Sports

Canadian swim champion Oleksiak empowered by early success

Published

4 years ago

March 9, 2021

By Frank Pingue

TORONTO (Reuters) – Penny Oleksiak’s days of flying under the radar are long gone but the Canadian swimming sensation has grown more comfortable with her fame ahead of the Tokyo Games where she has a shot at becoming her nation’s most decorated Olympian of all-time.

As a 16-year-old at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Oleksiak’s life changed over the course of six days when she became the first Canadian to win four medals in a single Summer Games, including gold in the 100 metres freestyle.

Managing the expectations that went along with a record-setting Olympic debut took some getting used to for Oleksiak, who was once overwhelmed with her accomplishments but has since allowed them to empower her.

“I struggled with having ‘Olympic champion’ attached to my name at swim meets. It was almost scary for me to go up and race,” Oleksiak told Reuters in a video interview. “But now it’s more motivating to me.

“When I get up to race and people say ‘Olympic champion, Penny Oleksiak,’ I’m like: ‘Yeah, that is me. I did that. And I’m going to do it again hopefully and I’m going to show you right now that I can be fast.'”

For Oleksiak, whose Olympic medal haul also includes silver in the 100m butterfly, bronze in the women’s 4x100m and 4x200m relays, building on that Rio success has had challenges.

In the 2017 season, one in which Oleksiak was hampered by a concussion and a lingering shoulder issue, the Toronto-based swimmer failed to reach a podium in any individual event.

In 2018, Oleksiak, competing with a heavy heart days after her grandmother’s death, left the Commonwealth Games without a medal in an individual event and skipped that year’s Pan Pacific Swimming Championships to enjoy some time away from the pool.

“I just found myself in a slump and I wasn’t very happy with what I was doing,” said Oleksiak, who during her one-month break visited St. Lucia with her sister and spent time with friends.

“Then I got back into it and it was pretty easy for me to find that motivation again and be really excited about swimming again and figure out how I can be good at something that I love to do and take off the pressure from it.”

STRONGER SWIMMER

In a bid to add to her Olympic hardware, Oleksiak has been working furiously on what swimmers call their front-end speed to complement her impressive ability to finish with a flourish.

Oleksiak’s back-end speed was on full display during the Rio 100m freestyle final where she was in seventh place at the turn and nearly a full second off the lead but dug deep to pull off a relentless and unforgettable comeback.

While training amid the COVID-19 outbreak has been far from ideal and upended many athletes’ routines, Oleksiak feels the one-year postponement of the Tokyo Olympics has been beneficial to her.

“Last year around the first bit of when COVID started I was pretty nervous about the Olympics,” said Oleksiak. “But I kind of came to terms with the fact that (the postponement) would give me another year to prepare so I was really excited for that and I have really been focusing on perfecting what I can.”

Oleksiak is among the six swimmers named early to Canada‘s Olympic team ahead of the national trials which have been postponed until May because of COVID-19.

Already Canada‘s youngest Olympic champion, Oleksiak will arrive at the July 23-Aug. 8 Tokyo Games three medals shy of becoming her nation’s most decorated Olympian – summer or winter.

Should Oleksiak need advice on how to handle the pressure, she can count on American Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all-time, after signing with Phelps Brand last October as a global ambassador.

The swim brand has since launched a collection inspired by Oleksiak and the partnership has led to a friendship between the young Canadian and Phelps.

“They genuinely are like a family to me, they are super nice,” said Oleksiak. “Michael is there whenever I need him, to call, to chat whenever.”

(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto, editing by Pritha Sarkar)

Sports

Red Wings sign Raymond to 8-year, $64.6 million contract

Published

5 hours ago

September 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings signed forward Lucas Raymond to an eight-year, $64.6 million contract Monday, completing a deal with one of their best young players less than 72 hours before training camp begins.

Raymond will count $8.075 million against the salary cap through 2032. The 22-year-old was a restricted free agent without a contract for the upcoming NHL season and was coming off setting career highs with 31 goals, 41 assists and 72 points.

The Red Wings have another one of those in defenceman Moritz Seider, who won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 2021-22.

Detroit is looking to end an eight-year playoff drought dating to the Original Six franchise’s last appearance in 2016.

Raymond, a Swede who was the fourth pick in 2020, has 174 points in 238 games since breaking into the league.

—

AP NHL:

Source link

Sports

Cousins caps winning drive with TD pass to London as Falcons rally past Eagles 22-21

Published

5 hours ago

September 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kirk Cousins led a flawless last-minute drive for Atlanta and connected with Drake London for a 7-yard touchdown with 34 seconds left to give the Falcons a 22-21 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night.

Saquon Barkley dropped a short pass that stopped the clock with 1:46 left and forced the Eagles to settle for a field goal instead of a game-sealing first down. That was plenty of time for Cousins — especially against an Eagles defense playing soft coverage with a nonexistent pass rush.

The 36-year-old veteran, playing his second game since tearing his Achilles tendon last Oct. 29 while playing for Minnesota, shook off an uneven effort and hit Darnell Mooney for 21 and 26 yards on consecutive plays during the decisive drive.

Cousins found London on a short pass to his right for the tying score, and Younghoe Koo put Atlanta (1-1) on top with a 48-yard extra point after London was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. The go-ahead drive took just 65 seconds.

Jalen Hurts had his final pass intercepted by Jessie Bates III to seal Atlanta’s win and set off a wild celebration on the sideline.

The Eagles (1-1) went ahead on Hurts’ 1-yard tush push score with 6:47 left. Barkley finished with 95 yards on 22 carries in his home debut for Philadelphia, but his drop provided the Falcons with some hope.

And then Cousins started playing like the QB Atlanta thought it was getting when it signed him to a four-year, $180 million contract.

Cousins finished 20 of 29 for 241 yards and two touchdowns. Atlanta’s first TD was a 41-yarder from Cousins to Mooney, who finished with three catches for 88 yards.

Hurts was 23 of 30 for 183 yards, including a touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith. With No. 1 receiver A.J. Brown out with a hamstring injury, Smith led the Eagles with seven catches for 76 yards and a score.

Jake Elliott kicked two field goals for the Eagles. His 28-yarder with 1:39 left made it 21-15.

Atlanta kept stalling in the red zone, getting three field goals from Koo, before Cousins fired over the middle to Mooney, who shook loose from C.J. Gardner-Johnson and left him on the turf before he somersaulted into the end zone with 1:21 left in the third quarter for a 15-10 lead. Cousins failed on the 2-point conversion pass.

Hurts had some juice in his step during a second-quarter TD drive, running with abandon for big plays much like he did in the 2022 season. He spiked the ball in a rare, raw show of emotion on a 23-yard run, earning a delay-of-game penalty. He shrugged off the 5-yard setback and scrambled for 9 yards and 15 yards to move the Eagles to Atlanta’s 19.

With comedian Shane Gillis and actor Bradley Cooper among the fans cheering on the Eagles, Hurts connected with Smith in the back of the end zone for a 7-yard TD that made it 7-3.

Under new defensive coordinator Vince Fangio, the Eagles have established an early knack for allowing long drives that end with three points instead of seven. Koo kicked field goals of 39, 22 and 34 yards, the last one enough for a 9-7 lead in the third quarter. In their opener, the Eagles held the Packers to just three field goals when they drove inside the 20.

Questionable call

Rather than take a chip-shot field goal from Elliott, the Eagles’ fourth-and-4 gamble at Atlanta’s 9-yard line in the first quarter failed when Hurts threw an incomplete pass.

Elliott kicked a 29-yarder with 4:31 left in the third quarter for a 10-9 lead.

Running wild

Bijan Robinson ran for 97 yards for the Falcons. The Eagles stuffed him late on fourth-and-1 at the Atlanta 39.

Barkley was quiet until the go-ahead drive, a week after he rushed for 109 yards and scored three touchdowns against Green Bay. Eagles fans booed when the opening drive of the game ended without Barkley touching the ball. They went wild when he had consecutive 9-yard runs to open the second drive. Barkley had 40 yards rushing in the first half.

Foles honored

Former Eagles QB Nick Foles, who led the franchise to its only Super Bowl title, served as an honorary captain and led the crowd in a rendition of “Fly, Eagles, Fly.”

Injuries

The Falcons played without LB Nate Landman (calf, quad).

Up next

Atlanta hosts Super Bowl champion Kansas City on Sunday.

The Eagles play at New Orleans on Sunday.

___

AP NFL:

Source link

Sports

Fernandez and Dabrowski headline Canadian lineup for Billie Jean King Cup Finals

Published

16 hours ago

September 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Singles star Leylah Fernandez and doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski will anchor Canada’s five-player lineup when the team tries to defend its Billie Jean King Cup title in mid-November.

The 26th-ranked Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open finalist from Laval, Que., is the lone Canadian in the top 100 of the WTA Tour’s singles rankings.

Dabrowski, from Ottawa, is ranked fourth on the doubles list. The 2023 U.S. Open women’s doubles champion won mixed doubles bronze with Felix Auger-Aliassime at the recent Paris Olympics.

Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., returns after a breakout performance last year, capped by her singles win in Canada’s 2-0 victory over Italy in the final. Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino is also back and Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion from Mississauga, Ont., returns to the squad for the first time since 2022.

“Winning the Billie Jean King Cup in 2023 was a dream come true for us, and not only that, but I feel like we made a statement to the world about the strength of this nation when it comes to tennis,” Canada captain Heidi El Tabakh said Monday in a release. “Once again, we have a very strong team this year with Bianca joining Leylah, Gaby, Rebecca and Marina, making it an extremely powerful team that is more than capable of going all the way.

“At the end of the day, our goal is to make Canada proud, and we’ll do our best to bring the same level of effort and excitement that we had in last year’s finals.”

Fernandez, who beat Jasmine Paolini to clinch Canada’s first-ever title at the competition, is ranked No. 42 in doubles.

Canada, which received an automatic berth as defending champion, will play the winner of the first-round tie between Great Britain and Germany on Nov. 17 at Malaga’s Martin Carpena Arena.

Australia, Italy and wild-card entry Czechia also received first-round byes. The tournament, which continues through Nov. 20, also includes host Spain, Slovakia, the United States, Poland, Japan and Romania.

Stakusic is up 27 spots to No. 128 in the latest world singles rankings. Marino is at No. 134 and Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, is ranked 167th.

Canada will look to become the first team since Czechia in 2016 to successfully defend its Billie Jean King Cup title.

Malaga will also host the Nov. 19-24 Davis Cup Final 8. The Canadian men qualified over the weekend with a 2-1 victory over Great Britain in Manchester.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.

Source link