Canadian Masters Athletics
Announces 2022 Athletes of the Year
July 24, 2023: – Canadian Masters Athletics (CMA) is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2022 Athletes of the Year awards.
Based on nominations received and votes cast by the CMA Board, the 2022 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, as identified below.
The following are the recipients of the 2022 CMA Athletes of the Year Awards
Individual Track Events, “Earl Fee Award” – Carol LaFayette-Boyd, W80, SK
This award is named in honour of Earl Fee, the great masters middle distance track athlete who, at age 94, is still active and is still setting many new Canadian and World records and continues to inspire others.
Carol LaFayette-Boyd, from Regina, Saskatchewan is the recipient of the 2022 Earl Fee Award in recognition of another excellent year of performances in individual track events. During the year, Carol set World records in the 60m Indoor, and the 100m and 200m Outdoor events. As a result of these accomplishments, Carol was named by World Masters Athletics as the 2022 WMA Female Best Athlete, and was named as the 2022 Female Masters winner of Saskatchewan’s Bob Adams Foundation Award.
Runners-up for this award were Christa Bortignon, W85 BC and Mark Pinckard, M60 BC.
Individual Field Events, “Olga Kotelko Award” – Christa Bortignon, W85, BC
This award is named in honour of 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.
Christa Bortignon, from West Vancouver, British Columbia is the recipient of the 2022 Olga Kotelko Award in recognition of her outstanding performances in individual field events, setting world records in each meet in which she competed in 2022. She set World records in the Indoor Long Jump and Triple Jump, in addition to outdoor records in the Long Jump, Triple Jump, and tying the High Jump record. Other awards for Christa in 2022 consisted of both the BC Athletics Female Track and Female Field Athletes of the Year.
Runners-up in this category were Carol Lafayette-Boyd, W80 SK and Andrea Diener, W45 AB.
Combined Events, “Ian Hume Award” – Muriel Gieni, W60, SK
This award is named in honour of 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.
Muriel Gieni, from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan is the recipient of the 2022 Ian Hume Award for her outstanding performances in Combined Events throughout the year. Muriel set CMA records in both the Indoor and Outdoor Pentathlon, in Saint John and Regina respectively. She had a #1 World and NCCMA Ranking, as well as outstanding performances in several individual events.
Runners-up to Muriel for this award were Reidar Zapf-Gilje, M70 BC; and Christa Bortignon, W85 BC.
Non-Stadia Events, “Ed Whitlock Award” – Natasha Wodak, W40, BC
This award is named in honour of 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.
Natasha Wodak, from North Vancouver, British Columbia is the recipient of the 2022 Ed Whitlock Award for her outstanding performances in Non-Stadia events throughout the year. Natasha started in February with a CMA record in the First Half Marathon, followed by first place finishes at 10K and Half Marathon events, while setting another CMA record in the 10K at the Vancouver Falcons AC Summerfast in July. Among other performances throughout the year, in September at the Berlin Marathon she not only set CMA records for 15K, 20k, 25k, 30k and the Marathon, but her Marathon time set a new Canadian record in the Open Women’s category. In 2022, Natasha was awarded the BC Masters Road Running Co-Athlete of the Year and BC Athletics Senior Road Runner of the Year.
Runner-up in this category was Maria Zambrano, W50 AB.
Presentation of awards
The Athlete of the Year awards will be formally presented at the 48th annual CMA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Langley, British Columbia, as part of the CMA Annual Awards Dinner on Saturday, August 12, 2023, to be held at The Coast Langley City Hotel and Convention Centre. For Information on the Championships and tickets to the banquet please consult the Meet Package at Trackie.com.
For information, please contact:
Pete Dehal, Honours and Awards, Canadian Masters Athletics pdehal@shaw.ca
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