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Canada at the Games:There are some mixed feelingsby SCOTT ABBOTTSAN JUAN (CP) — Canadian athletes are heading home today with a general feeling of satisfaction, mixed with a little frustration after the eighth Pan-American Games came to an end Sunday.Canada again finished third in the over all standings, behind the United States and Cuba, winning 24 gold medals, 43 silver and 71bronze.Closing ceremonies Sunday followed equestrian events in which Canada won a bronze medal in the individual jumping with Ian Millar of Perth, Ont.,on Brother Sam, finishing behind the United States and Mexico.There were some glittering Canadian moments such as those provided by Gord Singleton of Niagara Falls, Ont., when he picked up two golds in cycling. And there were some not so glittering ones as well such as when Debbie Brill of Vancouver, hampered by a knee injury, could manage only a bronze in the high jump where she was figured to be one of Canada’s brightest lights.Is it worth it?And Lou Lefaive, executive director of Sport Canada, admitted to mixed feelings about the whole thing and said Canada must take a long, careful look at the Pan-Am situation and decide if it is worth all the money it’s costing taxpayers.“Canada is going to have to reassess its criteria when it comes to competing in the Pan Am Games,” Lefaive said in an interview. What we’ve got to decide is if we are getting full value for our money.“It costs a lot of bucks to bring a group our size to the Games, money that might be better spent sending them to European competitions, I think we can afford to be a little more selective.”Despite the fact that the United States left many of its top athletes at home, the Pan-Am Games belonged to them. The U.S. picked up 127 gold medals, 97DIANE JONES-KONIHOWSKIsilver and 43 bronze to far outclass everyone else including the second-place Cubans, who had hoped to better their standing, but didn’t. They picked up 63 golds, 47 silver and 33 bronze.While much of the U.S. success came in track and field events, it was in the swimming pool they really shone. U.S. swimmers won 33 of 34 events much to Canada’s dismay. Canadians had figured to do better in swimming races. Anne Gagnon of Beauport, Que., won Canada’s .only swimming gold in the 200-metre breastroke.The games provided plenty of controversy both on and off the field.Controversial raceProbably the most outstanding track event, and one that provided controversy, was the men’s 800-metre, in which Jim Robinson of Oakland, Calif., defeated the awesome Alberto Juantorena, of Cuba, the 1976 Olympic champion. But Robinson had to wait through a protest hearing as Juantorena claimed he was bumped by the American.And off the field of play, I S. basketball coach Bobby KnightLOU LEFAIVEwas the centre of much fuss when he was charged with assaulting a police officer while he was getting his team ready to play against Canada. He’s still out on bail.Three Cubans left their delegation in San Juan and asked for political asylum.Sad moments, tooAnd sad moments included the death of sports writer Doug (iil-bert, 41, of the Kdmonton Sun who was killed when struck by a car as he was hurrying from the press centre to the track and field events.Canadian yachtsman Kddie Martin of Laval Que. suffered two broken legs on the final day of the Games when he was in an car accident.Helen Vanderburg of Calgary was a double gold winner insynchronized swimming, takingfirst place in the solo event, with a total of 197.30 points, and then pairing with Kelly Kryczka, also of Calgary to win the duet.Scott Neilson, New Westminster B.C., set a Games record in the hammer throw for one of Canada's 24 goldsBruce Simpson of Toronto took the gold in the pole vault but his height of 5.15 metres was well off his own personal best of 5.31 and he expressed some diappointment at the lack of competition. 1 wasn’t happy at my height but I sure like the result,” he said after the competition Saturday.He said there were too few entrants in the starting list (six) but that number was further reduced when the No. 1 rated U.S. vaulter, Billy Olson, was forced to withdraw becaue of a groin injury.One Canadian who did very much as expected was Edmonton’s Diane Jones Konihowski who was an easy pentathlon winner with 4,605 points.In team action it was the Canadian softball squad, made up mainly of the Canadian champion Victoria Budgets, which provided an exciting gold medal.Led by one of its few imports from outside Victoria, pitcher Rob Guenter of Saskatoon, Sask, the Canadians took 14 innings to top off the powerful U.S. squad, 1-0 in the final game.Tough lossThe highly-thought-of Canadian field hockey team had to settle for a silver medal Saturday when it was defeated, 3-0 by Argentina. The loss was especially hard for Canadian fullback Alan Hobkirk of Vancouver who said the game was his last one.“I’m 26 years old — this is the end for me,” he said after the game. He played his 100th international game during the tournament here.And the Canadian basketball team, which was considered a possible gold medal winner, disappointed many by its fourth placefinish.Yachting enthusiasts were happy with the gold won by Terry Neilson of Toronto in the laser class event. He won the gold the easy way by picking up enough points in early races that he couldn’t be caught and then letting the rest of the field fight it out for silver and bronze.
Newspaper Details
Brandon Sun
Brandon, Manitoba, CA
Mon, Jul 16, 1979
Page 7
Full Page
Clipped by
Jason P.
USA 02 Dec 2018
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