Couple randomly attacked, 1 stabbed, by group of teens in Toronto, police say
A man has been transported to hospital after police say he was stabbed in a random attack carried out by a group of teens in Toronto on Friday night.
Olympic champion Ted-Jan Bloemen and world champion Laurent Dubreuil lead a Canadian long-track speedskating team chosen without trials into Beijing's Winter Olympics next month.
The 16 skaters were selected based on rankings from four World Cup events in November and December.
A planned skate-off for the final Olympic berths at Quebec City's new indoor oval Dec. 27-31 was cancelled due to the surge of the COVID-19 Omicron variant in that province.
Eight men and eight women will race the Maple Leaf at Beijing's National Speed Skating Oval, also known as The Ice Ribbon, which is short of the maximum quota of nine athletes per gender per country.
Speed Skating Canada looked into hosting a skate-off at Calgary's Olympic Oval, but delaying it until January felt risky, chief executive officer Susan Auch said.
"Once we realized the speed this variant was moving in Canada, it really did not seem feasible to move it to another place at all, and cancelling was the safest option for our whole Olympic team," Auch said Tuesday during a video media conference.
Calgary's Bloemen is the reigning Olympic champion in the men's 10,000 metres and Dubreuil of Levis, Que., won last year's 500 metres at the world championship.
The skaters began isolating themselves Jan. 10 ahead of the team's Jan. 26 departure for China. Anyone travelling to Beijing for the Olympic Games must produce two negative pre-departure tests to board a plane.
Speedskating competition starts Feb. 5 with the women's 3,000 metres.
"It can add a little bit of stress," said Ivanie Blondin, who will compete in her third Olympic Games. "I was actually just told, the best we can do as athletes is just focus on the task we need to do and try not to stress about the things on the outside.
"I think once we'll all be in China, it'll be a little more comfortable."
What would normally be a time of celebrating their nomination to the Olympic team with friends and family is now a time of daily testing in isolation
"That's been quite challenging. We haven't been able to get together with family and friends and really enjoy that moment," said Isabelle Weidemann.
"We're just trying to find the small pieces of joy and ensure that we keep it fun. We're stuck in a bubble, but we're also going to the Olympics, so it's very exciting."
Bloemen won both of Canada's speedskating medals four years ago in Pyeongchang, South Korea, with gold in the 10k and silver in the 5k.
Blondin is a two-time world champion in the women's mass start and Weidemann currently tops the World Cup standings in women's distance racing.
Blondin and Weidemann, both from Ottawa, and Valerie Maltais of Saguenay, Que., are medal contenders in team pursuit.
Marsha Hudey of White City, Sask., Calgary's Brooklyn McDougall, Winnipeg's Heather McLean, Maddison Pearman of Ponoka, Alta., and Alexa Scott of Clandeboye, Man., round out of the Canadian women's contingent.
Toronto's Jordan Belchos, Graeme Fish of Moose Jaw, Sask., Antoine Gelinas-Beaulieu of Sherbrooke, Que., Connor Howe of Canmore, Alta., Winnipeg's Tyson Langelaar and Calgary's Gilmore Junio complete the men's team.
In addition to the pandemic curtailing training in 2020, a mechanical failure at Calgary's oval left the speedskaters without any ice to skate on at their national training centre for nine months between September, 2020 and June, 2021.
"We've been able to do enough training last year when we couldn't skate on proper ice to still roughly maintain our fitness and our strength," Bloemen said.
"When we got back on the ice this summer, we just had enough time to build back up and approach this season like any other season really. The way I see it, it hasn't been a problem at all."
Speed Skating Canada has named five non-travelling alternates to the team: Olympic track cyclist Vincent De Haitre of Cumberland, Ont., Calgary's Kaylin Irvine, Toronto's Hayden Mayeur, Abigail McCluskey of Penticton, B.C. and Kaleb Muller of Cranford, Alta.
Saskatoon's Todd McClement, Gregor Jelonek of Saint-Antoine-de-Tilly, Que., Mark Wild of Milton, Ont., and Bart Schouten and Remmelt Eldering of the Netherlands are Canada's coaches in Beijing.
Canada's long-track speedskaters have produced a total of 37 Winter Olympics medals dating back to 1924, including nine gold.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 17, 2022.
A man has been transported to hospital after police say he was stabbed in a random attack carried out by a group of teens in Toronto on Friday night.
Ron Ellis, who played over 1,000 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs and was a member of Canada's team at the 1972 Summit Series, has died at age 79.
The wildfire that sparked Friday and caused evacuation orders for more than 3,000 people in Fort Nelson, B.C., and the nearby Fort Nelson First Nation, has grown to nearly 1,700 hectares in size, according to a Saturday morning update from the BC Wildfire Service.
The final of the 68th Eurovision Song Contest kicked off Saturday in the Swedish city of Malmo after days of protests and offstage drama that have tipped the feelgood musical celebration into a chaotic pressure cooker overshadowed by the war in Gaza.
From London, to Grand Bend, Collingwood and Guelph, here are some highlights of Friday night and Saturday morning's northern lights display.
A growing number of civilians and police officers are demanding the dismissal and arrest of Haiti's police chief as heavily armed gangs launched a new attack in the capital of Port-au-Prince, seizing control of yet another police station early Saturday.
Irresponsibly using a credit card can land you in financial trouble, but personal finance columnist Christopher Liew says when used properly, it can be a powerful wealth-building tool that can help grow your credit profile and create new opportunities.
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
The rolling hills leading to the hamlet of Rosebud are dotted with sprawling farms and cattle pastures -- and a sign sporting a simple message: No Race Track.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.
The stakes have been set for a bet between Vancouver and Edmonton's mayors on who will win Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
A grieving mother is hosting a helmet drive in the hopes of protecting children on Manitoba First Nations from a similar tragedy that killed her daughter.