WINNING never gets old for West Vancouver senior track and field stars Olga Kotelko and Christa Bortignon.
The pair combined to win 19 gold medals for Canada and set six age group world records at the 2012 World Masters Indoor Championships held earlier this month in Jyvaskyla, Finland. Canada finished the meet with 22 total gold medals to place seventh overall and Kotelko and Bortignon did almost all of the damage.
Kotelko, who has gained international fame for her athletic prowess as a sporting nonagenarian, set new world records in the women's 90plus age category for the 800-metre run, high jump, weight throw and pentathlon. Kotelko clocked a time of 8: 49.15 in the 800 m, jumped 0.76 m in the high jump, threw 7.24 m in the weight throw and scored 2,326 points in the pentathlon.
Bortignon, who was inspired to take up track and field after reading about Kotelko's exploits, is following in her record-setting footsteps. Bortignon's time of 10.04 seconds in the 60 m dash and distance of 3.67 m in the long jump were both new world marks in the 75plus category. Bortignon has now set six individual world records and one relay record in 2012 since moving up to the 75-plus age category.
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North Shore skiers Mike Janyk and Manuel OsborneParadis are currently up in Whistler for their annual Mike and Manny Cowboy Camp and are inviting friends and donors out for a little aprèscamp fun.
The national team duo will host a fundraiser this Saturday at the Miele Demonstration Gallery in Vancouver starting at 7 p.m. Proceeds from the event will go towards the camp which provides talented young ski racers from around Canada who would otherwise not be able to afford offseason skiing an opportunity to attend a spring ski camp to train with a couple of Olympians. This year 16 kids from around the country were handpicked for the camp and provided flights, lodging, food, as well as ski training for the four-day camp free of charge.
Saturday's fundraiser will include great food and wine, DJs, an auction, fashion show and more. The suggested donation to attend the fundraising event is $125. For more information or to donate visit www.mikeandmanny.org.
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A new North Shore lacrosse team will take flight tomorrow night at Harry Jerome recreation centre for its first ever regular season game in the West Coast Junior Lacrosse League.
The Junior B North Shore Eagles will play their home opener Thursday night starting at 8: 30 p.m. against the Coquitlam Adanacs. The team is made up of North Shore players born in 1991, '92 or '93 and will play league games until mid-July. Tickets for home games at Harry Jerome are $4 for adults, $2 for seniors and youth, and North Shore Minor Lacrosse Players get in free if they wear their team jerseys.
Complete league schedules and results can be found online at wcjll.teamopolis. com.
Email information about your upcoming sporting event or results from recent competitions to [email protected].
