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Good luck to the Lions in Beijing

by Internationallinkinbio

With the opening of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing this morning, the Ottawa Lions will be cheering extra hard for a quartet of familiar faces to the Club. The group includes bobsledders Cody Sorensen and Mike Evelyn, skeleton racer Mirela Rahneva, and curler Rachel Homan.

Beijing will mark the second Games for former hurdler Cody Sorensen, having competed eight years prior in Sochi. The 35-year old left the sport completely after the Games in Russia, and was working as director of mergers and acquisitions with Welch Capital Partners here in Ottawa before taking some time off this fall to return to the World Cup circuit as part of driver Chris Spring’s sled.

Prior to joining the Canadian bobsled team, Sorensen was an accomplished hurdler with the Club, winning multiple medals at the provincial and national level, including take home a  national university title in the 60 metre hurdles while studying at the University of Guelph.

Sorensen will be joined in Spring’s sled by Mike Evelyn, who is making his Olympic debut. Prior to finding bobsleigh via RBC’s Training Ground competition, Evelyn skated for the hockey team at Dalhousie University, where he earned his degree in electrical engineering. While hockey was his passion growing up, Evelyn was a member of the Club during the 2010 season where he was a provincial finalist in the discus at the under-18 level.

For skeleton racer Mirela Rahneva, this will be her second Games after finishing 12th fourth years ago in Korea. She is coming off a pair of top-5 finishes on the World Cup circuit, including a bronze at her most recent event in St. Moritz. Rahneva’s roots in sport came were formed in the Club. As an 11-year-old, she’d bike 10+ km each way from home near the Nepean Sportsplex to Terry Fox to attend our annual summer camp. According to meet results her focus at the time was in the middle distance events rather than her current specialty in the speed/power domain.

Rachel Homan’s is synonymous with the sport of curling, but few likely knew she interned with the Club during her fourth year of human kinetics studies at the University of Ottawa. Homan, who competed in the women’s curling competition in 2018, is paired up with fellow Ottawa native John Morris in the mixed doubles event this time around, which started play on Wednesday. The pair is already 3-1 in early round robin play and sits in a tie for second.

Also in Beijing is former sprinter/bobsledder Oluseyi Smith. While not competing on the field of play, Smith is competing for a spot on the International Olympic Committee’s Athletes Commission, which will be voted on by athletes throughout the Games.

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Lions Olympic History

by Internationallinkinbio

As the torch inside Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium was lit Friday night, the latest set of Lions athletes to compete in the Olympic Games watched together with their track and field teammates at their pre-competition camp in Gifu, about 275 kilometres west of Tokyo.

The trio is comprised of Olympic veterans Melissa Bishop-Nriagu and Tim Nedow, as well as Olympic rookie Lauren Gale. The 21-year-old Gale becomes the 16th Lion to compete at the Olympics, following in the footsteps of Team Canada Head Coach Glenroy Gilbert who made his debut back at the 1988 Games in Seoul.

Gilbert was part of the original class of Lions Olympians back in Seoul when he competed in the long jump (7.61m – 22nd). He was joined in the South Korean capital by fellow Lions Hall of Famer and high jumper Brian Marshall (2.22m – 19th) as well as 10,000 metre runner John Halvorsen (28:29.21 – 16th), who competed for his native Norway. Four years later, Halvorsen (29:53.91 – 19th) would again join Gilbert (4x100m – DNF) in Barcelona.

At the 1996 Games in Atlanta, Gilbert would live out the Olympic dream of claiming gold as part of Canada’s 4×100 metre relay team (37.69 NR – 1st). If you’re wondering, we do indeed love “Saturday nights in Georgia”. Glenroy also placed 22nd in the 100m with a time of 10.28 seconds. He was not alone at these Games as he was joined by Lions record holders Steve Agar (3:43.02 – 37th) in the 1500 metres and Lesley Tashlin in the 100 metre hurdles (13.61 – 37th) and 4x100m relay (44.34 – 14th). Agar, also a member of the Lions Hall of Fame, was representing his native Dominica.

Gilbert’s final Games as an athlete was as a member of the 4×100 metre relay (38.92 – 11th) team in Sydney, while Hall of Famer Sean Kaley made his only Olympic appearance, running the 10,000 metres (28:36.07 – 39th).

At the 2004 Games in Athens, Richard Adu-Bobie was named to his first Olympic team after setting the Canadian U20 record for 100 metres at the Trials. He would serve as an alternate for the 4×100 metre relay team that placed 7th overall.

Adu-Bobie would again serve as an alternate on the relay squad at the 2008 Games in Beijing that would go on to place fifth. Adu-Bobie was joined in the Chinese capital by first time Olympian, Sultana Frizell in the hammer throw (65.44m – 33rd)

The London Games of 2012 featured a record five Lions, with Sultana Frizell returning in the hammer throw (67.45m – 22nd). Melissa Bishop-Nriagu made her debut at 800 metres (2:09.33 – 28tth) while Oluseyi Smith ran the second leg on Canada’s 4×100 metre relay team that crossed the finish line in third but was ultimately disqualified for a lane violation. Oluwasegun Makinde served as an alternate for the 4x100m relay team. Rounding out the contingent was Delphine Atangana, who contested the 100 metres (11.82 – 48th) for her native Cameroon.

The 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro equalled London for the largest contingent of Lions with five athletes. Melissa Bishop-Nriagu was 4th at 800 metres in a national record 1:57.02. A pair of Club record holders made their debut, Sekou Kaba in the 110 metre hurdles (13.70 – 28th) and Tim Nedow in the shot put (20.00m – 16th). Farah Jacques led off Canada’s 4×100 metre relay team (43.15 – 6th) and Oluwasegun Makinde was again an alternate on the men’s 4×100 relay team that would win bronze.

We look forward to the new Olympic memories this year’s trio will bring. Melissa Bishop-Nriagu kicks off the competition with heats of the 800 metres on the opening day of competition. Heats of the women’s 800 are schedule for 8:55pm eastern on July 29th. Tim Nedow will compete in shot put qualifying on August 3rd at 6:15 am eastern, while Lauren Gale and the women’s 4×400 metre relay team run in the heats on August 5th at 6:25 am eastern.

The Lions would also like to congratulate Club record holder Mike Woods on his fifth place finish in the cycling road race and wish best of luck to former Club members Alicia Brown (women’s 4x400m) and Alejandro Perlaza (400m and 4x400m) competing for his native Colombia.

(Montreal, Canada---26 July 2019) Melissa Bishop-Nriagu running in the 800m semi-finals at 2019 Canadian Track and Field Championships at the Claude Robillard Sports Centre in Montreal. 2019 Copyright Sean Burges / Mundo Sport Images.

Bishop-Nriagu hits standard; Nedow sets new discus best

by InternationallinkinbioNationalUniversity

A big weekend on the track and in the field produced a number of marks to celebrate for the Lions, highlighted by Melissa Bishop-Nriagu hitting the Olympic standard in the 800 metres and Tommy Nedow adding nearly two metres to his discus best.

After a disappointing race in Oregon two weeks prior, Melissa Bishop-Nriagu stepped onto the track in Chula Vista, California Sunday aiming to do one thing that had eluded her since stepping away three years ago to give birth to daughter Corinne – break two minutes for 800 metres. Beneath the two minute barrier was also the Olympic standard of 1:59.50 – a necessary step on the path to returning to the Olympic final and running for a medal. Bishop-Nriagu smashed both barriers, stopping the clock in a time of one minute and 59.04 seconds on her way to victory.

Pacing Sunday night’s race was 2019 World 1500 metre finalist Nikki Hiltz, who carried the pack through 600 metres in a speedy 1:27. From there, Bishop-Nriagu told CBC Sports, “it was about focusing on finishing strong and getting to that line in under 1:59.50.” Despite bettering the standard, the Eganville native’s ticket to Tokyo hasn’t been printed yet. “We still have a (potential) National Championship coming up where I will need to qualify. The depth in our women’s 800m in Canada is as strong as ever and we can only send three spots. This is not a given, this has to be worked for still,” she told followers on Instagram.
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Competing in a final tune up meet ahead of the Southland Conference Championships, scheduled for May 14-16, Tommy Nedow unleashed some big throws to move him to the top of the conference rankings. The Brockville native had a big break through in his primary event, the discus, whirling the two kilogram disc out to 53.74 metres to place second. Nedow’s throw added nearly two metres to his previous best set in 2019. Nedow also chalked up a personal best in the hammer throw, adding four metres to his previous best to finish third with 54.87 metres. He rounded out the competition of a 16.26 metre heave to place third in the shot put.

At the University of Kansas, Lauren Gale continued her winning ways in the 400 metres, crossing in 53.84 seconds. The Colorado State University junior battled some unusually strong winds, registering peaks of 8.1 metres per second in the adjacent triple jump, to stay undefeated in the one lap race this outdoor season.  She will look to continue the streak at the Mountain West Championships May 14-16, where she will also be looking to pick up her fourth conference 400 metre title in as many tries.

In other competitions, Stephen Evans placed fifth over 800 metres at the Kansas City Qualifier in 1:50.11. Down in Louisiana, Farah Jacques took ninth in the 100 metres hurdles at the LSU Alumni Invite with a 13.90 second clocking. Out west, fellow hurdler Keira Christie-Galloway finished fourth at the Desert Heat Classic in Tucson, Arizona with a time of 13.75 seconds.

 

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Nedow hits Olympic Standard; Gale sets new bests

by InternationallinkinbioNationalUniversity

Just under two years ago, shot putter Tim Nedow heaved a 16 pound iron ball beyond the Olympic Qualifying standard of 21.10 metres at a competition in California. Unfortunately for the DePaul University graduate, the massive throw came 11 days before the start of the qualification period for the Tokyo games. Nedow rectified the situation this past Saturday afternoon at a competition in Fleetwood, Pennsylvania where he once again surpassed the Olympic Standard with his winning throw of 21.11 metres. The effort all but secures a spot for the 2019 World finalist to compete in Japan this August.

Another athlete vying for a spot in Tokyo this summer is sprinter Lauren Gale. The Colorado State University junior has been setting lifetime bests all over the track this season, picking up another two this past Saturday. Competing at the Colorado University Invitational in Boulder, Gale set new bests in both the 100 and 200 metre events en-route to victory. Gale led a Colorado State sweep of the 100 metre medals with her winning time of 11.67 seconds besting her previous best set back in 2018 by over four tenths of a second. Similarly, Gale trimmed nearly four tenths off her outdoor best over 200 metres with a winning time of 23.61 seconds. Both marks come on the heel of Gale’s school record performance of 52.24 seconds last week over 400 metres Her recent marks now put the 21 year old at #5, #4, and #2 in Club history for the 100, 200, and 400 metres respectively.

Also moving up in the Club’s all-time rankings was decathlete Ryan Thomsen who won the Hillsdale Invitational in Michigan with a score of 6486 points – moving to seventh in Club history. With top marks in both the long jump and shot put, Thomsen finished among the top three in nine of the ten events. For his efforts, Thomsen was named the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Track athlete of the week and provisionally qualified for the NCAA Division II Championships.

Rounding out the weekend’s top performances was Tommy Nedow who captured gold in the discus and silver in the shot put at the Strawberry Relays in Louisiana. The Southeastern Louisiana University student’s best throws measured 50.33 metres in the discus and 16.20 metres in the shot put.