Canadian Masters Athletics (CMA) is pleased to announce the winners of its 2018 Athletes of the Year awards.
Based on nominations received and votes cast by the CMA Board, the 2018 Athletes of the Year have been named in four categories of athletics, each of which has been named after a masters athlete who was prominent in the appropriate discipline, and is either still active or was active in the past.
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Individual Track Events, “Earl Fee Award”
Karla Del Grande, W65, ON
This award is named after Earl Fee, the great masters middle distance track athlete who, at age 90, is still active and is still setting many new Canadian and World records, and continues to inspire others. Karla Del Grande from Scarborough, Ontario is the winner of the Earl Fee Award. In 2018, before she turned 65, she had the fastest Indoor times in the W60 age group in the World, in both the 200m and the 400m, despite being at the top of her age group. After she turned 65, she was a triple gold medalist at the World Masters Outdoor Athletics Championships in Malaga, Spain, in the 100m, 200m and 400m, breaking World records in the 100m and the 200m, and coming within .01 second of doing so in the 400m.
Runners-up for this award were Carol LaFayette-Boyd, W75 SK; Patty Blanchard, W60 NB; and Dmitry Babenko, M45 BC.
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Individual Field Events, “Olga Kotelko Award”
Carol LaFayette-Boyd, W75, SK
This award is named after the late Olga Kotelko, who set more age group World records than any other athlete, in all age groups from 80 to 95 years of age, and has been an inspiration to many people Worldwide, and a great ambassador for masters track and field.
Repeating as the winner of this award is Carol LaFayette-Boyd from Regina, Saskatchewan. Early in 2018, Carol set W75 World Records in the Indoor Long Jump and Triple Jump, and a Canadian Record in the High Jump. Later in the year, at the World Masters Outdoor Championships in Malaga, she won Gold Medals in the W75 High Jump, Long Jump and Triple Jump, all with World season-best performances and the High Jump setting a World Record, as she already held the World Records in the Long and Triple Jumps. Carol was chosen as the WMA 2018 Female Athlete of the Year, which award was presented to her during the 2019 WMA Indoor Championships in Torun, Poland.
Runners-up in this category were Margaret Tosh, W80 SK; Christa Bortignon, W80 BC; Kristen Dajia, W55 ON; and Doreen Garner, W60 ON.
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Combined Events, “Ian Hume Award”
Ted Rowan, M85, SK
This award is named after the late Ian Hume who, beginning with the first World Masters Championships in Toronto in 1975 and for a period of 25 years, won 29 World Championship medals and set 40 World records in 9 events, including the Pentathlon and the Decathlon.
Ted Rowan from Martensville, Saskatchewan, is the winner of the Ian Hume Award. In 2018, Ted won Gold Medals in the M85 Pentathlon at the Canadian Outdoor Championships held in Surrey, BC, and the M85 Decathlon at the World Outdoor Championships in Malaga, Spain. In these events, Ted set new World M85 Outdoor Pentathlon and Decathlon Records, as well as setting Canadian M85 records in six of the individual events involved.
Runners-up to Ted for this award were Yannick Le Mouël, M50 QC; Christa Bortignon, W80 BC; Angela Whyte, W35 ON; and Margaret Tosh, W80 SK.
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Non-Stadia Events, “Ed Whitlock Award”
Elizabeth Waywell, W60, ON
This award is named after the late Ed Whitlock, the road racing legend who, at age 69, became the oldest man to run a marathon in under 3 hours, and today still holds dozens of Canadian Road records, as well as World records in the Marathon for M70, M75, M80 and M85.
Elizabeth Waywell, from Guelph, Ontario, is the winner of the Ed Whitlock Award. In 2018, Elizabeth won gold medals in all of the Road Race events in which she competed, from 5K to the marathon. In doing so, she set Canadian W60 Road Race records in the 8K, 10k, Half Marathon and Marathon. Included in these wins was a W60 first place finish in the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, which was also the World Masters Marathon Championship. She also won gold in her age group in the Boston Marathon, placing first out of 368 finishers in the W60 age group. She also won the W60 gold medal in the famous 90K Comrades Marathon in South Africa, winning her age group in her first ultramarathon by over an hour.
Runners-up in this category were Kris Kozell, W65 AB; Natasha Wodak, W35 BC; and David Guss, M55 BC.
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Presentation of awards – the 2018 Athletes of the Year will be invited to receive their awards at the CMA Awards Dinner, to be held on July 6, 2019, in conjunction with the Canadian Masters Athletics Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which are being held in Sainte-Thérėse, QC, or at such other suitable occasions which may be chosen by the winners.
For information, please contact:
Vern Christensen Vice-President vchristensen@guardiancapital.com
Paul Osland President CMA@canadianmasters.ca
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