Olympiens embracing underdog status

For Cole Baker, a .500 record would’ve sufficed. Playing on the final weekend of the season was nothing less than a pipe dream.

Beginning Friday, the Jeanne-Sauvé Olympiens will take part in the sprint for the AAAA high school provincial boys’ hockey championships for just the third time in the program’s history, and that is owed to an inspiring season that has exceeded everyone’s expectations.

“As a team, we have a lot to be proud of, and I think we deserve it, and I think we have a lot to show still,” said captain Baker.

You see, Les Olympiens had designs on remaining in the second tier of the Winnipeg High School Hockey League, where they’ve played since 2019.

Canada West women’s hockey silver a boost of confidence as Bisons prepare for nationals

A piece of Emily Shippam wanted to be upset when the Manitoba Bisons returned home from Vancouver with a silver medal on Monday. She and the rest of her teammates flew west for the weekend with golden aspirations and hopes of writing the perfect ending to what has been a season for the books.

Then again, there was too much to be proud of to hang their heads, and potentially a happier ending yet to come.

So while the Bisons were swept by the No. 1 UBC Thunderbirds in the best-of-three Canada West women’s hockey championship finals, there were more positive takeaways than negative.

They had nearly pulled off a season-long comeback and punched their ticket to the program’s first national championship tournament since 2019, which will go in Waterloo, Ont., March 19-22.

Bisons make program history as drama reigns at track and field nationals

A photo finish doesn’t begin to describe what happened as the U Sports Track and Field Championships concluded Saturday at the James Daly Fieldhouse.

After three days of fast-paced action at the University of Manitoba, things came to a halt. One afternoon race was under review as officials spent more than three hours deliberating on a result that would determine the men’s national champion.

Hosting nationals for the second time in three years, the Herd’s program is growing at the right time. Fifteen Bisons competed for a medal Saturday, led by two veteran athletes who’ve been instrumental in the program’s success.

Fifth-year athlete Daxx Turner, the only triple jumper in Bisons history to win five Canada West Championships, aimed to close out his decorated collegiate career with a second national gold.

Five examples of representation in recognition of International Women’s Day

To mark International Women’s Day on Sunday, the Free Press is spotlighting five Manitobans doing impactful work in sports.

Alyssa White — para hockey athleteWhite was 14 when she made the Canadian women’s para hockey squad.

“It’s kind of wild still to me to think about because I had only started playing hockey a year prior to that,” said the now 20-year-old.

Kemp and Elizarov set sights on 2030 Olympic Games

Winnipeg duo Ava Kemp and Yohnatan Elizarov have enjoyed remarkable success since they burst onto the international figure skating scene four years ago with only a year of pair skating experience on their resumé.

In short order, the rookies became known as podium threats at home and abroad, even as their ambitions were repeatedly stalled for months at a time — first by her ankle injury, then his collapsed lung and subsequent surgery and, finally, the injury to her back that kept them out of competition much of last season.

Through it all, Kemp, 17, and Elizarov, 22, refused to give up, each time coming up with a plan to methodically hurdle every roadblock.

On Thursday in Tallinn, Estonia, in their fourth appearance at the ISU World Junior Championships, that determination, their hard work and innate talent lifted them to the top of the podium.

Bisons set to host track and field U Sports Championships

Two years ago, Daxx Turner was searching for his big leap.

The Neepawa product had already made a lasting imprint on Canada West, being crowned the top triple-jumper in the conference for the third year in a row, but was still trying to land his signature moment.

That would come on home turf, as the Manitoba Bisons hopped, skipped and jumped to gold at the 2024 U Sports national championships.

It was a storybook moment for Turner, who still holds a vivid memory of standing on top of the podium at the James Daly Fieldhouse. Although Turner was already considered one of the best triple-jumpers in the country, that triumph was the validation he needed to feel like he truly belonged among Canada’s elite.

Hayward hoping to end junior career in style

SHAELA Hayward isn’t getting ahead of herself. Sure, the skip from Carman won the national U-18 women’s curling crown in 2024. And yes, most of the field from that event will be at the Canadian U-20 Curling Championships in Sudbury, Ont., from March 28-April 4.

Bisons, Wesmen v-ballers set out on playoff road

Raya Surinx has accomplished everything someone could dream of in Canadian university volleyball.

The two-time reigning U Sports Player of the Year — considered a front-runner to win her third consecutive honour next month — has a cabinet full of personal accolades and added the ultimate team award after leading the Manitoba Bisons to the program’s eighth national championship last year.

The only other thing she can ask for is to end her collegiate career on a winning note.

Checking off that last box has come into focus this week as the Manitoba Bisons gear up for the Canada West conference quarterfinals.

‘Heading for disaster’: Laurent Dubreuil denounces lack of amateur athlete funding

MONTRÉAL - Canadian long track speedskater Laurent Dubreuil is sounding the alarm about the lack of funding for Canadian amateur sports and the consequences it could have on the country's success at the Winter Olympics going forward.

The Quebec native did not hide his bitterness on Tuesday, coming off a bronze medal in the 500 metres during the Milan Cortina Games. 

In an interview published Tuesday in the Journal de Québec and the Journal de Montréal, Dubreuil denounced the much bleaker reality, just two days after the Olympics. 

"Things have to change. As long as athletes get good results, it kind of masks the problems," Dubreuil said later in a video conference from Heerenveen, Netherlands, where he'll take part in the world long track speedskating championships from March 5 to 8.

Olympic medallists Gilles, Poirier headline Canadian world championship team

OTTAWA - Newly minted Olympic bronze medallist ice dancers Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier will be part of the Canadian contingent at the figure skating world championships in March.

The event will be held in Prague, Czechia, March 24-29.

Gilles, of Toronto, and Poirier, of Unionville, Ont., who captured their first Olympic medal at the Milan Cortina Games, have earned silver at the last two world championships.

Joining them will be breakout star Stephen Gogolev. The 21-year-old from Toronto announced himself on the senior international stage in Milan with a fifth-place finish in the men’s event, delivering the second-best free skate.

OT heartbreak for Wesmen in Canada West men’s basketball semifinals

The Winnipeg Wesmen had done just about everything right.

For 46 minutes, the No. 3-ranked men’s basketball team in the country had scrapped their way to the brink of one of the biggest victories in program history, despite losing two of its best players earlier in the contest.

But as the No. 5 University of British Columbia Thunderbirds’ shot makers came alive late and into an extra frame, those dreams quickly turned into nightmares.

A desperation shot from deep fell short as time expired, and the Wesmen were left wondering what could have been as they fell in an intense, heartbreaking 92-89 loss to the Thunderbirds in the Canada West men’s basketball semifinals.