Canadian Masters Athletics is pleased to announce the names of the members who will be inducted into the Canadian Masters Athletics Hall of Fame for 2014. In the category of Athletes, the inductees will be the late Ivy Granstrom, together with Boris Zaitchouk, while in the category of Executive or Administrator, Judy Warick will be honoured.
Ivy Granstrom, who passed away in 2004 at age 93, began competing in masters track at age 68 and continued for over 20 years. She competed in events from 100m to the half marathon, indoors, outdoors and on the roads. During this time, she won approximately 30 gold medals in Canadian Masters Championships in age groups from W65 to W85. She currently holds 10 Canadian Masters records and set at least 20 more that have since been broken.
Ivy won at least 19 medals at WAVA/WMA Championships, and additional ones in World Masters Games. She still holds five WMA records, and set more that have since been beaten. Ivy has been inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame, the Terry Fox Hall of Fame, the Canadian Disability Hall of Fame, and was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1988.
Ivy had a visual impairment and ran with a guide runner, Paul Hoeberigs. She was a pioneer for athletes with a disability and competed well into her 80s, all around the world.
Boris Zaitchouk began masters competition at 47 after a distinguished athletic career with the USSR national Track & Field team, during which he became the first man to throw the hammer over 80m. He has competed as a master for 19 years, in six WAVA/WMA Championships, winning medals in the hammer in all – five gold and one silver. He set a world age group record in the WMA Championships in Riccione in 2007, 19 years after setting his original open world record.
Boris now holds seven Canadian age group records, five in hammer throw (every age group from M45 to M65) and two in outdoor weight throw, and has won five gold medals in Canadian Masters Championships. His highest age graded performance is 107.69%, set when he won his latest hammer gold medal at the WMA Championships in 2013.
Boris was named Masters Thrower of the Year for Canada in 2007, Male Masters Athlete of the Year for Ontario in 2001, and Male Canadian Masters Athlete of the Year in the category of Field Events for 2013. He is a highly respected coach of throwers, as he was a national throws coach in Russia and has brought his knowledge to Canada. One of his students is competing this year in the women’s hammer throw at Athletics Canada’s Open Outdoor Championships in Moncton.
Judy Warick began her career as a masters athlete at 40 and has been competing for 25 years. She competes in track events from 800m to the steeplechase, road races up to the half marathon and field events – triple jump, high jump and discus. She has set five Canadian age group records and three world records, and won 4 WAVA/WMA medals and many Canadian Masters medals.
Judy has very strong credentials as an athlete, but the CMA feels that she is even stronger in her executive/administration roles. She started the masters track and field organization in Saskatchewan in 1988 and continued to work with it until 2005. She hosted two Canadian Masters Track & Field Championships in Saskatoon. She has been head coach of the Century Track and Field Club since 1984.
Judy has been a Track & Field official since 1975 and in 1989 became a Level 5 Vertical Jumps official, the highest level in Canada. She has worked national and international meets in that capacity and been awarded the Bob Adams Award of Excellence for 30 years of service as an official. She was inducted into the Saskatoon Sports Hall of Fame in 2012 and given the Saskatchewan Athletics Recognition Award for her work with the Saskatchewan Masters.
