GUADALAJARA, Mexico – After clinching an Olympic berth that had been a long time coming, Dorothy Ludwig thought about her dad.
Ludwig, whose father Bill Hare was a three-time Olympian in shooting, earned her own trip to the Games on Sunday, winning gold in a dramatic 10-metre air pistol event that went down to the final shot.
“(The Olympics) have always been a goal, and moreso since my dad passed away in 2005,” said Ludwig, whose dad was also her coach. “It’s something you always push towards, you always have in the back of your mind, definitely.”
The 32-year-old from Langley, B.C., who needed a victory to qualify for London, scored 476.8, only 0.1 points better than silver medallist Maribel Pineda of Venezuela. American Sandra Uptagrafft won the bronze.
Canada’s dressage team of Tom Dvorak of Hillsburg, Ont., Tina Irwin of Stouffville, Ont., Crystal Kroetch of Innisfail, Alta., and Roberta Byng-Morris of Godmanchester, Que., won silver and qualified for the Olympics.
“The team chemistry has been great. It is such a good team. I’m super pleased,” Dvorak said. “Our goal was to come and get a medal, but to win a silver medal is an accomplishment. There was a lot riding on us and the competition was such a high caliber this year.”
The rhythmic gymnastics team – Katrina Cameron of Mississauga, Ont., Toronto’s Rose Cossar, Anastasiya Muntyanu, and Anjelika Reznik, Alexandra Landry of Ajax, Ont., and Kelsey Titmarsh of Thornhill, Ont. – won silver in the group all-around event.
“Our team could have been much better today but it is really important that we come back and really show what we can do,” said Muntyanu. “We’ve practised so long for this and we can achieve amazing things and impress everyone.”
Earlier in the day, Laura Brown of Vancouver raced to bronze in cycling’s individual time trial.
Ludwig, mother to six-month-old son Erden, said she tried not to focus too much about the Olympic berth on the line.
“The biggest thing for me was to stay relaxed, and to remind myself it’s not the end of the world and I am here with the training I had behind me, and I could only do my best,” Ludwig said. “Today my best was an excellent performance and it got me what I wanted.”
The Canadian, who’s been a competitive shooter for 19 years, sat in third place before her final shot clinched the gold.
Get daily National news
“It’s a bit of a surreal experience,” said Ludwig. “I was in this spot four years ago (at Pan Ams in Brazil) and I went from first to fourth so this is an amazing feeling and I know how the girl in first-place feels, I really do.”
The gold medal was Canada’s second at the Games, coming a day after Ivett Gonda won the 49-kilogram class at taekwondo.
Brown, meanwhile, drew motivation from her teammates and soaked up the energy from a loud Mexican crowd, pedalling to third place.
The 24-year-old from Vancouver covered the 20-kilometre course that looped around the historic area of Guadalajara in 28 minutes 24 seconds.
“They lined the entire course, I’ve never been to a Games and I’m blown away,” Brown said of the crowd. “I had cheers throughout the whole course, it was pretty special being out there, I felt like I had a lot of support from everyone. It was very motivating.”
Colombia’s Maria Luisa Calle won the gold in 28:04.82, while Evelyn Garcia of El Salvador captured the silver. Denise Ramsden of Hay River, N.W.T., was seventh.
Marlon Perez of Colombia won the men’s race. Remi Pelletier-Roy of Longueuil, Que., was ninth, while Rob Britton of Regina was 12th.
Brown’s medal came a day after Max Plaxton claimed silver in the men’s mountain bike and Amanda Sin won bronze in the women’s event, and Brown said her teammates provided a big motivational boost.
“Just the look on their faces was enough, tears in their eyes, the big applause when they came up and showed us their medals. They didn’t have to say anything, that did it for me,” she said.
Fans have flocked to the cycling races both days. Two days into the Games, the people of Guadalajara seem to be embracing the biggest sporting event Mexico has held since the 1986 World Cup. The swimming and taekwondo venues have both been jam-packed, and there was a line that stretched some 100 metres long at the main ticket window Sunday.
“I’ve never been to a Games, and I’m blown away,” Brown said. “The Mexican people have done a great job. Even driving down the road in a Guadalajara van, you gets honks and waves.
“It’s a pretty big deal down here. I’m so honoured to win a medal for Canada.”
Canadian Shawn Delierre is through to the squash semifinals, while Canada’s No. 1-ranked player Shahier Razik has been eliminated.
Delierre, from Montreal, defeated Brazil’s Rafael Fernandes 11-7, 8-11, 11-9, 11-7.
Razik was ousted in the quarter-finals by Cesar Salazar of Colombia, 11-9, 11-3, 11-4.
At the rowing in Ciudad Guzman, Isolda Penney of Kingston, Ont., won her heat to advance to the A final.
“I felt I was in total control the whole race and I’m looking forward to the final,” Penney said.
The Canadian men’s light four – Terence McKall of Edmonton, Travis King of Grimsby, Ont., Eric Woelfl of St. Catharines, Ont., and Derek Vinge of Fernie, B.C. – advanced to the A final with a second-place finish in their heat.
World bronze medallist Steven Van Knotsenburg of Beamsville, Ont., and Peter McClelland of Aurora, Ont., advanced to the final after finishing second in their repechage, while the women’s quad was fourth in what is essentially a race for lanes, with all boats advancing to the final.
In beach volleyball at Puerto Vallarta, Heather Bansley and Liz Maloney of Toronto won their opening beach, defeating Virginia Zonta and Ana Gallay of Argentina 18-21, 22-20, 15-6 at the beach resort city.
“We were a little nervous at the start,” said Maloney. “It’s a pair we have never played before and it took us a couple of sets to figure them out.”
In swiming, Gabrielle Soucisse of Montreal finished sixth in the women’s 100 backstroke while the men’s 4X100 freestyle relay took seventh spot.
In the relay, the Canadian team members were Lyam Dias of Pointe-Claire, Que., Rory Biskupski of Vancouver, Frank Despond of Toronto and Ashton Baumann of Ottawa. The foursome was hoping to place higher in the standings.
“We were OK,” said Biskupski. “I think the team put in a good effort because we took off more time from the preliminaries this morning so we are finishing with a plus.”
Jennifer Beckberger of Ajax, Ont., was the other Canadian finalist on the night placing eighth in the women’s 200 freestyle.
Comments