15pm Eastern.
Farah Jacques ran lead off for Canada’s 4x100m relay team Thursday morning, helping the quartet to a seasonal best 42.70 second clocking, just thousandths ahead of China for the 8th and final qualifying spot. It was the first time running lead-off for Jacques, who admitted to feeling a bit nervous. However, she told Athletics Canada she is very excited and ready for tonight’s final. The women run at 9:15pm Eastern.
The final Lion competing on day seven of the track and field program was shot putter Tim Nedow. The 26 year old from Brockville managed to heave the ball out to a best of 20.00m to finish 16th overall. Nedow was battling to feel relaxed in the circle.
“Warm up didn’t feel that great, my first throw I just tightened up like crazy, that’s one of the disadvantages of being tall, if I tighten up it’s pretty much over,” said the Canadian champion.
“Second throw I was more relaxed, threw 20-metres which isn’t that bad, but it’s not great either. I wished that would have been my first throw, third throw again I tightened up at the last second, if not I feel like that would have been over 20.50-metres. At this level you can’t do that. Unfortunately, 20-metres wasn’t enough to make it through.”

RIO DE JANEIRO — Canada’s Melissa Bishop made it through to the semifinals of the women’s 800 metres with what was the fastest qualifying time of a strong field — and on a very fast track.
Bishop, 27, from Eganville, Ont., was in the middle of the pack after a lap but moved into an inside position, stride-for-stride with Marina Arzamasova of Belarus, who edged Bishop for the gold medal at the world championships in Beijing last summer. The pair outraced the rest of their heat in the closing lap, with Bishop finishing just in front in a time of 1:58:38.
“I think we’ll be good,” said Bishop of the preparation between today and the semifinal races on Thursday morning. The final goes Saturday night. “We have a really good team with Athletics Canada so, yeah, I think we’ll be good.”
Sixteen of the 24 qualifiers for the 800-metre semis ran below two minutes on a hot, sunny morning at Olympic Stadium.
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Sekou Kaba’s first Olympic experience didn’t quite go as planned Monday night at the
Engenhão Stadium in Rio. Kaba, a semi-finalist at last year’s World Championships, narrowly missed out on achieving the same feat, posting a time of 13.70 seconds to finish eighth in the fifth and final heat.
The hurdle event was not without its own built in dramatics as rain poured down into the stadium as the session commenced, leaving puddles across the track. The result was after the first two heats, the entire meet was suspended until conditions improved.
The delay lasted about 20 mins. Once back on the track, Kaba looked smooth in his race, running over the 42 inch barriers cleanly – an uncommon sight in men’s sprint hurdles. The result was Kaba’s second fastest time of the season.
Following the competition, the University of Ottawa grade took to Twitter to thank all his supporters. “”Tried 2 put on a front but failed to hold back tears. I’ve never felt support like this. Thank u guys sooo much. Will do better next time!”
Next up for the Lions in Rio will be Melissa Bishop who will run the 800m heats Wednesday morning.

The domestic season came to a close this past weekend with a silver lining for Lauren Gale, Lindsay Brandys and Barbara Bitchoka as Lion athletes competed at both the Canadian Youth and Eastern Canada Espoir Championships.
Making their provincial team debuts, first year senior athletes Brandys and Bitchoka came to play at the Eastern Canada Espoir Championships in Moncton. After setting the top mark in qualifying for the 100m, Brandys dropped a seasonal best time of 12.05 seconds into a blistery 1.7 m/s headwind to finish second to Quebec’s Émy Béliveau. Brandys also picked up gold in the 4x100m relay, as Ontario won by a comfortable three and a half second margin.
In the high jump, Bitchoka produced her second best effort of the year, clearing 1.68m to finish in second. Teammate Arabella Alton took gold with a 1.74m clearance.
At the Canadian Youth Championships Lauren Gale picked up the sole medal for the Lions on the weekend with her silver in the 400m. The 16 year old crossed the line in a time of 55.33 seconds.
Other Lions with top eight finishes in Ste. Therese included:
Lauren Gale – U18 Girls 200m – 8th 25.58 w-2.0
Keegan Gaunt – U18 Girls 800m – 8th 2:17.42
Julia Maine, Keegan Gaunt, Olivia Crewe, Carlee Townend – U18 Girls 4x400m – 7th 4:10.18
Caroline Poirier – U18 Girls Pole Vault – 8th 3.00m
Ben Robinson – U16 Boys 100m – 8th 12.09 w-3.0
Ben Robinson – U16 Boys 200m – 5th 23.93 w-3.6
Alex Pope – U16 Boys 300m – 8th 37.03
Joe Fast – U16 Boys 800m – 5th 2:02.85
Joe Fast – U16 Boys 1200m – 7th 3:18.86
Wariso Dullo – U18 Boys Javelin – 5th 53.17
 

It was a record breaking weekend at the Ontario Masters Championships for Leslie Estwick and Kim Ethier. While this was Ethier’s first foray into masters athletics, Estwick was named Ontario masters athlete of the year in 2001.
With Ethier and Estwick competing in the W45 and W55 categories respectively, they each swept the 80m hurdles, long jump and high jump with a total of five meet records between them.
In addition to meet records in the hurdles and long jump, Estwick equaled the Canadian Record of 1.30m in the high jump.
Also picking up multiple medals were sprinters Lawrence Williams and Wendy Alexis. Williams picked up double gold in the 100m and 200m, while Alexis took silver after being nipped at the line in the W60 100m by world champion Karla Del Grande. Wendy did get her gold in the 200m, beating Del Grande by almost four tenths of a second.
Medalists

GOLD – Kim Ethier W48 Long Jump 4.37m w1.0 MR
GOLD – Kim Ethier W48 High Jump 1.20m
GOLD -Leslie Estwick W55 80m Hurdles 14.54 w1.6 MR
GOLD -Leslie Estwick W55 High Jump 1.30m CR
GOLD -Leslie Estwick W55 Long Jump 3.48m 1.7 MR
GOLD – Lawrence Williams M45 100m 11.89 w0.4
GOLD – Lawrence Williams M45 200m 24.09 w0.2
GOLD – Wendy Alexis W61 200m 29.07 w0.5
GOLD – Jean Ferguson W50 200m 32.55 w0.5
GOLD – Jean Ferguson W50 5000m 21:30.79
SILVER – Wendy Alexis W60 100m 14.07 w0.7
SILVER- Michael Ferguson M50 5000m 19:58.92
 

On Friday, sprinter Lindsay Brandys and high jumper Barbara Bitchoka were named to their first provincial team as the duo will represent Ontario at the upcoming Eastern Canada Espoir Championships taking place August 6-7 at the Moncton Stadium in New Brunswick.
Both athletes were nominated based on their performances at this summer’s Ontario Championships. Brandys was a finalist over 100m and 200m at the Ontario Senior Championships back in June while Bitchoka won bronze with her clearance of 1.70m.

A message from the President:
Given that the Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club must evolve and adapt to meet the challenges of a new and ever-changing environment, the Board of Directors has directed a special committee with:
1.      reviewing and reorganizing, as necessary, the professional structure of the Club;
2.      reviewing and modifying, as necessary, the Terms and Conditions of employment of the Club’s employees; and
3.      implementing any necessary changes to the professional structure and/or terms of employment before the end of the current fiscal year (i.e. August 31, 2016).
The above decision was a result of a motion which passed unanimously at a recent meeting of the Board of Directors.  The Club membership will be kept apprised of the implementation plan for this restructuring.

 
 
Mark Phillips
President, Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club

With the start of the Olympic Games quickly approaching, the final Ottawa Summer Twilight Series meeting of the the 2016 season will provide a perfect send off for four club members as they prepare to step up on the global stage in Rio.
In attendance will be 2012 Olympian Oluwasegun Makinde as well as first time Olympians Farah Jacques, Sekou Kaba and Tim Nedow.
Both Makinde and Jacques, members of Canada’s 4x100m relay entries in Rio, are scheduled to compete in the 100m and 200m events Wednesday night as part of their final Olympic preparation. Makinde was a fifth place finisher over 100m at the recent Canadian Trials in Edmonton, while Jacques was a bronze medalist over 200m.
Tim Nedow, a Pan American Games silver medalist in 2015, and World Championship semi-finalist Sekou Kaba will be in attendance Wednesday night to meet with fans and the media, but will not be competing.
Also available for media interviews Wednesday will be Glenroy Gilbert, Power, Speed Events and Relays Coach for Athletics Canada. Rio will mark Glenroy’s ninth Olympic team, and his fourth as the lead coach of Canada’s relay teams.
Events begin at 7pm with the sprint hurdles and followed by the 100m on a rolling schedule. The full schedule can be found here.

For the second straight year, Shona McCulloch finished 11th in the 3000m at an IAAF World Championships. However, this year’s effort at the junior championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland lowered her one month old Canadian Youth record to a blistering 9 minutes 16.93 seconds.
After getting separated from the lead pack about half way through the race, McCulloch powered through the final kilometer with American Kate Murphy on her way to a five second personal best. Shona had previouly set the Canadian record of  9:21.61 at a meet in Renton, Washington.
Competing at her first global championship, sprinter Shyvonne Roxborough advanced to the semi-finals, finishing 22nd overall with a time of 11.88 seconds. The South Carleton High School graduate advanced to the semi’s following a 11.78 clocking in the heats where she garnered her semi-final spot as one of the fastest non-qualifiers.
The final member of the Lion’s contingent, Keira Christie-Galloway finished 6th in her heat of the 100m hurdles with a time of 14.43 seconds. She failed to advance, finishing 39th overall.

From Edmonton Journal
With the rush of a successful Olympic Trials still ringing in her ears and The Games in Rio still a month away, the Track Town Classic wouldn’t seem like an easy meet for Melissa Bishop, or anyone in her spikes, to get up for.
It’s like an exhibition game between clinching a playoff spot and the start of the Stanley Cup final.
Fortunately for the crowd at Foote Field Friday night, Bishop is a pretty good self-motivator.
On a night when everyone in the place showed up hoping to see something special from someone, she delivered, posting a new Canadian record in the women’s 800 metres.
“I really had to work hard to turn my mental game around because Trials was so exciting, it was such a huge goal on my sheet to make the Olympic team,” said Bishop, whose time of 1:57.43 beat her own record of a year ago 1:57.52.
“So it was the mental prep that we did, and the conditions were perfect tonight.”
The 800 is an easy event to bail out of, especially when there really isn’t a whole lot on the line. Just shift it into neutral and coast down the stretch instead of battling through the burning legs and lungs. But as far as Bishop is concerned, cruise control is not an option in anything that includes a starting gun and a finish line.
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