Day 3 – Canada Wins Gold in Volleyball

Canada Wins Gold in Volleyball

It made for a long day, but in the end Canada prevailed, beating Argentina in two sets (25-22 & 27-26) to win the gold medal in volleyball. I knew going into the competition that based on our performance in 2005, we had a good enough team to do well, but had I been a betting man, I could have made a lot of money putting some money down on Canada.

We beat Australia, the Czech Republic, Hungary (defending champions), and Argentina over the course of the day. The tournament format was a tough one, as a loss at any point meant elimination, but we pulled it off without dropping a set. It was a great day with lots of memories (Captain Canada aka John M. running around the court after out victory) that will have to last until the 2009 Australia games.

It certainly feels great to have a gold medal under my belt…it takes the pressure off the remaining events that will be coming up on Friday (100M, 400M, and 4x100M relays) and Saturday (200M and High Jump). Tomorrow we’ll be playing tourists and hitting the top sights in Bangkok, so be sure to check back in!

---Leslie & Captain Canada celebrating with Thai Youth volunteers---

------------The silver medalists from Argentina----------

---The bronze medalists from Hungary and the Netherlands---

Day 3 – Another perspective



So, now you’ve read Rob’s update on Team Canada’s Gold medal performance in volleyball. Well, I think Rob’s version is pretty accurate, but very much like him - nice and modest. Seeing the games from the stands, gives me a different perspective of how Day 3 went at the volleyball tournament. I have to say that it was one of the most exciting tournaments I’ve ever watched! By the end of the day, Team Canada had the whole gymnasium on their feet, cheering them on with their support.

Well, I’ll start off by saying that I do agree with Rob that Team Canada had a good chance of doing well this year. The team is comprised of some very athletic people, each one bringing with them his/her own set of skills. To give you some perspective, I should mention that previous to these games, the last time Team Canada played together was in 2005 in London, Ontario. So, in fact, practice the previous day was the first time that the team got to play together again, and some of the players are even new recruits.

As Rob did mention, the format for elimination was a tough one – losing against a team resulted in elimination from the tournament…Team Canada was the only team that won every set and every game. But then, you might think that the team’s success was due to better skills of the Canadian team compared with other countries. That is true. But this also holds true for the other teams such as Netherlands, USA, Hungary and Argentina. In fact, Argentina, who Canada played in the finals was a team of agile and powerful players. This prowess from the Argentinian players made for a nail-biter of a game. But with consistent athleticism, Canada successfully won the first set, 25-22, but not without struggle. They had to focus and work hard to come back from a weak start, where at one point they were losing 8-16.

If it sounds like the first set was tough, the second set was even more suspenseful….supporters in the stands where on the edge of their seats as Canada and Argentina battled to the neck…each team taking turns leading by one point. Tied at 24-24, either team only had to score two more points to win. The last 5 minutes of the game was just unbelievable, hearts were pumping and the crowd was on their feet…which team would get the gold? It was definitely a battle to the end, with Team Canada prevailing with a 27-26 win against Argentina!

So, congratulations to Brent Dueck (Team Captain), Leslie Petter, Michael Strilchuk, Janet Brady, Marvin Meissner, Lynn Pelletier, Heather Fisher and Sandra Holdsworth…and of course, Rob : )