January 26, 2012 (Ottawa) – The Canadian Paralympic Committee invites Canadian sports organizations to apply for the 2012-13 granting round of the Para-Equipment Fund, presented by Petro-Canada, a Suncor Energy business, and supported by the Government of Canada’s Sport Support Program.

The Para-Equipment Fund delivers grants of up to $5,000 to national sport organizations and provincial and local-level clubs to purchase adapted equipment – for sports such as wheelchair basketball, sledge hockey or sit-skiing, for example – to enable people with a disability to participate in sport.

Grants are awarded to cover 50 per cent of the total cost of the equipment. The applicant is responsible for covering the other 50 per cent of the equipment costs.

“We’re extremely proud to support this grassroots initiative and help sport organizations cover the cost of adapted sports equipment. This will enable more Canadians with a disability to have the opportunity to participate in sport,” said Steven Keith of Petro-Canada, a long-time partner of the Canadian Paralympic Committee and presenting sponsor of the Para-Equipment Fund. “It’s very rewarding to know these funds are being used to purchase needed items of equipment that will be well-used by keen participants.”

 Applications for the 2012-13 Para-Equipment Fund will be accepted starting today, January 25, 2012. The deadline to submit applications is February 29, 2012.

 Please visit HERE for the application form and more information. An optional interactive webinar on the application process is scheduled for Monday Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. EST. To register, email lferris@paralympic.ca.

 Henry Storgaard, CEO of the Canadian Paralympic Committee, underlined the importance of the Para-Equipment Fund within the Canadian sport system.

 ”The Canadian Paralympic Committee is very pleased to be able to offer funding for adapted sports equipment through the Para-Equipment Fund,” said Storgaard. “We’re grateful to both Petro-Canada and the Government of Canada for making this grassroots level support possible, enabling more Canadians with a disability to participate in sport. The Para-Equipment Fund is an empowering, essential complement to our high performance initiatives.”

 About the Para-Equipment Fund (PEF)

 The Para-Equipment Fund was launched in 2005 by the Canadian Paralympic Commitee with the help of the Government of Canada and Petro-Canada, a Suncor Energy business. Grants are awarded to cover 50 per cent of the total cost of the equipment up to a maximum of $5,000. The applicant is responsible for covering the other 50 per cent of the equipment costs. In 2011-2012, the Fund awarded a total of $116,670 in grants for both summer and winter sports, bringing the total equipment investment to $233,340.

 About Suncor Energy, proud owner of Petro-Canada

 Suncor Energy Inc. is Canada’s premier integrated energy company. Suncor’s operations include oil sands development and upgrading, conventional and offshore oil and gas production, petroleum refining, and product marketing under the Petro-Canada brand. While working to responsibly develop petroleum resources, Suncor is also developing a growing renewable energy portfolio. Suncor’s common shares (symbol: SU) are listed on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges. For more information about Suncor Energy Inc., please visit www.suncor.com.

 About the Canadian Paralympic Committee

 The Canadian Paralympic Committee is a non-profit, private organization with 46 member sports organizations dedicated to strengthening the Paralympic movement. The Canadian Paralympic Committee’s vision is to be the world’s leading Paralympic nation. Its mission is to lead the development of a sustainable Paralympic sport system in Canada to enable athletes to reach the podium at the Paralympic Games. By supporting Canadian Paralympic athletes and promoting their success, the Canadian Paralympic Committee inspires all Canadians with a disability to get involved in sport through programs delivered by its member organizations. For more information, visit HERE.

For more information, please contact:
Alison Korn
Manager, Media Relations
Canadian Paralympic Committee
Tel: 613-569-4333 ext. 243
Cell: 613-298-4927 
akorn@paralympic.ca

Laura Ferris
Coordinator, Recruitment Program Support
Canadian Paralympic Committee
Tel: (613) 569-4333 x233
lferris@paralympic.ca

Web: Paralympic.ca
Facebook: Facebook.com/CDNParalympics  

Twitter: @CDNParalympics
YouTube: YouTube.com/CDNParalympics

January 30, 2011 (Otepaa, Estonia) – The Norwegian duo of Heidi Weng and Martine Ek Hagen scored first and second on Sunday in a strong display of power in the Junior women’s 5+5km Pursuit at the FIS Junior World Championships in Estonia. Weng, a star performer who had not yet won a gold at the championships, pushed hard past Hagen in the home stretch to claim the title. Helene Jakob of Germany, who is one year younger then the both of the Norwegians, surprised many in taking the bronze medal.

The USA’s Jessie Diggins, a CXC skier who hails from Afton, Minnesota once again led the North Americans in 12th place in 31:50.2 despite a crash early in the competition. Fellow American Joanne Reid was a solid 24th. The top Canadian woman was Annika Hicks in 31st on fresh packed snow and in windy conditions.

“Today was a solid day for the US junior women,” Diggins told SkiTrax post-race. “We had a 12th (Diggins), 24th (Reid), 40th (Glen), and 50th Heather Mooney – with 78 girls racing, I’m proud to have all our girls in the top 50.

“I’m also super excited because the US women rocked the pit exchanges in the pursuit,” continued the rising US star. “We’ve been practicing and it’s exciting for me to finally have a good equipment switch under my belt because I haven’t had much luck in the past – it was a mental road block I had to get over. But after I crashed and broke a pole at the start of the race, I relaxed a lot more and decided to just try to have a technically good race and see how far I could pull myself back up. So I was thinking a lot more instead of being in the lead pack and letting adrenaline take over, which I think helped me ski smarter.”

Diggins was grateful as she was given a pole by a Canadian coach following her crash.

“I’m also extremely grateful to the Canadian team; I was given a pole a little farther down the trail by one of their coaches. North Americans have each other’s back!”

Other North American finishers included Canada’s Janelle Greer in 36th, Amy Glen (USA) in 40th, Heather Mehain (CAN) in 43rd, Heidi Widmer (CAN) 47th and Mooney in 50th.

Team USA’s Reid was pleased with her 24th place finish: “It went really great today, all the girls were especially happy with our exchanges, we all stayed pretty calm and did good work in the pits. It was really sweet to be skiing with Amy and Jessie and Heather. There was a point in the race that we were all skiing together before Jessie took off and got after it. I ended up right next to Amy for a while and we worked together but I lost her when we went through the exchange,” said Reid.

Weng and Hagen, who are neighbors in Norway, know each other well having been in the same class at school. Today it was their day in the pursuit. The starting field remained compact after two 2.5km classic laps. Following the ski exchange Weng lost a bit when Elena Soboleva and Anna Scherbinina pushed hard and created a gap.

Weng came charging back in the second uphill. Then Hagen moved in front and accelerated on the final lap. Weng seemed to have some difficulty to follow but hung in with Hagen and the Norwegian duo appeared together in the stadium. In the finishing straight Weng summoned what power she had remaining and sprinted ahead of Hagen to take the win.

Germany’s Jakob was sixth after the classic part and was in contact with the lead group. During the free technique leg she dropped the Russian girls in her group and posted the second fastest time skate time to take the bronze medal.

As for Weng, it marked her second championship medal after placing third in the 5km individual start competition. “Everything was fantastic today and went as I planned,” Weng said in a FIS Press interview. “During the last lap I got really tired and I was very close to let Martine go. I thought about the gold medal in this race but I didn’t believe I could win it.”

As for her long-time friend Hagen the event was great. “The race was fun. I had a very good feeling through the whole race and I enjoyed it a lot. I didn’t expect two Norwegians to be on the podium. I expected only Heidi to win but not me. She is in a very good shape.”

This marked the second to last day of the Junior Worlds in Otepaa.

Full results HERE.

January 28, 2011 (Otepaa, Estonia) – Germany’s Lucia Anger claimed the Junior Women’s classic 1.2km sprint title as the two leading skiers Elena Soboleva (RUS) and Germany’s Hanna Kolb crashed over the final hill in the final leaving the door open for Anger. Norway grabbed the remaining spots with Kari Oeyre Slind taking the silver medal, while her teammate Ragnhild Haga won the bronze.

Canada’s Janelle Greer and Heidi Widmer both qualified but did not advance past the quarter finals and finished 21st and 28th respectively. American Heather Mooney (USA) missed qualifying by 0.29s, placing 31^st, followed by Amy Glen (USA) in 42nd, Heather Mehain (CAN) in 45th, Izzy Caldwell (USA) in 57th, Kinsey Loan (USA) in 58th and Canada’s Annika Hicks who placed 61st.

“It was a disappointing day for me today,” said Widmer. “I was hoping to improve on last year’s 15th place qualification and 22nd overall sprint results but I just didn’t have access to those top gears today. In my qualifier, I skied the first half with decent speed, but during a transition on one of the small climbs, I wasn’t aggressive enough with my kick which cost me.”

“I quickly put the mediocre qualifier behind me and set my sights on the afternoon heats. I lost contact with the group on the second climb and made up some time on the descent thanks to some fast skis finishing 28th. Today taught me a lot and reminded me that I still have a long journey ahead and I’m excited to see what the future has in store,” added Widmer.

Kolb, the fastest qualifier, was the favourite and she and Soboleva advanced to the final winning their quarters and semis. The dramatics for the women’s Junior World title unfolded during the final match up as Soboleva was leading with Kolb right behind and Anger in tow as the others trailed.

Over the final uphill Kolb tumbled and took out Soboleva. That’s when Anger, reacting to what happened made her move and burned it to the finish line to take the win. The Norwegian Slind also came up from behind and finished 0.3 seconds back. Haga, the winner of the opening junior 5km free race, was third.

Anger basked in the spotlight saying, “I had hoped to win a medal in a competition here, but the sprint gold is a surprise for me. My tactics were to go as fast as I could. I saw what happened when the crash took place. I looked that I could pass them from the left and it was very close for me as well.”

Slind was happy with her finish. “The crash is part of the game, but I feel lucky. I passed them and did not get involved in the accident….you just have to be a little lucky to get there.”

Qualifications HERE.
Final Results HERE.