CALGARY — Go ahead and tell Ghislaine Landry how Canadians should be content with an Olympic medal of any colour in women’s rugby sevens.
Explain how Australia is the team to beat in Rio and that New Zealand is the reigning world champion. And that there’s England to worry about.
Landry — a 5-foot-4 dynamo who led the HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series in points this season — simply shrugs off such talk like a would-be tackler in an open field. Gold is the goal for the Canadian women’s rugby sevens team, she says politely. Not silver. Not bronze.
“We’ve beaten everybody on the series,” Landry told Postmedia on Wednesday. “We know we can do it. We’re not going for a podium finish. We’re not going to have fun. We’re going to win gold. That’s the job at hand, and it’s definitely possible.”
Led by Landry, the Canadian women proved it possible over the weekend by winning their last tournament before the Olympics in Clermont-Ferrand, France. The victory came without the services of injured captain Jen Kish (Rugby Canada assures us she will be in fine for Rio despite the picture on Twitter that shows her wearing a neck brace) and the dynamic Ashley Steacy. In fact, injuries have decimated the Canadian crew for much of the year.
“I see it as a blessing,” Landry said. “It’s always a blow at the beginning, but it gives other players the opportunity to step up. And at the end of the day, we need 12 players playing good rugby, not just seven.”
Canada is blessed with team speed and depth, as evidenced by the showing in France.
“There’s only positives that can come of that,” Landry said. “And once Ashley is back and Kish is back, and you add them to the mix, we’re taking another step forward.”
The next step is Rio.
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Kaleigh Rafter wants to believe softball will return to the promised land of the Olympics for the 2020 Tokyo Games. She really does.
“But we’ve had some close calls before,” the Team Canada catcher said Wednesday over the phone from Buffalo. “So there’s definitely excitement but tempered excitement. There’s no bigger stage than the Olympics. So for the sport of softball, this would be a huge, huge win.”
Like others who love the game, Rafter is still reeling from the International Olympic Committee decision to pitch softball out of the Olympics after the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing.
On Wednesday, the IOC executive board voted in favour of bringing baseball-softball back for the 2020 Tokyo Games along with adding karate, sport climbing, skateboarding and surfing. The final call will be made by the IOC Session during the Rio Games, but all signs point to approval.
The Canadian women’s softball team finished a heart-breaking fourth in Beijing. Rafter was a wide-eyed 22 at the time.
“I would love to be there in 2020,” Rafter said “But I’ll be 34 then, and I’m a catcher. So it’s a matter of whether the body holds up.”
The Canadian women won gold at the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto and are set to host the world championships July 15-24 in Surrey, BC.
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Dylan Armstrong is the poster boy for clean sport in Canada. After all, the gentle giant waited more than six years for his bronze medal in shot put from the 2008 Beijing Games.
He finally received the prize in 2015 after Andrei Mikhnevich, of Belarus, tested positive for anabolic steroids.
So the news out of Russia this week was shocking: Armstrong’s wife, Evgeniia Kolodko, allegedly failed a belated drug test on her sample from the London Olympics.
“I have been consistently outspoken about my position on doping, which is zero tolerance,” Armstrong wrote in an email to CBC. “Today’s news is especially difficult as it affects both the Olympic Athletic Community I am part of — and someone I love deeply; Evgeniia. I am not only a dedicated Olympic athlete; I am a patriotic Canadian and a committed husband.”
Armstrong, 35, said he is encouraging his wife to cooperate fully with the authorities in their investigation.
“I will offer my love, patience and support to Evgeniia as she responds to the news of these doping test results in her home country of Russia and as she navigates her future as an elite athlete.”
Athlete to Watch
Rosie MacLennan, Trampoline: Edmonton is potentially in for a treat this weekend as the reigning Olympic champion is considering testing out her Rio routine – which includes three triples — at the 2016 Canadian championships. MacLennan is the only active female gymnast to land three triples in international competition “It’s a risk, because she’s going to sacrifice some of her height,” says CBC Olympics analyst Kyle Shewfelt. “But her difficulty will go up, and Rosie wants to push the boundaries.” MacLennan is coming off a long bout with post-concussion syndrome and is calling it a “game-time decision” whether to test out the Olympic routine.
Star of the week
Damian Warner, Decathlon: On track for the podium Rio, Warner set a decathlon world record in the 100 metres over the weekend with a time of 10.15 seconds en route to winning the prestigious Hypo Meeting in Gotzis, Austria. The soft-spoken London, Ont. native scored a world-leading 8,523 points for the victory. Warner, 26, is likely the only athlete with the potential to push world champion Ashton Eaton, of the United States, for gold at the Rio Games.
vhall@postmedia.com
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