The journey started for the snowshoeing team in Gander where we boarded a plane to St. John's to meet up with the rest of the team. We had the pleasure of being accompanied on the plane by one of our huge supporters MP Scott Simms. Scott gave the athletes words of encouragement and posed for pictures in St. John's airport before he caught his flight to Ottawa. He even went so far as to teach our athletes how to say "how's she going by" in french.The opening ceremonies was enjoyed by all and the athletes were very proud to march in as a group behind the NL flag. They were energized to see so many supporters from home proudly cheering them on as they entered. During one of the speeches Sarah Brown was mentioned as having competed and medaled in Nagano. This was a surprise to the entire team and you could see Sarah's face brighten with pride at the same time. All of her team mates cheered to see one of their fellow athletes mentioned which brought everyone a lot of pride.
The first morning saw our athletes do the 1500 and 100 m races. A highlight from that day was Sandra taking nearly 3 and a half minutes off her entry time from the year before. This demonstrated that she had been committed to her training prior to games.
With the jitters worked out on the first day the athletes returned for their first set of finals and medal presentations. Two medals were won in three races and we were all very proud of our team. Silas smith made the first trip to the podium following his gold medal performance in his 100m. After the medals were given to Silas and his competitors he reached down for the hands of the silver and bronze medal winners and loudly announced "come on up bys" pulling them up on the gold podium with him to thunderous applause from the crowd and broad smiles of the NL coaching and mission staff. This was a wonderful display of sportsmanship Newfoundland style.
Tony won a bronze being beaten out of silver by .02 of a second. I was at the finish line for all the races and I watched tony pull up about 1-2m from the finish line as he saw the 2-3 large cameras with telephoto lenses at the finish. He pulled up to flash a smile at the camera. For this he earned the nickname “Glamour Boy” and his teammates never let him forget it.
Tony made all of us laugh with his quick wit and easy smile. He nearly caused Rick Oliver to choke on his supper from laughter one night when Silas announced that only one more day of competition and until the dance. Silas was looking right at Tony when he said this. Tony very seriously said "Silas I don't know how to tell you this buddy but I won't be dancing with you".
With the jitters worked out on the first day the athletes returned for their first set of finals and medal presentations. Two medals were won in three races and we were all very proud of our team. Silas smith made the first trip to the podium following his gold medal performance in his 100m. After the medals were given to Silas and his competitors he reached down for the hands of the silver and bronze medal winners and loudly announced "come on up bys" pulling them up on the gold podium with him to thunderous applause from the crowd and broad smiles of the NL coaching and mission staff. This was a wonderful display of sportsmanship Newfoundland style.
Tony won a bronze being beaten out of silver by .02 of a second. I was at the finish line for all the races and I watched tony pull up about 1-2m from the finish line as he saw the 2-3 large cameras with telephoto lenses at the finish. He pulled up to flash a smile at the camera. For this he earned the nickname “Glamour Boy” and his teammates never let him forget it.
Tony made all of us laugh with his quick wit and easy smile. He nearly caused Rick Oliver to choke on his supper from laughter one night when Silas announced that only one more day of competition and until the dance. Silas was looking right at Tony when he said this. Tony very seriously said "Silas I don't know how to tell you this buddy but I won't be dancing with you".
Our athletes demonstrated great sportsmanship and were seen regularly reaching out to their competitors before a race to shake hands and wish them well. This confirmed what truly great ambassadors they were for their home towns and province.There were several coaches from other provinces who were native Newfoundlanders who sought out our team and made this known. From this point on they went out of their way to give our athletes words of encouragement and to cheer for them especially when something did not turn out so well. Alan Wortman is an RCMP officer who coached for the Ontario team. He served in NL for many years and married a woman from Lewisporte. I overheard him tell another coach that he was broken hearted to see Sandra Smith so sad after being disqualified. He told her that Sandra was the happiest athlete he had ever met and it was hard to see her so sad. He went out of his way to give her words of encouragement which reinforced what our coaching staff was saying. It was no time when the smile was back on her face and she was ready for her next race. It was really nice to see coaches who were able to put the athlete first and the province/competition second. The athletes are really what it is all about.
Johnny Philpott finally had a chance at a medal and took gold in the 800m. He pumped his arms in triumph as he crossed the finish line with his pride beaming from his face. Sarah Brown also won gold in her 800m running in one of the best races I had ever seen her run. She paced herself well keeping a steady pace in second place for the first part of the race. She then took the lead on the last lap and never looked back. Silas ran the same race as Johnny and was quite pleased with his bronze medal performance and personal best time.
Having all of our athletes who raced that afternoon on the medal podium boosted everyone's spirits from the morning session and gave rise to the team group hug which started as we went inside and were putting away our gear before supper. This tradition continued throughout the next day of competition. It was very nice to see athletes from different parts of the province come together in friendship and support one another as they had. I would hear them telling each other not to get down on themselves after a not so great performance and encourage them for the next event. I think it means so much more to the athletes to get this kind of support from their teammates not just their coaches.
The final morning of competition was the 200 and 1500 finals. The weather was difficult with blowing snow and near blizzard conditions at times. There was considerable snow build up on the track making the long distant race even more difficult than it already was. In the 200m race Justin Lahey had his final chance for a medal. I stood at the finish line for that race. I watched our entire team down at the turn before the final 100m cheer Justin on wildly. When Justin passed them it was my turn to begin cheering. He looked at one point around 30 m from the finish that he might stop as another runner was coming up behind. I started to jump up and down and scream wildly which caught his attention and he started to run again holding off his fellow competitor and winning bronze. We all stood around waiting for Justin to get to the medal podium. When he did we began chanting his name and he beamed with pride.
As we left the campus Notre Dame St Foy Rick Oliver was thrown in the snow bank twice by the athletes in appreciation of all the hard work he did during the week getting their snowshoes on and off for every race. He came prepared with cables and cutters to make sure that no snowshoes came off. This is exactly what happened and the athletes ran with greater confidence knowing Rick had secured their snowshoes.
For her efforts Velma was body slammed by Tony just outside the bus. Tony picked her up and lost his footing with the two of them going down hard on the sidewalk. I heard the noise and turned to see them on the ground. Rick was standing next to them with his mouth open in amazement. All I could do is say to Velma are you alright? She got up, dusted herself off and went on as if nothing happened. Tony really appreciated all that Velma did for him and on several occasions asked if he could take her home with him after the games. Velma took good care of the athletes all week making sure they got through marshalling and when needed going inside with groups who were finished competing to get them out of the cold. She was awarded the nickname “The Beautician” for French braiding the girl’s hair every morning.
I was very proud to walk around the track and venue as coach of team Newfoundland and Labrador. Not only for their medal hall which was quite impressive at 9 medals, but for the fact that they had become a team over the course of the week. They had worked hard to get there and their hard work had paid off with a multitude of personal best performances. At the finish line I got to be a part of their joy at their accomplishments and words can not describe that feeling…I will always cherish it.
Carmel Casey
Head Coach
