Three more gold medals on up-and-down day for Canada at the Pan Am Games

Julie SCOTT - The Canadian Press - July 26, 2007

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (CP) - It was a roller-coaster day for Canada at the Pan American Games.

The men's field hockey team clinched a berth in the Beijing Olympics with a thrilling shootout win over Argentina in the gold-medal game, James Steacy captured gold in the men's hammer throw and Jessica Zelinka won the women's heptathlon en route to a eight-medal day for Canada.

But there was also controversy on the track and disappointment in the dive tank.

Sprinter Tyler Christopher was favoured for gold in the 400 metres but had to settle for silver after he didn't hear the starter's gun go off in the noisy Joao Havelange Stadium and jogged out of the blocks believing it was a false start. Christopher's coach Kevin Tyler said that Athletics Canada had launched an appeal after the incident, but the appeal was denied.

"The start was very confusing because I never heard the shot," said Christopher. "As the false start wasn't called I stepped up just to realize that the race was going. I then decided to run to catch the group."

Also at the track, Perdita Felicien of Pickering, Ont., took silver in the women's 100-metre hurdles while teammate Angela Whyte of Edmonton collected bronze. Nicole Forrester of Toronto won silver in the women's high jump.

Meanwhile, the highly touted diving team came away with only a bronze on the first day of competition as Alexandre Despatie of Laval, Que., and Arturo Miranda of Pointe-Claire, Que., finished third in the men's synchronized three-metre springboard event. Emilie Heymans of Longueuil, Que., finished a disappointing fourth in the women's 10-metre platform competition after dominating the preliminary rounds.

"I don't think any of my dives were really good in the end," she said. "I don't think there was a particular dive that hurt me today."

Marie-Eve Marleau of Laval was sixth.

Canada remained in fourth place in the medal standings with a total of 89 - 23 gold, 31 silver and 35 bronze. The U.S., maintained its lock on first place at 176 (75-67-34) while Cuba retained second spot with 83 (35-19-29) and Brazil stayed in third at 111 (34-28-49).

Christopher finished in 45.05 seconds to take the silver but was so enraged by the incident that he kicked a lane marker and pushed through some officials who were trying to restrain him. Chris Brown from the Bahamas won the gold in 44.85 while Chris Lloyd from Dominica came third in 45.40.

Steacy, from Lethbridge, Alta., captured gold to open the day, winning with a toss of 73.77 metres. American Kibwe Johnson took the silver with 73.23 and Argentina's Juan Ignacio Cerra threw 72.12 for the bronze.

"I've been feeling great since the Commonwealth Games and I knew I could get a good performance," said Steacy. "Still this is one of the most difficult competitions I've faced. I've been training very hard for months to prepare for these Games."

Zelinka, from London, Ont., was first in the heptathlon with a score of 6,136 while Gretchen Quintana was second with 6,000 and Lucimara Silva of Brazil was third with 5,873.

"It's sometimes hard to focus with the noise and the cheering from the crowds, but this has been a great experience and I loved the support the Brazilians give to their athletes," said Zelinka. "In the last event (the 800 metres), I felt as if someone had hit me from behind and I tripped, this made me lose the lead but I knew I was going to finish the race in any possible way."

Felicien, from Pickering, Ont., won the silver in 12.65 to tie her with the winner, Jamaica's Deloreen Ennis-London. The outcome was decided with a photo finish. Whyte, from Edmonton, finished in 12.72.

"After I was called for the false start, I was set up to a slower start from the blocks," said Felicien. "Still, I was able to close very well. I would have loved to upgrade my silver from last Pan Am Games, but I know there's still a lot of work to do to get ready for worlds."

In field hockey, Argentina and Canada finished regulation play tied 2-2 and were still deadlocked after 15 minutes of extra time. The two teams then each scored four times on their first five penalty strokes, sending the shootout to sudden death.

Canadian goalkeeper Mike Mahood of West Vancouver, B.C., made a key save on Jorge Lombi, one of the top snipers in the game who took Argentina's sixth shot, leaving Fernandes a chance to seal the win for Canada. He didn't let his team down, beating Argentine 'keeper Juan Manuel Vivaldi to clinch the gold.

"I had a dream a couple nights ago that something like that might happen," said the native of Mississauga, Ont. "You can only dream about stuff like that. When it actually happens, you're speechless. You don't know what to do. The emotions took over."

The men's water polo team won't be booking its ticket for Beijing however. The Canadians were defeated 10-6 by Brazil in the semifinals. The gold medallist automatically qualifies for the 2008 Olympics. Canada will play Cuba for bronze on Thursday.

Boxer Didier Bence of Laval, Que., will be awarded a bronze medal later in the week after losing to Oscar Rivas of Colombia in a walkover in the semifinals of the super-heavyweight class.

In other events Wednesday:

- Canada's men's basketball team opened with an 82-63 loss to Puerto Rico. Toronto's Andy Rautins scored 13 points to top Canada while Rans Brempong of Thornhill, Ont., had six rebounds.

- In synchronized swimming, duet Marie-Pier Boudreau Gagnon of Riviere-du-Loup, Que., and Isabelle Rampling of Burlington, Ont., are second behind the U.S. after the technical routine. The Americans have 47.250 points, while Canada has 47.167. Brazil is third with 45.084.

- Angus Mortimer of Ottawa qualified for the final in the men's 1,000-metre K-1 kayak event while Benjamin Russell of Dartmouth, N.S., advanced to the final in the men's 1,000-metre C-1 canoe competition.

- In tenpin bowling, Lynne Gauthier of Winnipeg and Kerrie Ryan-Ciach of Mississauga, Ont., qualified seventh and 12th respectively in the women's individual competition while Jason Kovack of Windsor, Ont., and Darren Klassen of Winkler, Man., were 13th and 14th.

- Peter Doucette of Mississauga was ninth in the men's combined distance inline skating event while Sarah Hopkins of Burlington, Ont., was 10th on the women's side.

- Canada lost 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-22) to Cuba in the preliminary round of the men's volleyball tournament.

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