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Northern Ontario curler to lead Team Canada into Youth Olympics – CBC.ca

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A young curling star from Northern Ontario is going to be leading Team Canada into the opening ceremony for the Youth Olympic Games Lausanne 2020 this week in Switzerland.

Lauren Rajala, from the Greater Sudbury, Ont., community of Garson, has been selected as the flag-bearer.

“I never thought I’d be leading all of Team Canada into the Youth Olympics and wearing the Maple Leaf. It hasn’t really sunk in yet,” Rajala said.

“I’m thankful for this experience at such a young age. I’m going to take it all in and take it with me and move forward.”

Rajala, 17, has seen incredible success in her young career on and off the field of play.

In 2019, she won gold at the under-18 Canada Winter Games as well as at the under-18 Nationals. She is an Ontario Canada Winter Games Trials champion and a Northern Ontario under-18 Provincial champion. Earlier in the year, as part of Team Croisier, she was inducted into the Greater Sudbury Sports Hall of Fame in the Chris Sheridan Family team of the year category.

At school, Rajala is an honour roll student and a three-time Lancer Scholar, a title given to those that maintain an 80 per cent or higher average over three years. In addition, she is a three-time curling MVP at school, the Grade 11 female athlete of the year and a member of student council and the Eco School Club.

“I’m honoured and humbled by this experience. And I feel like this is just the beginning,” Rajala said. “I don’t want this to be the last time I wear the Maple Leaf on my back.”

As the official broadcaster in Canada, CBC will provide daily coverage of the competitions from Thursday, Jan. 9 to Wednesday, Jan. 22 via the free CBC Gem streaming service as well as cbcsports.ca, radio-canada.ca/sports and the CBC Sports and Radio-Canada Sports apps.

In addition to live streams of the events offered through CBC Sports and Radio-Canada Sports digital platforms, daily coverage of the Youth Olympic Games will include real-time updates from reporter Devin Heroux, who will be on the ground in Lausanne to report breaking news and provide insightful commentary for cbcsports.ca.

78 athletes make up Team Canada

Canada is sending its largest-ever delegation to compete at the Winter Youth Olympics. Seventy-eight athletes from the country will be wearing the Maple Leaf as they compete in just the third instalment ever of the event. See below for the full list of Team Canada’s roster. 

The first Youth Olympic Winter Games were held in Innsbruck, Austria, in 2012. In 2016, the Games were held in Lillehammer, Norway.

Rajala was recently inducted into the Greater Sudbury Sports Hall of Fame in the Chris Sheridan Family team of the year category. (Curling Canada/Infinite Eye Photography)

Rajala will be accompanied by the Canadian delegation of athletes along with 24 coaches in Switzerland. The Games will be a completely gender-equal event with the same number of male and female athletes competing.

Team Canada features athletes ranging from 15-18 years of age. Of the 78 athletes, 24 are from Alberta, 19 from Ontario, 14 from Quebec, 13 from British Columbia, three from Manitoba, two from Yukon and one from Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan.

“I’m meeting all these people from all over Canada,” Rajala said. “I’m so thankful and grateful for this experience.”

Rajala has been curling out of the Idylwylde Golf and Country Club in Sudbury for years. She was inspired by her father to take up the sport at the age of seven when she fell in love with curling. It was also right around the time Vancouver was hosting the Winter Olympics — Rajala was motivated to represent her country.

“I remember the 2010 Winter Olympics and Kevin Martin winning the gold medal. I remember the celebration and all the Canadian fans. That’s when I realized I wanted to wear the Maple Leaf on my back. It’s been a goal ever since,” Rajala said.

Rajala will be part of a mixed curling team assembled by Curling Canada to compete in Lausanne. The team opens competition against Russia on Friday, Jan. 10. They will be play five round-robin games before the playoffs begin.

Mixed Curling is one of eight sports athletes will be competing in during Lausanne 2020.

16 disciplines across eight sports

Nearly 1,900 young athletes aged 15-18 will represent more than 200 countries. There will be a total of 81 events in 16 disciplines across eight sports on the Lausanne 2020 program, including four that will make their Olympic debuts.

Ski mountaineering is considered the most radical new sport, while medals will also be awarded for the first time in mixed-nationality three-on-three ice hockey, a women’s doubles competition in luge, and a women’s Nordic combined ski event. The new disciplines are designed to reflect both innovation and gender equality.

The Youth Olympic Games also aim to encourage young people to embody the positive values of sport but also serve as an important part of their athletic journey.

Canada’s Chef de mission, Annamay Oldershaw, says while this experience will serve as a place to learn about sport and life, the team also wants to achieve success on the field of play.

“These Olympic experiences teach you so much. How to deal with regrets and joy and failures and triumph. All of it,” Oldershaw said.

“I want our athletes to believe in themselves. I want them to know that they are there because they were chosen to be there.”

Oldershaw, a 2008 Olympic swimmer for Canada, has yet to be together with the entirety of Team Canada — that happens on Tuesday when they will all gather in Lausanne draped in red and white for the first time. Competition starts three days later on Friday.

“Whenever you get to wear the Maple Leaf at an international competition is the greatest honour,” Oldershaw said. “I’m ready to be these athlete’s biggest fan and we’ll pour our hearts into this for Canada.”

Team Canada roster

Alpine skiing (4)

  • Sarah Brown, Ottawa
  • Louis Latulippe, Quebec City
  • Alice Marchessault, Ste-Anne-des-Lacs, Que. 
  • Mack Wood, Toronto

Biathlon (6)

  • Ethan Algra, Abbotsford, B.C.
  • Finn Erik Berg, Calgary
  • Lucas Sadesky, Vernon, B.C.
  • Pascale Paradis, Calgary
  • Jenna Sherrington, Calgary
  • Naomi Walch, Calgary

Bobsleigh (2)

  • Colton Dagenais, Foster, Que.
  • Emma Johnsen, Calgary

Cross-country skiing (4)

  • Derek Deuling, Whitehorse
  • Jasmine Drolet, Rossland, B.C.
  • Liliane Gagnon, Shawinigan-Sud, Que.
  • Sasha Masson, Whitehorse

Curling (4)

  • Emily Deschenes, Greely, Ont.
  • Jaedon Neuert, Winnipeg
  • Lauren Rajala, Garson, Ont.
  • Nathan Young, Torbay, N.L.

Figure skating (8)

  • Catherine Carle, Georgetown, Ont.
  • Natalie D’Alessandro, Toronto
  • Tyler Gunara, Burnaby, B.C.
  • Miku Makita, Anore, B.C.
  • Brooke McIntosh, Toronto
  • Aleksa Rakic, New Westminster, B.C.
  • Brandon Toste, Mississauga, Ont.
  • Bruce Waddell, Toronto

Freestyle skiing (6)

  • Skye Clarke, West Vancouver
  • Rylee Hackler, Calgary
  • Steven Kahnert, Vancouver
  • Andrew Longino, Calgary
  • Emma Morozumi, Calgary
  • Brayden Willmott, Collingwood, Ont.

Hockey (17)

  • Justin Côté, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Que.
  • Nathan Danielson, Red Deer, Alta.
  • Dylan Ernst, Weyburn, Sask.
  • Adamo Fantilli, Nobleton, Ont.
  • Vincent Filion, Shawinigan, Que
  • Panayioti Fimin, Richmond Hill, Ont.
  • Conor Geekie, Strathclair, Man.
  • Cédrick Guindon, Rockland, Ont.
  • Matt Jovanovic, Toronto
  • Paul Ludwinski, Pickering, Ont.
  • Tristan Luneau, Victoriaville, Que.
  • Denton Mateychuck, Dominion City, Man.
  • Mats Lindgren, North Vancouver
  • Ty Nelson, Toronto
  • Matt Savoie, St. Albert, Alta.
  • Antonin Verreault, Mirabel, Ont.
  • Noah Warren, St-Jean-Sur-Richelieu, Que.

Luge (3)

  • Kailey Allan, Calgary
  • Natalie Corless, Vancouver
  • Caitlin Nash, Whistler, B.C.

Short track speed skating (2)

  • Florence Brunelle, Trois-Riviéres, Que.
  • Félix Pigeon, Granby, Que.

Skeleton (2)

  • Hallie Clarke, Calgary
  • Ryan Kuehn, Calgary

Ski cross (4)

  • Marie-Pier Brunet, Montreal
  • Charlie Lang, Calgary
  • Jack Morrow, Whistler, B.C.
  • Sage Stefani, Rossland, B.C.

Ski jumping (2)

  • Noah Rolseth, Calgary
  • Stéphane Tremblay, Calgary

Ski mountaineering (2)

  • Ema Chlepkova, Calgary
  • Findlay Eyre, Calgary

Snowboard (12)

  • Tristan Bell, Aylmer, Que.
  • Liam Brearley, Gravenhurst, Ont.
  • William Buffey, Toronto
  • Andie Gendron, Calgary
  • Liam Gill, Calgary
  • Kianah Hyatt, Calgary
  • Kamilla Kozuback, Calgary
  • Bridget MacLean, Halifax
  • Juliette Pelchat, Whistler, B.C.
  • Seth Strobel, Calgary
  • Maxeen Thibeault, Montreal
  • Jacob Walper, Calgary

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Washington Capitals 3-2 win ends Dallas Stars’ winning streak

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Tom Wilson, Dylan Strome and Taylor Raddysh scored to help the Washington Capitals end the Dallas Stars’ season-opening winning streak at four with a 3-2 victory Thursday night.

Wilson’s goal was his third in three games, Strome his second of the season and Raddysh his first since joining the team in free agency last summer. Charlie Lindgren made 22 saves as the Capitals wrapped up this early homestand with back-to-back wins.

The Stars fell from the ranks of the league’s unbeaten teams despite a short-handed goal by Colin Blackwell and one at even strength from Jason Robertson. Rookie Oskar Bäck set up Blackwell for his first NHL point.

Casey DeSmith was screened on two of the three goals he allowed on 26 shots.

LIGHTNING 4, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 3

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Nikita Kucherov scored the winning goal with less than a minute to play just 1:27 after Brandon Hagel had tied it and Tampa Bay rallied to beat Vegas.

Kucherov’s second goal of the game with 55 seconds left was his sixth of the season.

Janis Moser had a goal and two assists for the Lightning, who remain unbeaten. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 22 saves.

Brayden McNabb, Pavel Dorofeyev and Ivan Barbashev had goals for Vegas. Adin Hill turned aside 21 shots.

Jack Eichel, with two assists on Thursday, now has 10 points this season in five games and reached reached double-digit points faster than any other player in Vegas history. He is the 10th U.S.-born player to accomplish the feat.

After Barbashev put Vegas up 3-2 early in the second, Hagel pulled Tampa Bay even at 3 with 2:22 remaining in the third.

BLUE JACKETS 6, SABRES 4

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Kirill Marchenko and Mathieu Olivier each had a goal and an assist and Daniil Tarasov made 21 saves to help Columbus to a win over Buffalo.

Yegor Chinakhov, Adam Fantilli, Zachary Aston-Reese and Damon Severson also scored for Columbus, and Zach Werenski added two assists.

Ryan McLeod, Owen Power and JJ Peterka scored for Buffalo, and Jiri Kulich added his first NHL goal. Devon Lev stopped 19 shots for the Sabres (1-5-1), who have lost two straight road games and five of their first six overall.

CANUCKS 3, FLORIDA 2, OT

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — J.T. Miller scored 2:09 into overtime and Vancouver got their first win of the season, beating Florida.

Teddy Blueger and Quinn Hughes had goals for Vancouver, with Kevin Lankinen stopping 26 shots.

Anton Lundell got his fourth goal in the last three games for Florida and Jesper Boqvist also scored for the Panthers, who got 30 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky.

Florida remained without forwards Aleksander Barkov (lower body) and Matthew Tkachuk (illness).

DEVILS 3, SENATORS 1

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Jacob Markstrom stopped 30 shots and lost his shutout bid in the final minutes as New Jersey beat Ottawa.

Erik Haula, Nathan Bastian and Paul Cotter scored for the Devils, who won for the third time in four games and improved to 5-2-0.

The Senators, who were coming off an 8-7 overtime victory against Los Angeles on Monday, struggled to beat Markstrom.

Brady Tkachuk was the only scorer for the Senators, beating Markstrom, with a power-play goal with 65 seconds remaining in the third period.

Anton Forsberg, making his second straight start and hoping to rebound after getting pulled Monday, made 32 saves in the loss.

Haula opened the scoring early in the second period and Bastian added a short-handed goal, giving New Jersey a 2-0 lead after 40 minutes. Cotter scored midway through the third.

RANGERS 5, RED WING 2

DETROIT (AP) — Artemi Panarin had his eighth career hat trick and New York rolled to a victory over Detroit.

Panarin became the first Rangers player to have multiple points in the first four games of a season. He scored twice on the power play. Vincent Trocheck also had a power- play goal and assisted on all of Panarin’s goals.

Jonathan Quick made 29 saves in his season debut. Victor Mancini also scored.

The Rangers have won the last five meetings, including twice this week. New York had a 4-1 home victory over Detroit on Monday night.

Moritz Seider and J.T. Compher scored for Detroit. Red Wings goalie Cam Talbot was pulled in the second period after allowing five goals.

KINGS 4, CANADIENS 1

MONTREAL (AP) — David Rittich made 26 saves a night after being benched in the second period in Toronto, helping road-weary Los Angeles snap a three-game losing streak with a victory over Montreal.

Los Angeles improved to 2-1-2 on a season-opening, seven-game trip necessitated by arena renovations.

Rittich rebounded after allowing four goals on 14 shots in a 6-2 loss to the Maple Leafs. Alex Laferriere, Mikey Anderson, Andreas Englund and Adrian Kempe scored.

Justin Barron scored for Montreal (2-3-0). Sam Montembeault stopped 28 shots. He made a save on Kevin Fiala on a penalty shot.

BLUES 1, ISLANDERS 0, OT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Joel Hofer made 34 saves and assisted on Jake Neighbours’ goal at 2:04 of overtime in St. Louis victory over New York.

Hofer had his second career shutout in his and the team’s second overtime victory of the season.

Philip Broberg carried the puck into the New York zone and made a centering pass to Neighbours for the winner.

Islanders goalie Ilya Sorkin made 29 saves.

Blues defenseman Nick Leddy sat out because of a lower-body injury, the first game he has missed this season. Leddy played in all 82 games last season.

OILERS 4, PREDATORS 2

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Brett Kulak scored twice and Connor McDavid added his first goal of the season to lead Edmonton to a victory over reeling Nashville.

Jeff Skinner also scored and Calvin Pickard made 25 saves for the defending Western Conference champion Oilers, who have won consecutive games after beginning the season with a three-game skid.

Filip Forsberg and Jonathan Marchessault scored and Juuse Saros made 32 saves for Nashville (0-4).

Forsberg’s goal midway through the first period gave Nashville its first lead of the season. That lasted less than six minutes before Kulak tied it.

Kulak sealed it with an empty-netter in the final minute for the defenseman’s first career two-goal game.

BLACKHAWKS 4, SHARKS 2

CHICAGO (AP) — Tyler Bertuzzi and Nick Foligno each scored a power-play goal, and Chicago beat San Jose.

Taylor Hall and Jason Dickinson also scored for Chicago. Connor Bedard and Teuvo Teravainen each had two assists.

Hall, who missed most of last season because of right knee surgery, put the Blackhawks in front 4:20 into the first period. It was Hall’s first goal since Nov. 5 and No. 267 for his career.

Tyler Toffoli and Fabian Zetterlund scored for San Jose, which trailed 3-0 early in the second. William Eklund and Mikael Granlund had two assists each.

The Sharks dropped to 0-2-2 under Ryan Warsofsky, who was promoted to head coach in June.

Petr Mrazek had 20 saves for Chicago, and Vitek Vanecek made 23 stops for San Jose.

KRAKEN 6, FLYERS 4

SEATTLE (AP) — Eeli Tolvanen, Jordan Eberle, and Shane Wright scored three goals in less than three minutes in the second period and Seattle held off a Philadelphia rally in a victory.

Tolvanen’s goal broke a 2-2 tie at the 14:57 mark. Eberle made it a two-goal game with a goal at 17:44. Eight seconds later, Wright scored to give Seattle a three-goal lead.

Jared McCann tied the game at 2-2 with the first of Seattle’s four second-period goals.

Cam York and Jamie Drysdale scored to pull Philadelphia within 5-4 in the third period, but Oliver Bjorkstrand responded with a goal to push Seattle’s lead to two with just over five minutes left in the game.

Scott Laughton scored twice for the Flyers in the first period, while Brandon Montour scored one in for the Kraken.

Chandler Stephenson had an assist in his 500th NHL game. Seattle’s Philipp Grubauer had 21 saves.

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Canada’s Dabrowski, New Zealand’s Routliffe out of Japan Women’s Open after walkover

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OSAKA, Japan – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe are out of the Japan Women’s Open tennis tournament.

Spain’s Cristina Bucsa and Romania’s Monica Niculescu advanced to the final on Thursday by way of walkover.

The fourth seeds were supposed to play the top-seeded Dabrowski and Routliffe in the semifinals.

Bucsa and Niculescu will next face third-seeded Ena Shibahara of Japan and Laura Siegemund of Germany in the final.

Dabrowski and Routliffe defeated Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Eri Hozumi in the quarterfinals 6-2, 6-4 on Wednesday to advance.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Mountain West commissioner says she’s heartbroken over turmoil surrounding San Jose State volleyball

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LAS VEGAS (AP) — Mountain West Conference Commissioner Gloria Nevarez said Thursday the forfeitures that volleyball teams are willing to take to avoid playing San Jose State is “not what we celebrate in college athletics” and that she is heartbroken over what has transpired this season surrounding the Spartans and their opponents.

Four teams have canceled games against San Jose State: Boise State, Southern Utah, Utah State and Wyoming, with none of the schools explicitly saying why they were forfeiting.

A group of Nevada players issued a statement saying they will not take the floor when the Wolf Pack are scheduled to host the Spartans on Oct. 26. They cited their “right to safety and fair competition,” though their school reaffirmed Thursday that the match is still planned and that state law bars forfeiture “for reasons related to gender identity or expression.”

All those schools, except Southern Utah, are in the Mountain West. New Mexico, also in the MWC, went ahead with its home match on Thursday night, which was won by the Spartans, 3-1, the team’s first victory since Sept. 24.

“It breaks my heart because they’re human beings, young people, student-athletes on both sides of this issue that are getting a lot of national negative attention,” Nevarez said in an interview with The Associated Press at Mountain West basketball media days. “It just doesn’t feel right to me.”

Republican governors of Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming have made public statements in support of the cancellations, citing a need for fairness in women’s sports. Former President Donald Trump, the GOP nominee in this year’s presidential race, this week referenced an unidentified volleyball match when he was asked during a Fox News town hall about transgender athletes in women’s sports.

“I saw the slam, it was a slam. I never saw a ball hit so hard, hit the girl in the head,” Trump replied before he was asked what can be done. “You just ban it. The president bans it. You just don’t let it happen.”

After Trump’s comment, San Diego State issued a statement that said “it has been incorrectly reported that an San Diego State University student-athlete was hit in the face with a volleyball during match play with San Jose State University. The ball bounced off the shoulder of the student-athlete, and the athlete was uninjured and did not miss a play.”

San Jose State has not made any direct comments about the politicians’ “fairness” references, and Nevarez did not go into details.

“I’m learning a lot about the issue,” Nevarez said. “I don’t know a lot of the language yet or the science or the understanding nationally of how this issue plays out. The external influences are so far on either side. We have an election year. It’s political, so, yeah, it feels like a no-win based on all the external pressure.”

The cancellations could mean some teams will not qualify for the conference tournament Nov. 27-30 in Las Vegas, where the top six schools are slated to compete for the league championship.

“The student-athlete (in question) meets the eligibility standard, so if a team does not play them, it’s a forfeit, meaning they take a loss,” Nevarez said.

Ahead of the Oct. 26 match in Reno. Nevada released a statement acknowledging that “a majority of the Wolf Pack women’s volleyball team” had decided to forfeit against San Jose State. The school said only the university can take that step but any player who decides not to play would face no punishment.

___

AP college sports:

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