Alexandre Despatie, diver 1998 Canadian Outstanding Junior Male Athlete

SLAM SPORTS
Toronto, March 18, 1999
The 26th Annual Canadian Sport Awards celebrated excellence in sport today by honouring Canadais best athletes at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. From outstanding medal winning performances to generous corporate support, this gala event showcased Canadian athletes at their best.

After a stellar year in 1998 which included accomplishments as Olympic champion, world champion and World Cup champion, the accolades continued tonight as Catriona LeMay Doan was honoured as the female athlete of the year. At the Nagano Games, LeMay Doan took the gold medal in the 500 metres and then captured a bronze in the 1,000 metres. She ended a long Canadian drought at the world sprint championships claiming the overall gold, a first for Canada since Gaetan Boucher in 1984. Also she dominated the World Cup circuit claiming both the 500 and 1,000 metre World Cup crowns.

Peter Reid, the first Canadian male to win the prestigious Hawaii Ironman world championship, was honoured as male athlete of the year. In addition to his incredible triumph in Hawaii, Reid kicked off 1998 with an exciting victory at the Australia Ironman.

Outstanding female team honours were awarded to the Sandra Schmirler Team. Schmirler, third Jan Betker, second Joan McCusker, lead Marcia Gudereit and Anita Ford, who added the gameis biggest prize to their mantle by winning the Olympic gold medal at Nagano, Japan.

Outstanding male team honours were bestowed to the quintet of Eric BEdard, Derrick Campbell, FranAois Drolet, Marc Gagnon of Montreal and Mathieu Turcotte , winners of the gold medal at the Olympic Games who followed with victories at the world team championships and world championships.

Jessica Sloan who won six gold medals and set three world records at the world championships for swimmers with a disability was chosen junior female athlete of the year. Sloan, 16, set her world marks in the 50 and 100 freestyle and 100 breaststroke and added victories in the 200 individual medley and two relays.

Alexandre Despatie, the youngest Commonwealth Games champion in history, was named junior male athlete of the year with an incredible victory in the menis 10-metre diving competition. At 13, the 5'1", 100 pound dynamo tumbled, somersaulted and twisted his way to the record books eclipsing David Bedardis Canadian record by an incredible 25 points.

The bobsleigh team of Pierre Lueders and Dave MacEachern which took to the top of the podium at the Nagano Olympics, a victory unduplicated since Victor Emeryis four-man crew in 1964, was selected the outstanding pair of the year. In dramatic fashion, the Canadians trailing by 3-100ths of a second going into the final run, came back to tie with the Italians for top spot. The Spirit of Sport Award was awarded to Olympic swimmer Marianne Limpert for their outstanding work in the area of positive moral development of Canadian youth.

The Bruce Kidd Award for athlete leadership was presented to Greg Edgelow; the Bryce Taylor Memorial Award for volunteerism was presented to Dr. Andrew Pipe; and the Frank Ratcliffe Memorial Award for communications was presented to John McConachie.

Diane Jones Konihowski was honoured with the Johnny F. Bassett Memorial Award for demonstrating sporting excellence and for her outstanding community work.

Many corporations support amateur sport and the Awards recognize the leadership and outstanding contributions they have made to Canadian sport. The 1998 recipients for the Corporate Excellence Awards were General Motors of Canada Ltd., Mazda Canada, James Richardson International and Scott Paper Ltd. & Labatt Breweries.

Once again this year the Spirit of Sport Foundation on behalf of the event partners, the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, Athletes CAN, the Canada Games Council, and the Commonwealth Games Association of Canada have produced the 26th edition of the Awards. Ron MacLean, one of the countryis most popular sportscasters co-hosted the show along with Marie-Josée Turcotte of Radio Canada Sport.

Alexandre Despatie demonstrated his "Tower Power" last September as he became the youngest Commonwealth Games champion in history with an incredible victory in the men's 10-metre diving competition. At 13, the 5'1", 100 pound dynamo tumbled, somersaulted and twisted his way to the record books eclipsing David Bedard's Canadian record by an incredible 25 points.

He even received one perfect 10.0 from a judge on his fourth dive in the final. What an international debut and great news for Canadian men's diving which is looking to match the phenomenal international success of the women's team.

When Despatie clinched the Commonwealth crown it was a heart-tugging scene as team mates and even competitors from other countries hugged and hoisted him on their shoulders. His victory was front page news in Montreal's two French daily newspapers. He was an instant celebrity appearing at televised awards shows and talk shows in Quebec.

Prior to the Games, Despatie won the national 10-metre title setting another record as the youngest ever Canadian male diving champion. He also holds Canadian records on all three boards in two age group categories.

March 19, 1999
Congratulations to Alexandre Despatie, who was honored as the Canadian Junior Male Athlete of the Year for 1998, last night in Toronto. Alex won based on his nomination by CADA for his outstanding performance at the Commonwealth Games last September.

Alex was presented his award by Mr. Dick Irvin (CBC commentator, and Hockey announcing guru). Alex also stole the show with his witty repartee with Ron MacLean during the evening’s festivities, and was very gracious in his acceptance speech as well.

The Canadian Sport Awards are presented annually, in a variety of categories. Eldon Godfrey was also a finalist last night in the « Volunteer of the Year » category, but unfortunately did not win the award. He is still tops in Our book, though!

Again, congratulations to Alex and Eldon for jobs well done!

Paul Zachau
Sport Development Manager
Canadian Amateur Diving Association